Bryan Kohberger agrees to plea deal to avoid death penalty in Idaho student killings

Bryan Kohberger, the 30-year-old accused of fatally stabbing 4 University of Idaho students in their apartment in 2022, has agreed to a plea deal to avoid the death penalty in his quadruple murder case.

The plea deal consisted of pleading guilty to 4 counts of murder in exchange for the government not pursuing the death penalty, a person familiar with the deal confirmed to CNN. Shannon Gray, attorney for family of victim Kaylee Goncalves, also confirmed the deal to CNN.

A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Kohberger was slated to go on trial in August, and prosecutors indicated they would pursue the death penalty.

“The issue is they are trying to cram the plea for July 2, only giving the families a day to get to Boise,” Gray said.

Goncalvez’ family described the announcement as “very unexpected” in a post on Facebook. They said they were “furious at the State of Idaho.”

“They have failed us. Please give us some time,” reads the post.

"The uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals"

The deal brings a possible end to the years-long legal proceedings against Kohberger, which have seen his trial date delayed multiple times due to disputes about evidence and witnesses, as well as a change of venue from Latah County to the state capital of Boise.

“We cannot fathom the toll that this case has taken on your family,” read the letter, signed by Moscow Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson, according to the Idaho Statesman, which said it viewed the letter. “This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family. 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.”

Kohberger, previously a PhD student of criminology at the University of Washington, was charged with killing the 4 students in January 2023. Authorities say Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 were fatally stabbed in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022 in Moscow, Idaho.

An assistant at the Kootenai County Public Defender’s office told CNN “no comment” about the news of the plea deal.

Last week, a judge rejected a bid from Kohberger’s defense to delay the trial and dismissed the defense’s request to propose an “alternate perpetrator” theory. The judge had also barred Kohberger’s defense from entering an official alibi – since no one could vouch for where he was during the time of the killings.

A not guilty plea was previously entered on Kohberger’s behalf.

The killings shook the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, inspiring fear as law enforcement spent weeks searching for a suspect. The harrowing details of the crimes and years-long legal proceedings against Kohberger have also been the subject of public scrutiny. Kohberger appeared to have little connection to the victims.

Prosecutors had submitted a variety of evidence that they say ties Kohberger to the crimes, including DNA found on a knife sheath on a bed close to Mogen. The single source profile was determined to be male and matched to Kohberger through investigative genetic genealogy, the process of taking unknown DNA to public databases and finding relatives that share the profile.

4 students killed overnight

The 4 university students were all found dead on November 13, 2022. Investigators believe the 4 roommates were killed sometime between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m.

Accounts of what unfolded that night in Moscow have emerged from 2 of the surviving roommates. 1 survivor, Dylan Mortensen, said she was woken overnight by strange noises in their off-campus house.

She told investigators she saw a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” in the home, according to an affidavit.

Source: CNN, Staff, July 1, 2025

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