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Bryan Kohberger — arrested for the gruesome murders of four University of Idaho students — avoided the death penalty by accepting a controversial plea deal Wednesday that angered a victim's family.
Kohberger, 30, is accused of murdering 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves, 21-year-old Madison Mogen, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle on Nov. 13, 2022, at an off-campus house in the city of Moscow.
Judge Hippler asked Kohberger, 'Did you on Nov. 13, 2022, enter the residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder?' 'Yes,' Kohberger answered.
Investigators believe Kohberger stabbed the students to death with a Ka-Bar-style hunting knife, which reportedly has never been found. But investigators reportedly discovered a knife sheath near Mogen's body at the crime scene, which allegedly had Kohberger's DNA on it.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 30, 2022.
Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the killings of the college housemates.
However, Kohberger walked away from death row after agreeing to a plea deal Wednesday.
Judge Steven Hippler began the hearing in Boise by addressing the controversy regarding Kohberger being spared the death penalty by agreeing to a plea deal.
Hippler noted that he had "no inkling" of a possible plea deal until Monday and was preparing for the case to go to trial.
Kohberger’s quadruple-murder trial was scheduled to begin next month, beginning with jury selection on Aug. 4 and opening statements on Aug. 18, USA Today reported.
"Once I learned of the defendant’s decision to change his plea in this case, it was important that I take the plea as soon as possible," the judge said.
Judge Hippler tackled the sensitive topic of Kohberger making a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, which has enraged at least one of the victims' families.
"This court cannot require the prosecutor to seek the death penalty, nor would it be appropriate for this court to do that," Hippler explained, according to the Associated Press.
“Court is not supposed to, and this court will never, take into account public sentiment in making an opinion regarding its judicial decisions in cases," Hippler declared. "I always will make decisions based on where the facts and the law lead me, period."
Loved ones of the murder victims cried as Judge Hippler read the names of the slain college students, the AP said.
Judge Hippler asked Kohberger, "Did you on Nov. 13, 2022, enter the residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder?”
“Yes,” Kohberger answered.
An unemotional Kohberger calmly confessed to killing the four college students before pleading guilty.
Judge Hippler said Kohberger will be sentenced at 9 a.m. July 23.
In 2023, a judge entered a not-guilty plea on Kohberger's behalf after the suspect stood silent when asked to provide a plea.
Prosecutors notified the victims' families of the plea in a letter, according to ABC News.
“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.”
Prosecutors added, "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."
Steve Goncalves — the father of Kaylee Goncalves — said his family had "never even considered" a plea agreement.
"It was described to me as, like, due diligence," Goncalves told ABC News in a separate story. "We're going to, like, look at this option, see if it could fit."
The distraught dad added, "At the least, justice starts with an interview of the families to ask them what justice is. And we didn't get that."
Photo by August Frank-Pool/Getty Images
The Goncalves family blasted the plea deal and the local prosecutor's office.
"The death penalty is merely an illusion in the criminal justice system," the family said in a statement released Tuesday. "When available, it serves as a bargaining tool for the state, and when rarely applied, it’s never enforced due to a highly inefficient appellate process. The notion that someone can plead guilty to a crime and still face years of appellate delays reveals a systemic failure."
The family continued, "The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office’s treatment of our family during this process is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone."
The family claimed that the prosecutor's office "branded" them as "adversaries."
"Four wonderful young people lost their lives, yet the victims’ families were treated as opponents from the outset," the family stated.
They added that the prosecutor's office "mishandled" the plea deal and argued that it was rushed.
The statement concluded, "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. Once again, we thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers!"
Just hours before the hearing, the Goncalves family also slammed Moscow Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson for making a "deal with the devil."
"Right here, right now, we dig our heels into the earth and carve a line deep in the dirt," the family said in a statement on Facebook. "This ain’t justice, no judge presided, no jury weighed the truth. Thompson robbed us of our day in court. No negotiations, no jury of our peers, not even the pretense of cooperation and fairness."
The statement continued, "Cowardly men, gutless men, they scatter like roaches when the battle closes in. And Thompson? He’s retiring on this deal, his shadow slithering toward the exit, leaving only the stench of his betrayal. No spine, no shred of honor. He didn’t have the basic decency, the plain human courage, to face the families, to meet our eyes and ask, 'How do we make an offer that works?' Instead, Thompson cut his deal with the devil, his negotiations didn’t require anything other than a simple guilty plea."
The family accused Thompson of failing to "shield the innocent."
The father of Xana Kernodle also opposed the deal, the New York Times reported.
However, some of the families of the victims have been supportive of the plea deal to end this chapter of their nightmare.
Madison Mogen's family said they support the plea agreement “100%,” according to NBC News.
The family's attorney read a prepared statement outside the courthouse after the hearing, "We lost our Maddie, our kind, loving, vivacious, and caring daughter, full of purpose and promise. We are grateful for the gift of her life, and we have grieved the loss of that life during each of these 962 days."
Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin, supported the plea agreement, according to KGET-TV.
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