Prosecutors have offered a plea deal to Bryan Kohberger, a former criminology student who is accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in their off-campus home in 2022.
NewsNation reported that prosecutors have proposed dropping the death penalty in return for Kohberger’s guilty plea.
Kohberger faces four murder charges related to the deaths of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves on November 13, 2022, as well as a burglary charge.
At 30 years old, Kohberger has reportedly agreed to the plea deal, which involves him receiving a life sentence without the chance of parole, and he has also agreed to waive his right to appeal.
NewsNation cites unnamed sources for the information. ABC News reported that the information was contained in a letter sent to the victims’ families.
In the letter, prosecutors said Kohberger’s attorneys approached them last week and asked for an offer. The prosecutors then met with available family members of victims and “weighed the right path forward and made a formal offer.”
“This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family,” prosecutors said in the letter. “This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction, appeals.
“Your viewpoints weighed heavily in our decision-making process, and we hope that you may come to appreciate why we believe this resolution is in the best interest of justice.”
The Goncalves family confirmed the news with a Facebook post that said they were “beyond furious at the State of Idaho” who “have failed us.” They said the news was “unexpected.”
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, ABC reported, when he is expected to change his plea from not guilty. He will be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences.
Kohberger’s trial had been set to begin in August.
The four University of Idaho students were brutally slain in the early hours of November 13, 2022. Kohberger was arrested six weeks later at his parents home in Pennsylvania, where he had traveled for the Christmas holidays from Pullman, Washington — about 10 miles from Moscow — where he was attending Washington State University.
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