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What to know about Kohberger agreeing to plead guilty to murdering 4 University of Idaho students

What to know about Kohberger agreeing to plead guilty to murdering 4 University of Idaho students

Washington Post01-07-2025
BOISE, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murder in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty, an attorney for one victim's family said Monday.
Here's what to know about the case and the recent developments:
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Federal prosecutors in D.C. have been instructed not to seek felony charges against people who are carrying rifles or shotguns in the nation's capital, regardless of the strength of the evidence, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and an email reviewed by The Washington Post. The new policy, which Pirro said was crafted by the Justice Department and its solicitor general, marks a break with past practice. Prosecutors have used the D.C. law at issue — which prohibits carrying shotguns or rifles, with narrow exceptions for permit-holders — to charge defendants in several high-profile incidents, including a 2019 shotgun attack in Northeast Washington and the 'Pizzagate' shooter who targeted a restaurant in the city's Chevy Chase neighborhood with an AR-15 rifle and a handgun in 2016. 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The D.C. attorney general's office has limited jurisdiction over local crime, with the power to prosecute juvenile offenses and certain adult misdemeanors, but not firearms-related felonies. Authorities recovered 98 rifles and 38 shotguns in the District in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, along with 2,842 pistols and revolvers, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Not all firearms in the data were used in crimes, the ATF said. Trump declared a crime emergency in D.C. this month and has deployed a surge of federal law enforcement agents across the city, lamenting in an executive order Aug. 11 that the 'rising violence in the capital now urgently endangers public servants, citizens, and tourists.' Pirro, a former Fox News personality who previously served as a judge and prosecutor in Westchester County, New York, has praised Trump's actions as long overdue. 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At one point, Welch encountered a locked room and attempted to force open the door, first using a butter knife and then discharging his assault rifle multiple times into the door.' No one was injured in the shooting. Welch was also convicted of other offenses, in addition to carrying a shotgun. He died this year in a police shooting that began with a traffic stop in North Carolina.

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