Bryan Kohberger: Criminology student accused of University of Idaho quadruple murder in plea deal

Headshot of Peta Rasdien
Peta Rasdien
The Nightly
Bryan Kohberger has signed a deal that means he will avoid the death penalty.
Bryan Kohberger has signed a deal that means he will avoid the death penalty. Credit: Matt Rourke/AP

A former criminology PhD student accused of the brutal murder of four young people has reportedly agreed to a plea deal that means he will avoid the death penalty.

Bryan Kohberger, 30, who was slated to face a highly anticipated trial starting on August 18, has been charged with the horrific killings of the University of Idaho students in 2022.

The plea deal takes the death penalty off the table, in exchange for Kohberger pleading guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and an additional charge of felony burglary.

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In a case that grabbed global headlines, Idaho police found four young students brutally stabbed to death in an off-campus home in Moscow.

The three women and one man — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin — had been asleep in bed when Kohberger allegedly broke into the house, killing each of them but sparing two other housemates who were on a lower floor.

Bryan Kohberger’s plea deal reportedly takes the death penalty off the table.
Bryan Kohberger’s plea deal reportedly takes the death penalty off the table. Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP

Kohberger, then 28, had been studying criminology less than ten miles from Moscow at Washington State University but appeared to have no connection with the students who had been stabbed to death.

The FBI arrested him seven weeks later, more than 2000 miles away, after Kohberger and his father Michael drove to their family home, apparently unaware the FBI had tailed them across the country.

The house in Moscow, Idaho where four University of Idaho students were killed in November, 2022.
The house in Moscow, Idaho where four University of Idaho students were killed in November, 2022. Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP

The family of one of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves, has expressed anger over the plea deal.

“It’s true! We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us,” the family wrote in a social media post.

“Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support.”

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