Bryan Kohberger Pleads Guilty to Avoid Death Penalty

Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to all counts in the killings of four University of Idaho students, sparing him from the death penalty, according to a letter sent to victims' family members informing them of the plea deal.

Kohberger -- who was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the 2022 killings of roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin -- will be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count, according to the plea agreement.

Prosecutors anticipate sentencing to take place in late July, as long as Kohberger enters the guilty plea as expected at a change of plea hearing that's scheduled for Wednesday, according to the letter received by the family of one of the victims.

Kohberge will waive all right to appeal, the agreement said. The state also will seek restitution for the victims and their families, according to the agreement.

The plea comes just weeks before Kohberger's trial was set to begin. Jury selection was set to start on Aug. 4 and opening arguments were scheduled for Aug 18.

Prosecutors said in the letter to families that the state was approached last week by Kohberger's defense team asking to be presented with an offer. Prosecutors said they then met with available family members last week, "weighed the right path forward and made a formal offer" to Kohberger.

"This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family," prosecutors wrote 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."

But the Goncalves family is upset by the plea, claiming the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office "mishandled" and rushed the deal.

"They vaguely mentioned a possible plea on Friday, without seeking our input, and presented the plea on Sunday," the family said in a statement. "Latah County should be ashamed of its Prosecutor’s Office. Four wonderful young people lost their lives, yet the victims’ families were treated as opponents from the outset. We weren’t even called about the plea; we received an email with a letter attached. That’s how Latah County’s Prosecutor’s Office treats murder victims’ families. Adding insult to injury, they’re rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the courthouse for a plea on July 2."

The family statement went on to say: "After more than two years, this is how it concludes with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims’ families on the plea’s details. Our family is frustrated right now and that will subside and we will come together as always and deal with the reality that we face moving forward."

The University of Idaho said in a statement Monday, "We keep the families of the victims in our hearts as each deals with this outcome in their own way."

"No outcome can replace what they lost," the university said. "We will never forget the four incredible lives taken."

The four University of Idaho students were all stabbed to death in the girls' off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022.

Two roommates inside survived, including one roommate who told authorities in the middle of the night she saw a man walking past her in the house, according to court documents. The roommate described the intruder as "not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows," according to the documents.

The shocking quadruple killings shook the small college town of Moscow, catapulted to national media interest and launched a nearly seven-week manhunt.

In December 2022, Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time, was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania.

DNA matching Kohberger's was found on a KA-BAR knife sheath by one of the victim's bodies, prosecutors have said.

Defense lawyers have said Kohberger was driving around alone on the night the killings occurred.