Kaylee Goncalves (bottom left) and Madison Mogen (top left), Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle (Law&Crime Network file photos), (right) Bryan Kohberger (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool, File)
Bryan Kohberger, the suspect charged with stabbing four University of Idaho students to death, has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of murder.
In return for the guilty pleas, prosecutors will eliminate the death penalty as an option for the 30-year-old Kohberger, who will face four consecutive life sentences, as stated in a letter sent to the victims’ families.
A hearing is scheduled for July 2. Kohberger has reportedly waived all rights to appeals.
Kohberger was preparing for a trial set later this month regarding the November 13, 2022, killings of Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. The four were fatally stabbed in a residence in Moscow, near the U of I’s campus. Some were asleep when they were attacked.
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The defendant was arrested a month later, in December 2022.
The family of Kaylee Goncalves expressed disappointment at the plea agreement in a post on their Facebook page.
“It’s true! We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support,” the post stated.
Kohberger’s defense team had sought to remove the death penalty as a possible punishment for some time leading up to the agreement. His attorneys argued that forcing inmates to wait for years on death row and the methods available for prisoners to be executed in Idaho both constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Attorneys also argued Idaho’s death penalty laws violate an international treaty banning the torture of prisoners.
