Bryan Kohberger likely to die in maximum security prison
The deal ensures he avoids the death penalty, and will instead spend the rest of his life in prison without any opportunity for parole or to appeal the punishment. He is likely to be transferred out of maximum security at Ada County jail and into Idaho Maximum Security Institution after his sentencing hearing on July 23.
The prison, which has been open since 1989, is home to the state's 'most disruptive male residents' and violent offenders, according to the facility's website. The double perimeter fence surrounding the prison is reinforced with razor wire and an electronic detection system, along with a 24 hour armed patrol to ensure prisoners cannot escape. It holds a capacity if 549 inmates at any given time, including a dedicated section for mental health offenders.
The prison offers restrictive housing beds, disciplinary detention and is the state's death row facility. It is situated in Kuna, Idaho - part of the greater Boise region and a s ix-hour flight away from his family, who live on the other side of the country in Pennsylvania. Notorious triple murderer Chad Daybell is one of eight prisoners on death row living in the facility. Daybell murdered his first wife Tammy, along with the two children of his second wife, Lori Vallow.
Goncalves' family, who are distraught about Kohberger's plea deal, expressed concerns earlier this week that he will capitalize on his crime by writing a book and chatting publicly about the horror mass-stabbing now that he's been spared death. 'We have a killer who wants a show, and they just gave him one,' Kaylee's father Steve said of the former criminology student.
Kohberger's team contacted prosecutors to ask about a plea deal last week as his defense - including claims of an 'alternate perpetrator' - fell apart. He spoke calmly during his plea hearing Wednesday, answering 'yes' as he was asked plainly whether he murdered the four students . Investigators had long claimed that Kohberger broke into the off-campus home and stabbed to death Mogen and Goncalves, before then killing Kernodle and Chapin.
Kohberger's apartment and office were scrubbed clean when investigators searched them, and his car had been 'pretty much disassembled internally', prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson told the plea hearing Wednesday. He also changed his car registration to Washington State after the four killings. FBI agents were able to link Kohberger to the killings after collecting DNA samples from the garbage outside his parents' Pennsylvania home, where he was living at the time.
Investigators determined that DNA left on a Q-Tip belonged to the father of the person who left DNA on the knife sheath found at the crime scene. 'The defendant has studied crime,' Thompson told the court. 'In fact, he did a detailed paper on crime scene processing when he was working on his PhD, and he had that knowledge skillset.' Judge Steven Hippler accepted Kohberger's plea and said he will be sentenced at Ada County Court on July 23 at 9am local time (11am EST).
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34 minutes ago
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Guilty plea doesn't end quest for more details in Idaho college student slayings
With a series of 'yes' replies to a judge, a man accused of killing four Idaho college students pleaded guilty in exchange for life in prison and no death penalty. But left untold so far: What motivated Bryan Kohberger to commit the middle-of-the-night knife attacks and why those victims? More details could emerge when Kohberger returns to court for his sentence on July 23. Some answers could also be in the hundreds of documents filed by prosecutors and defense lawyers that have been under seal and out of public view starting in 2022. 'It is important that a full record be available, as if the matter and the evidence was exposed at trial, if we're going to have a complete understanding of what went on,' said David Leroy, former Idaho attorney general. Kohberger's hearing in a Boise, Idaho, courtroom was finished in less than an hour Wednesday. A trial where loads of details would have been revealed would have lasted many days. 'We deserve to know when the beginning of the end was,' the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves said in a Facebook post. Horror near the University of Idaho Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were stabbed multiple times after 4 a.m. at a rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger first killed Mogen and Goncalves and then killed Kernodle, who was still awake at the time, and Chapin, who was asleep, said Bill Thompson, the Latah County prosecutor. Two other people in the house were not harmed. The 30-year-old killer was pursuing an advanced degree in the criminology program at Washington State University in Pullman, 10 miles (16 kilometers) away. Thompson said there was no evidence that Kohberger had previous contact with the victims, but he noted that phone data showed him in the neighborhood at least a dozen times. A knife sheath left at the crime scene turned out to be crucial evidence for investigators. A search of trash at Kohberger's parents' home in Pennsylvania was critical, too: It produced a Q-tip that was used to match his genetic material on the sheath. No sunshine on many court filings Since 2022, there have been more than 200 orders to seal court filings in the Kohberger case, typically at the request of lawyers, including at least 103 this year alone, The Associated Press found. Those documents included trial briefs filed by each side, witness lists, jury instructions, evidence exhibits and the defense team's "alternate perpetrators" of the murders. Idaho court rules allow a judge to seal or redact records to 'preserve the right to a fair trial.' On a separate issue, Wendy Olson, an attorney for news organizations, including the AP, asked a judge to lift a gag order that has greatly restricted what the prosecutor and defense lawyers can say to reporters. 'There is no need to preserve Mr. Kohberger's 'right to a fair trial' because he has already admitted guilt,' Olson said in a court filing. Leroy, the former attorney general, said he believes additional information about the crimes would be important to the victims' families, law enforcement, experts and the general public. 'I'm very interested in knowing, to the extent we can, what combination of the attempt to commit the perfect crime or attempt to deal with his demons drove Mr. Kohberger to these acts,' Leroy said. ___ AP writer Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this story.
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