Idaho 4 case: Victims' families outraged at reports of plea deal for suspect Bryan Kohberger - National & International News - TUE 1Jul2025 -

Families of the victims of the 2022 “Idaho Four” murders are divided over a plea deal for suspect Bryan Kohberger, which averts the death penalty. Hearing set for tomorrow.

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Idaho 4 case: Victims’ families outraged at reports of plea deal for suspect Bryan Kohberger

In November 2024, four University of Idaho students – Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 – were found brutally stabbed to death in their off campus home in Moscow, ID. Nearly six weeks later on December 30, Bryan Kohberger, then 28, was arrested at his family’s home in Pennsylvania in connection with the killings. Kohberger was a PhD criminology student at Washington State University in Pullman, WA, which is just 8 miles from Moscow. The State of Idaho charged Kohberger with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. Prosecutors announced they were seeking the death penalty.

Investigators reportedly found DNA evidence at the murder scene which links to Kohberger and claim that video and digital evidence puts him at the scene. However, many unanswered questions remain. No motive for the killings has ever emerged. Investigators have not revealed any connection between Kohberger and the victims, although Goncalves’ family have told the media that Kohberger followed Goncalves and Mogen on Instagram. The authenticity of that account purportedly belonging to Kohberger has not been verified. Several accounts bearing his name appeared on social media after news of his arrest.

Another mystery is why two other roommates sharing a home with the victims were left unharmed, despite one of them claiming the killer walked right past down a darkened hallway her as she stood in a doorway. It was hoped that more details would come to light during Kohberger’s trial, which was set to begin August 18.

Plea deal divides victims’ families

The victims’ families say they have been informed of a plea deal in the works for Kohberger. According to a letter the families received from prosecutors, Kohberger agreed to plea guilty to the four counts of murder, accepting consecutive sentences of life in prison for each, as well as a 10-year sentence for the burglary charge.

While a plea deal has not been officially announced, Kohberger is scheduled for a plea hearing on Wednesday. Sentencing will ultimately be up to the judge presiding over the case. Judges in Idaho can reject plea deals, but such instances are rare.

The letter, viewed by the Idaho Statesman, stated that, “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”.

Members of the Goncalves and Kernodle families have expressed their outrage over the plea deal to the press. In a statement on Facebook, the Goncalves family said the plea was agreed without input from the families. Kaylee Goncalves’ father Steve told the TODAY Show, “Idaho has failed. They failed me. They failed my whole family”. Speaking about a later meeting with prosecutors, Goncalves said, “They told us it’s not really about us, it’s about their process. Just shut up and get on board and deal with it. That’s really what they told us”.

Goncalves family attroney Shannon Gray said the family opposed the plea deal in part because of how it would affect Kohberger’s time in prison. While death row inmates have limited freedoms, an inmate serving a life sentence, even for murder, essentially has the same freedoms as any other inmate.

Madison Mogen’s father Ben feels differently. Mogen said he was relieved by the plea deal because it means, “We can actually put this behind us and not have these future dates and future things that we don’t want to have to be at, that we shouldn’t have to be at, that have to do with this terrible person,” Mogen said. “We get to just think about the rest of lives and have to try and figure out how to do it without Maddie and the rest of the kids”.