Idaho Murders Victim's Family Cries Out As Bryan Kohberger Takes Plea Deal In Shock Twist: 'They've Failed Us'

Yahoo

01-07-2025

Idaho murders suspect, Bryan Kohberger, has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to the gruesome killings of four undergrads in 2022.
The shock move comes after a lengthy legal process that has spanned years, with Kohberger's lawyers fighting tooth and nail to delay his trial, which had been scheduled for August 2025, while arguing about the possibility of other suspects.
However, with the prosecutors proposing to drop the death penalty, Bryan Kohberger has now accepted a plea deal that entails him pleading guilty to the murders and to a burglary charge.
According to reports, Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in their off-campus home on King Road in November 2022.
A plea deal that he has accepted will ensure Kohberger is safe from the death penalty and will instead serve life in prison without parole.
A judge had previously entered a "not guilty" plea for the former criminology grad student when he stayed silent during a plea hearing.
Now, he is scheduled to change his plea in court on Wednesday, July 2. This development has, however, left the family of a victim, Kaylee Goncalves, infuriated.
"We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho," a Facebook post read, per the Daily Mail. "They have failed us. This was very unexpected."
The Goncalves have been quite vocal about Kohberger and his lawyers since the gruesome incident. Back in 2023, Steve Goncalves, Kaylee's father, opened up to Fox News, stating that the murder suspect was being given preferential treatment while awaiting trial.
At the time, he claimed to have received information that Kohberger had privileges, including exceptional food and internet access, while in jail.
Goncalves said, "I've been told that his privileges before the trial, like having five suits, access to video and a computer, and getting special vegan meals, are like nothing we've seen in Idaho's history."
The father of the victim added that he "personally saw" the moment when the police "decided not to handcuff" Kohberger during a court hearing.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, almost six weeks after the murders of the Idaho students. According to prosecutors, Kohberger broke into the four students' home after they had gone to bed following a night party and stabbed them to death.
Court documents showed that Kohberger had purchased a black balaclava nearly a year before a witness reported seeing a masked man inside the home of the murders.
Prosecutors alleged that the suspected killer bought the face covering on January 10, 2022, at a Dick's Sporting Goods store in Pittsburgh, eleven months before the fatal stabbings on November 13, 2022.
They also pointed to Kohberger's online shopping history, which includes purchasing a combat-style knife, a sheath, and a sharpener from Amazon approximately eight months before the attack.
A knife sheath containing Kohberger's DNA was later recovered at the crime scene. Additionally, Dylan Mortensen, a witness inside the King Road residence the night of the killings, told police they saw a man wearing a similar mask.
According to Newsweek, prosecutors planned to highlight Kohberger's background in criminology by introducing his academic records from DeSales University, where he took courses related to criminal justice.
Adding to the list of evidence was surveillance footage from a convenience store that reportedly captured Kohberger driving to and from the scene of the murders.
Prosecutors also intended to introduce his driver's license as evidence, both to confirm his ability to operate a vehicle and to match his physical appearance with a witness description of the person seen fleeing the victims' residence.
Furthermore, a report by NBC News' "Dateline" claimed that Kohberger allegedly scoured the internet for images of female students from both Washington State University and the University of Idaho.
He reportedly searched for photos of women in swimsuits, some of which were linked to friends or followers of the three young women who were later murdered.
Beyond the mountain of evidence against Kohberger, his defense faced additional obstacles after prosecutors revealed a college essay he wrote, which showed he had an understanding of crime scenes.
In the unsettling essay, Kohberger detailed how crime scene investigators use "fiber-free" overalls, gloves, and booties to prevent contaminating evidence with their DNA and fingerprints.
He also explored multiple facets of crime scene investigation and repeatedly stressed the importance of safeguarding the area from contamination.
In another part of the essay, Kohberger discussed how perpetrators might introduce items into the crime scene to mislead investigators. He also cautioned investigators against making hasty conclusions in such scenarios.
"Even if there was an item introduced to the scene by an offender to throw off investigators, it is not the job of the criminal investigator processing the crime scene to jump to conclusions," Kohberger wrote in the chilling piece.