Bryan Kohberger plea deal angers victims' families: ‘Beyond furious’
Victim’s family "beyond furious" after Kohberger plea
Bryan Kohberger has reached a plea deal with prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty to the murders of four University of Idaho students in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, according to multiple media reports on Monday. LiveNOW’s Andy Mac is speaking with Legal Analyst Nicole Deborde.
Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students as part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid getting the death penalty.
Family members of the victims expressed their anger over the deal, saying the state justice system had failed them.
"We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho," Kaylee Goncalves’(one of four victims) family wrote in a Facebook post. "They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected."
Kohberger takes a plea deal
Dig deeper:
The prosecutors said they met with available family members before deciding to make Kohberger an offer.
What they're saying:
"This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family," prosecutors said in a letter. "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. Your viewpoints weighed heavily in our decision-making process, and we hope that you may come to appreciate why we believe this resolution is in the best interest of justice."
What's next:
A change of plea hearing is set for Wednesday.
The crime
fILE - Bryan Kohberger listens to arguments during a hearing to overturn his grand jury indictment on October 26, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. (Photo by Kai Eiselein-Pool/Getty Images)
The backstory:
Kohberger, 30, is accused in the stabbing deaths of Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, early 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.
In a court filing, Kohberger's lawyers said he was on a long drive by himself around the time the four were killed.
No motive has emerged for the killings, nor is it clear why the attacker spared two roommates who were in the home. Authorities have said cellphone data and surveillance video shows that Kohberger visited the victims’ neighborhood at least a dozen times before the killings.
Victims' families react to plea deal
FILE - Steve and Kristi Goncalves, parents of victim Kaylee Goncalves, arrive at the Ada County Courthouse for a hearing in the Bryan Kohberger case, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via
The Chapin family will be in Boise for the plea hearing, Christina Teves, the family’s spokesperson, said. The family has not issued a statement regarding the plea deal.
Karen and Scott Laramie, the mother and stepfather of Mogen, plan to make a statement through their attorney, Leander James, after the hearing.
Relatives of Kernodle did not immediately respond to interview requests.
In a Facebook post, the Goncalves family wrote that Kaylee's 18-year-old sister, Aubrie, had been unable to attend the meeting with prosecutors. But she shared her concerns in a written statement.
"Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world," Aubrie Goncalves wrote. "Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever. That reality stings more deeply when it feels like the system is protecting his future more than honoring the victims’ pasts."
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press and previous reporting by FOX Local. This story was reported from Los Angeles.