Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders of four University of Idaho students as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty more than two years after the slayings shocked the nation and touched off a coast-to-coast manhunt.
Kohberger, 30, admitted to carrying out the gruesome killings and agreed to the terms of the plea deal – four consecutive life sentences and no chance of appeal. Judge Steven Hippler opted on July 2 to accept the agreement, which has divided the victims’ families.
The guilty plea ensures Kohberger will avoid an upcoming trial and the possibility of capital punishment for the murders of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.
All were found stabbed to death in the rental house near the University of Idaho campus on Nov. 13, 2022. The murders shocked the campus community and horrified the residents of Moscow, a quiet college town in northern Idaho that hadn’t reported a murder in five years.
Weeks after the killings, Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania, where his family lives. At the time of the murders, he was a doctoral student studying criminal justice at Washington State University, less than 10 miles from Moscow.
At the hearing July 2, Kohberger sat still and appeared unemotional when the court read the names of the four students. Asked if he had committed the murders willfully and with premeditation, he replied with a flat “yes.”
Hippler set a sentencing hearing for July 23 and said it may continue into a second day to give the victims’ families ample time to make statements before a sentence is officially handed down.
Victim’s family slams deal
The families of the four victims have been split in their reactions to the plea agreement.
Some slammed the deal as an easy resolution for the courts that provides no closure to the families at the heart of the case.
“This plea did not represent the victims’ families, it represented an easy way out and no answers,” the Goncalves family said in a statement that called the wait for a resolution a “torture chamber.”
“Everyone loves the justice system until you get involved in it,” the family said in the statement provided by their attorney. “Then you really see that most of the time the cases and resolutions have nothing to do with the victims. At least that was our experience.”
The statement said that the family had hoped for answers about many details, including Kohberger’s motive for killing, which has never been revealed.
“Today was the day, the day for answers, the day to find out what happened, to find out really anything about what the Defendant did that night and why he took the lives of 4 beautiful people,” the family said. “At least that’s what we hoped for but hope is really all we had today.”
Others celebrated the potential end to the ordeal.
Outside the courthouse, Leander James, an attorney for the parents of Madison Mogen, said “We support the plea agreement 100%.”
“We now embark on a new path,” he told reporters. “We embark on a path of hope and healing.”
The family of Ethan Chapin supports the deal, their spokesperson, Christina Teves, told the Associated Press.
Kohberger’s plea comes weeks before murder trial
Kohberger’s trial was expected to begin with jury selection on Aug. 4 and opening statements on Aug. 18.
Prosecutors were set to present DNA evidence, cell phone records and surveillance footage to tie Kohberger to the stabbings. DNA found on the sheath of a knife left near one of the victims’ bodies was a statistical match to Kohberger, authorities previously said.
A police search warrant previously revealed Kohberger’s phone was tracked near the students’ house at least 12 times in the six months before the attack.
Neighborhood security camera videos also helped police identify a car they said was owned by Kohberger. The car was seen on video at least four times in the early morning hours the day of the killings before speeding off, earlier court filings said. Kohberger’s defense has previously claimed he was driving alone and not present at the victims’ homes.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to murders of 4 Idaho college students
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