NEWS ALERT: In what amounts to a personal victory for a deranged killer, and a slap across the victims’ families’ faces, a mass murderer has played the justice system in his favor.
Bryan Kohberger, the former PhD criminology student accused of brutally murdering four University of Idaho students, has taken the coward’s way out.
In a deal that has sparked outrage among victims’ families, Kohberger will plead guilty to avoid facing Idaho’s recently reinstated death penalty by firing squad.
Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to the 2022 killings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle in exchange for a life sentence without the possibility of appeal.
The plea deal was revealed in a letter to the victims’ families just weeks before his trial was set to begin, with jury selection originally scheduled for August 4.
“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,” prosecutors wrote.
The arrangement ensures Kohberger’s conviction but has devastated some victims’ families.
The Goncalves family has publicly expressed anger over being excluded from the decision-making process.
The deal comes after Kohberger’s defense team faced multiple setbacks, including rejected motions to delay the trial and exclude key evidence.
Prosecutors had compiled substantial evidence linking him to the crimes, including DNA on a knife sheath found at the scene, surveillance footage, cell phone data, and damning Amazon purchase records.
Infuriating.
And, devastated for the families that have had to endure years of the legal system silencing the facts in this case only to bury them in police reports forever.
If anyone deserved the Death Penalty, it was #BryanKohberger. pic.twitter.com/X87vitLPAf
— Roscoe Smith IV (@LoneStarLegendX) June 30, 2025
The handling of the plea deal has sparked further controversy, with the Goncalves family criticizing the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office for its poor communication.
“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,” they stated.
While prosecutors claim the deal prevents decades of appeals, critics argue it denies justice to the victims and their families.
Aubrie Goncalves delivered a powerful rebuke: “Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world. Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever.”
Kohberger will receive four consecutive life sentences for the murders and up to 10 years for burglary.
The sentencing is expected in late July, pending his official guilty plea at a scheduled hearing.
The arrangement also requires him to waive his right to appeal and allows the state to seek restitution for the victims’ families.
The case gained national attention after the November 2022 murders, leading to a seven-week manhunt that ended with Kohberger’s arrest in Pennsylvania in December 2022.
At the time of the killings, he was a criminology PhD student and teaching assistant at Washington State University, located just miles from the crime scene.
“The introduction of this plea deal, just weeks before the scheduled trial, is both shocking and cruel,” said Aubrie Goncalves.
While prosecutors defend the plea as ensuring Kohberger will spend the rest of his life in prison, many are left wondering why a man accused of such heinous crimes will not face the ultimate punishment.
