Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the horrific slayings of four University of Idaho students to avoid the death penalty.
Bryan Kohberger was indicted by a secret grand jury last year and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the slayings of four University of Idaho students.
Kohberger, 30, was accused of fatally stabbing 20-year-old Ethan Chapin of Conway, Washington; 21-year-old Madison Mogen of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; 20-year-old Xana Kernodle of Avondale, Arizona; and 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves of Rathdrum, Idaho on November 13, 2022.
The Goncalves family was outraged upon learning about the plea deal.
“We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho,” a Facebook post read, according to Fox News. “They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected.”
The full blistering statement from the Goncalves family:
“The death penalty is merely an illusion in the criminal justice system. 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 Latah County Prosecutor’s Office’s treatment of our family during this process is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. We questioned decisions early in the investigation: why was the mayor commenting on the case? Why was the coroner speaking to families? Why was an officer with less than two years’ experience leading the investigation? Why was the University of Idaho involved when they declared it an isolated off-campus incident? Why was the University permitted to write a book about the incident while others were silenced under an overly broad order? As a result, we were branded adversaries. So, it was no shock how the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office mishandled the plea deal. They vaguely mentioned a possible plea on Friday, without seeking our input, and presented the plea on Sunday. Latah County should be ashamed of its Prosecutor’s Office. Four wonderful young people lost their lives, yet the victims’ families were treated as opponents from the outset. We weren’t even called about the plea; we received an email with a letter attached. That’s how Latah County’s Prosecutor’s Office treats murder victims’ families. Adding insult to injury, they’re rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the courthouse for a plea on July 2. Who do they think they are? After more than two years, this is how it concludes with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims’ families on the plea’s details. 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!”
Breaking: BLISTERING statement from Goncalves family on Kohberger plea
“The death penalty is merely an illusion in the criminal justice system. When available, it serves as a bargaining tool for the State, and when rarely applied, it’s never enforced due to a highly inefficient…
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) July 1, 2025
Kohberger, who was facing a firing squad if convicted, accepted a plea deal and will spend life in prison without parole.
Fox News reported: “Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger has accepted a plea deal to spare his life in exchange for a guilty plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students, two sources close to the case told Fox News Digital Monday.”
According to the court documents, Kohberger’s DNA was found on a tan leather knife sheath left behind on Maddie Mogen’s bed on the 3rd floor at the King Road Residence.
“The sheath was later processed and had ‘Ka-Bar’ ‘USMC’ and the United States Marine Corps eagle globe and anchor insignia stamped on the outside of it,” Idaho police officer Brett Payne wrote in the 19-page affidavit. “The Idaho state lab later located a single source of male DNA (suspect Profile) left on the button snap of the knife sheath.”
Click here to read the probable cause affidavit and read through and analysis.
Click here to read the unsealed search warrant on Bryan Kohberger’s Pullman, Washington, apartment.
According to new court filings, Kohberger’s online ‘click activity’ shows a purchase of a Ka-Bar knife and sheath before the quadruple homicide. Kohberger also searched online for a Ka-Bar and sheath after the murders.
Kohberger also took a creepy selfie giving a thumbs up just hours after the murders. He looked freshly showered and proud of his alleged slayings.
Prosecutors will use this selfie to showcase Kohberger’s ‘bushy eyebrows’ as described by the surviving roommate, Dylan Mortensen.
The prosecution has records of Bryan Kohberger purchasing a black balaclava from Dick’s Sporting Goods several months before the murders.
“This mask is the same type of mask described by DM that she witnessed worn by a male in the residence on November 13, 2022,” the prosecution said referring to the surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen’s description of what appears to be Kohberger.
Mortensen described a male, slim but muscular build, about 6 feet tall with bushy eyebrows who was wearing a black mask in the home at the time of the murders around 4:20 am.
Additionally, prosecutors have screen images of what appears to be Bryan Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra driving up to the house on King Road and fleeing the crime scene around the time of the murders.
They also have footage of Kohberger driving along State Route 270 between his residence in Pullman, Washington and Moscow, Idaho shortly before the murders.
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