Bryan Kohberger to plead guilty to killing 4 University of Idaho students, multiple media report

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARK SCOLFORO
Updated 6:04 PM CDT, June 30, 2025

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students as part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty, multiple media outlets reported Monday.

The news was delivered to families of the victims in a letter from prosecutors, according to ABC News.

Kohberger, 30, is accused in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. Autopsies showed the four were all likely asleep when they were attacked, some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times.

Goncalves’ family expressed outrage in a Facebook post: “We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected.”



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/kohberger-idaho-students-killed-91eeb98eebd3d9b007e4a5cae0f81030

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. 'We're beyond furious': Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger accepts plea deal

CRIME
'We're beyond furious': Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger accepts plea deal

By Hayat Norimine, Alex Brizee and Kevin Fixler
JUNE 30, 2025 4:33 PM

This is a breaking news story. Check back to idahostatesman.com for updates.
To sign up for breaking news alerts, click here.

Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the highly anticipated murder trial accused of killing four Idaho college students, accepted a plea deal, NewsNation first reported. ... A victim's family member told the Idaho Statesman that they received a letter, and provided the letter to the Statesman, confirming the plea deal.

Kohberger was accused of fatally stabbing the University of Idaho students in November 2022 in their off-campus Moscow home. He faced four first-degree murder charges and, if convicted, could have been sentenced to death in a trial that was slated to start with opening statements on Aug. 18.

The plea deal offered to take the death penalty off the table, in exchange for Kohberger pleading guilty to the four first-degree murder charges. He will be sentenced to life in prison, and must wave his right to an appeal, NewsNation first reported.

"We are beyond furious at the state of Idaho. They have failed us," the Goncalves family posted on its Facebook page. "Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support."

{snip}

https://amp.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article309739495.html

[valleyrogue]

3. When he takes the plea deal, it will be over and done with.

Lock him up and throw away the key.

[H2O Man]

2. Recommended.

This is surprising.

But then again, it's not. He is a cowardly punk who got off by stabbing three girls to death. One young man, too, but that was not his target.

[Prairie Gates]

4. I've followed the case and I'm a little bit surprised

I mean, they had him dead to rights, so I'm more surprised that they are offering a deal, but he absolutely has to take a deal. The judge did well to refuse another continuance. It's clear now that he was going to deal as soon as the prospect of a trial was on the immediate horizon.

This is nightmare stuff. I suspect he will not be forced to fully allocute, a la Joseph DeAngelo. I wonder whether they will allow him to serve his time in a max in Pennsylvania.

[maxsolomon]

6. State crime.

Won't he serve in a State Pen in Idaho?

[Prairie Gates]

8. States will occasionally make deals to transfer prisoners

But yes, the standard sentence here would be to the Department of Corrections in Idaho.

[Shermann]

7. I doubt we'll ever get a plausible motive

I'd rather he works with the prosecution than lawyers up and denies everything ala Ted Bundy. Who benefits from that? The terms of the agreement aren't given but he'll have to cooperate fully with the investigation and take responsibility. This seems like a better outcome than an execution decades from now.

[maxsolomon]

5. Not executing Kohberger isn't a "failure".

Glad to see this POS Psychopath go away forever. For the last 3 years, its seemed like he thought he was going to snake out of it on technical grounds.

[ReRe]

9. IMHO this dude is toast either way he goes.

Unless they put him in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.