The mother of University of Idaho victim Xana Kernodle has broken her silence about a plea deal for the killer Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty last week to four counts of first-degree murder for killing the 20-year-old, her boyfriend and two other friends in a home invasion attack.

“At first I was upset. I felt like I will never get answers now, but now I really see The Lord’s hand in it,” Cara Northington told Fox News Digital. “I now can see that God is protecting us from further torment and trauma.”

While the plea deal didn’t require Kohberger to explain himself, it puts the case to rest, she said.

Prosecutors had his DNA at the crime scene – on the snap of a Ka-Bar knife sheath. They traced his phone around town and said he had repeatedly driven by the victims’ home before and after the murders.

Surveillance video showed the suspect vehicle speeding away after the murders. And two eyewitnesses survived the attack – a roommate who told police she had come within three feet of a masked intruder before he inexplicably left the home, and a DoorDash driver who dropped off food for Kernodle just minutes before Kohberger killed her.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested for four counts of alleged first-degree murder and one count of burglary in Monroe County, Pennsylvania in December 2022. Kohberger was granted a change of venue and rebooked in Ada County, Idaho in September 2024. He later pleaded guilty to the murders. (Ada County Sheriff’s Office)

But juries can be unpredictable, and even a guilty verdict with or without a death sentence would have faced years of appeals.

Under the terms of the deal, Kohberger waived his right to appeal and forfeit his chance to move for a sentence reduction under Idaho law.