Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday in the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in 2022 that stunned and terrified the campus and set off a nationwide search, which ended weeks later when he was arrested in Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors said Kohberger, now 30, sneaked into a rental home in Moscow, Idaho, near the campus, and stabbed Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves on Nov. 13, 2022. Autopsies showed the four were stabbed multiple times and likely asleep when they were attacked, though some had defensive wounds.
Kohberger, who was a criminal justice graduate student at nearby Washington State University, pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors that will allow him to avoid the death penalty. He was set to go to trial in August.
Idaho Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler said as the hearing began Wednesday that he would not take into account public opinion when deciding whether to accept the agreement.
“This court cannot require the prosecutor to seek the death penalty, nor would it be appropriate for this court to do that,” he said. “This court … cannot force the state to seek the death penalty.”
He also addressed criticisms that the families were not given time to weigh in on the plea deal.
“I, like everyone else, learned of this plea agreement Monday afternoon and had no inkling of it beforehand. 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.”
Loved ones cry as the victims’ names are read
As the judge read the names of those Kohberger is accused of killing, people in the section for families teared up.
One wiped their eyes with the back of their hand. Others cried into their tissues.
Kohberger remained unemotional as he confirmed to the judge that he stabbed the four victims almost three years ago.
Prosecutor describes evidence against Kohberger
What they’re saying:
Prosecutor Bill Thompson mapped out how police were able to map Kohberger’s movements using data from his cellphone, and provided a precise timeline of the stabbings.
Kohberger slipped through the sliding back door where the four victims were staying, Thompson said. He first killed Madison Mogen.
He then killed Kaylee Goncalves. Kohberger stabbed Xana Kernodle, who was collecting a DoorDash order, as he was leaving Goncalves’ room. He also killed Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, who was asleep in bed, with a long-blade knife.
Kohberger left a sheath from his knife in Mogen’s room. Thompson emphasized that there was a “single source” of male DNA that matched Kohberger’s left on the sheath.
The prosecutor said he wanted to emphasize that point so that members of the public would not speculate about whether there was a sexual component to the crimes.
Bryan Kohberger formally pleads guilty to murders
As he pleaded guilty, some in the family section looked down and others craned to see him.
Kohberger told the judge he understood the terms of the plea deal, which stipulates he will serve four life sentences and won’t be able to appeal.
What’s next:
The judge set the official sentencing for July 23 at 9 a.m. MDT.
Who were the victims and who is the suspect?
The backstory:
Kohberger, 30, is accused in the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen at a home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Autopsies showed the four were all likely asleep when they were attacked, some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times.
Kohberger, then a criminal justice graduate student at nearby Washington State University, was arrested in Pennsylvania weeks after the killings. Investigators said they matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
What has happened so far in the case?
What we know:
Kohberger has been charged with four counts of murder in the stabbings. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted.
When initially asked to enter a plea in 2023, Kohberger stood silent, prompting the judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
The northern Idaho farming community of about 25,000 people was rocked by the killings and hadn’t seen a homicide in about five years. The trial was scheduled to move to Boise after the defense expressed concerns that Kohberger couldn’t get a fair trial where the killings occurred.
What do we know about the plea deal?
Dig deeper:
Kohberger’s trial was set to start in August and was expected to last more than three months. But after his attorneys failed to have execution stricken as a possible punishment, he agreed to the plea deal.
An attorney for the family of Goncalves confirmed that families of the victims received news of the plea deal in a letter from prosecutors Monday.
“We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho,” Goncalves’ family wrote in a Facebook post. “They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected.”
The prosecutors said they met with available family members last week, including some members of the Goncalves family, before deciding to make Kohberger an offer.
A spokesperson for the family of Chapin said they support the deal, while an attorney for Mogen’s mother and stepfather, declined to give their views before Wednesday’s hearing.
What did prosecutors plan to show at trial?
Court filings have shown that prosecutors intended to introduce evidence including Kohberger’s “click history” at Amazon.com with the purchased of a Ka-Bar knife — a military-style, fixed-blade knife — along with a sheath and sharpener months before the killings. A Ka-Bar knife sheath was found next to one of the victims.
Prosecutors had also said they also intended to introduce what appears to be a self-portrait Kohberger took on his phone just hours after the killings. In it, he is smiling and giving a thumbs-up gesture.
A roommate who was in the home that morning, sleeping and intoxicated, told police she woke up and saw a man she didn’t know — someone with “bushy eyebrows” who was wearing a face mask, prosecutors have said.
No motive has emerged for the killings, nor is it clear why the attacker spared two roommates who were in the home at the time. Authorities have said cellphone data and surveillance video shows that Kohberger visited the victims’ neighborhood at least a dozen times before the four students were slain.
In a court filing, Kohberger’s lawyers said he was on a long drive by himself around the time the four were killed.
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The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle original reporting, The Associated Press, Ada County Court and various law enforcement agencies.
