Latest news with #pleaDeal
CBS News
6 hours ago
- CBS News
Bryan Kohberger, man charged in the murders of 4 University of Idaho students, expected to plead guilty
Bryan Kohberger, the former criminal justice doctoral student charged in the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022, is expected to officially plead guilty Wednesday in a deal with prosecutors that spares him from the death penalty. The hearing is expected to begin at 11 a.m. local time (1 p.m. ET). People hoping to be inside the courtroom have been lined up since 2:45 a.m. Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the stabbings of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were killed at a home in Moscow, Idaho, during the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania six weeks later. DNA evidence linked him to a knife sheath found at the crime scene, according to a police affidavit. The plea deal was first revealed in a letter sent to the victims' families by the Latah County Prosecutor's Office. Mogen's father, Ben Mogen, shared portions of the letter with "CBS Mornings," in which the prosecutor's office said that attorneys for Kohberger, 30, requested the deal and Kohberger accepted it. The deal requires Kohberger plead guilty to all the counts against him and says he would be sentenced to "four consecutive (back to back) life sentences on the four Murder counts" and "would waive all rights to appeal." The plea deal would spare him the death penalty, which prosecutors had sought. Kohberger will also plead guilty to a burglary count and be sentenced to ten years, according to the letter. In Idaho, a judge has the authority to reject plea deals, but it's considered rare. The letter says that if Kohberger "enters guilty pleas as expected," prosecutors expect him to be sentenced in late July. If he does not enter the expected guilty plea, prosecutors will proceed to trial. Kohberger's trial was expected to begin in August, following several delays. Kohberger's defense team had a motion to remove the death penalty as a possible sentence if he was convicted denied in November 2024. The case was meant to be tried in Latah County, but was moved to Boise out of concerns that media coverage and statements from local officials would make it impossible for Kohberger to receive a fair trial. Most recently, Ada County Judge Steven Hippler denied a motion by Kohberger's lawyers, who were seeking to argue that four "alternate perpetrators" could have committed the slayings. The judge called the argument "rank speculation" and said nothing linked the parties to the murders. Martin Souto Diaz, an attorney for the Kohberger family, said in a statement provided to CBS News Tuesday evening on behalf of the family that, "In light of recent developments, the Kohbergers are asking members of the media for privacy, respect, and responsible judgment during this time. We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties, and will not release any comments or take any questions." Prosecutors planned to present evidence including Kohberger's Amazon purchase history, which showed he bought a Ka-Bar knife with a sheath and sharpener. The blade he bought macthed the sheath found at the crime scene, prosecutors said. They also planned to present surveillance video of Kohberger's car and cellphone data that they said showed him in the vicinity of the killings. The families of the victims have been split on the plea deal. The Goncalves family said in a statement shared on Facebook that they are "beyond furious at the State of Idaho," and said officials had "failed" them. "This was very unexpected," the family wrote. In another statement, they asked that the plea deal "require a full confession, full accountability, location of the murder weapon, confirmation the defendant acted alone, & the true facts of what happened that night." Ben Mogen said he was relieved to get the letter, and said the plea deal will spare him and his family from more time in court. "We can actually put this behind us and not have these future dates and future things that we don't want to have to be at, that we shouldn't have to be at, that have to do with this terrible person," he told CBS Mornings. "We get to just think about the rest of our lives and have to try and figure out how to do it without Maddie and without the rest of the kids."
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bryan Kohberger due in court today to plead guilty in Idaho college killings
Bryan Kohberger is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday to all counts in the killings of four University of Idaho students, despite the former criminology student's initial eagerness to be exonerated in the high-profile case. Kohberger -- who was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the 2022 killings of roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin -- will be spared the death penalty as a part of the plea, according to a letter sent to victims' relatives. He'll be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count, according to the agreement. Kohberger will also waive all right to appeal, the agreement said. The plea comes just weeks before Kohberger's trial was to get underway. Jury selection was set to start on Aug. 4 and opening arguments were scheduled for Aug 18. Prosecutors -- who met with victims' families last week -- called the plea a "sincere attempt to seek justice" for the families. MORE: Idaho victim's dad slams Kohberger plea deal: 'I can't pretend like I feel like this is justice' But the dad of 21-year-old victim Kaylee Goncalves is blasting the move, accusing the prosecutors of mishandling and rushing the plea deal. "At the least, justice starts with an interview of the families to ask them what justice is. And we didn't get that," Steve Goncalves told ABC News. The Goncalves family told ABC News they contacted prosecutors on Tuesday asking for the terms of Kohberger's deal be amended to include additional requirements: they asked for a full confession and for the location of the alleged murder weapon -- described by authorities as a KA-BAR-style hunting knife -- which has never been found. The family said prosecutors turned down the request, explaining that an offer already accepted by the defendant could not ethically be changed. The family said the prosecutors indicated they're asking the court to allow the prosecution to include a factual summary of the evidence against Kohberger at Wednesday's hearing, and that more information about Kohberger's actions would be presented at his sentencing hearing. MORE: Idaho college victims' friends recall moment they responded to home: 'You know something's wrong' The family of 20-year-old victim Ethan Chapin said in a brief statement that they'll be in Boise on Wednesday "in support of the plea bargain." Idaho law requires the state to afford violent crime victims or their families an opportunity to communicate with prosecutors and to be advised of any proposed plea offer before entering into an agreement, but the ultimate decision lies solely with the prosecution. Prosecutors anticipate sentencing to take place in late July, as long as Kohberger enters the guilty plea as expected on Wednesday, according to a letter prosecutors sent to victims' families. In the event Kohberger fails to enter the pleas, prosecutors indicated they are ready to proceed to trial in August, the letter said. MORE: Idaho college victim's siblings remember arriving at crime scene: 'Not on this earth anymore' Attorneys for the Kohberger family said in a statement on Tuesday, "The Kohbergers are asking members of the media for privacy, respect, and responsible judgment during this time. We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties." Prosecutors allege Kohberger fatally stabbed Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin in the students' off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Two roommates in the house survived, including one roommate who told authorities in the middle of the night she saw a man walking past her in the house, according to court documents. The roommate described the intruder as "not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows," according to the documents. Kohberger, who was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime, was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania in December 2022. Defense lawyers have said Kohberger was driving around alone on the night of the murders. ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams said Kohberger may have agreed to the plea because the defense has lost numerous arguments to the judge. MORE: Bryan Kohberger to plead guilty to all counts in Idaho college murders case "The defense had tried to get the death penalty taken off the table again and again, and they kept losing. Most recently, they tried to point the finger at other possible suspects," but the judge rejected that argument, citing a lack of evidence, Abrams told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday. With the prosecution's DNA evidence, video evidence and cellphone records, the defense was faced with "a pretty bad case in the end," Abrams said. A key piece of evidence against Kohberger is his DNA, which was found on a knife sheath left by one of the victim's bodies, prosecutors said. Kohberger's defense attorneys sought to exclude DNA evidence, but the judge denied their request. "You put it all together and it was tough to figure out exactly where the defense was gonna go with this," Abrams said.
New York Times
10 hours ago
- New York Times
Former Criminology Student Is Set to Plead Guilty in Idaho Murders
A Ph.D. student who went from studying crime scenes and serial killers to being charged in the mysterious murders of four Idaho college students was set to plead guilty on Wednesday in a deal that would spare him from the death penalty. The agreement reached between prosecutors and the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was a surprise twist in a case that has spawned books, documentaries and years of social media speculation since November 2022, when four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in the middle of the night in a home near campus. But while the deal was set to resolve the question of whether Mr. Kohberger, 30, would be convicted, it also raised significant new ones. Among them were whether a motive would ever be revealed, since Mr. Kohberger had no known connection to the victims, and whether Mr. Kohberger would discuss how he had carried out the crime and evaded arrest for more than six weeks. The plea hearing, scheduled for 11 a.m. local time in Boise, will be a turning point in a grisly drama that was only increasing in intensity as the trial, which had been set to begin in August, drew nearer. At the time of the crimes, Mr. Kohberger was a few months into a criminology program at Washington State University, about a 15-minute drive from the crime scene in Moscow, Idaho. He had moved there from Pennsylvania, where he was raised and where he had recently completed a master's program in criminal justice, during which he had surveyed criminals about their emotions and thoughts while they carried out their past crimes. Investigators have said he drove around the victims' home on King Road before entering the house and going into two bedrooms around 4 a.m., where he fatally stabbed four college students: Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
11 hours ago
- Fox News
Bryan Kohberger expected to officially plead guilty: what's next
Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger is expected to plead guilty Wednesday when he returns to court after accepting a deal earlier this week in a move that has been slammed by some of the victims' family members. Kohberger, 30, is accused of killing University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in a 4 a.m. home invasion attack Nov. 13, 2022. He may not have to explain the crime as part of the plea agreement, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital Tuesday. He is scheduled to appear at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise at 11 a.m. "By taking a plea deal, Bryan Kohberger has insulated himself from a sentence that would require his execution," Idaho defense lawyer Edwina Elcox, who has had cases in front of Ada County District Judge Steven Hippler, told Fox News Digital. "Only a jury can sentence him to death. Regardless, he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of ever being in society again." Two sources confirmed Kohberger's intent to accept a plea deal to Fox News Digital Monday, just weeks before jury selection was slated to begin for his trial in August. Hippler will now decide at Wednesday's hearing whether to accept or deny Kohberher's plea. "Hopefully, this will bring the families some peace, if that is even possible after such a horrifying crime," Elcox said. "They will not have to go through the stress of a trial and the virtually guaranteed appeal process, in the event Kohberger was convicted at trial. The judge will take his guilty plea and then set a hearing for Kohberger to be sentenced. He can absolutely expect to spend the rest of his life behind bars." The Idaho defense lawyer further described the decision as "a good deal" for Kohberger, who could have faced execution by firing squad in Idaho if convicted of the four murders. "[I]f death is off the table, this is a good deal. From all the information that came out, it was becoming an insurmountable task to mount a defense. I would expect that Judge Hippler will make him allocute to the crimes though," Elcox said before more details of Kohberger's deal emerged. Former NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro said he was shocked by Kohberger's decision to accept a plea deal. "At this stage, we're going right into jury selection. We're a couple of weeks out from the beginning of this thing. You've had a change of venue. The defense has lost every motion. The prosecution could not have looked more like they were in the driver's seat on this thing. And, all of a sudden, you get a deal that looks like the prosecution almost dealt from weakness," Mauro said. Mauro noted that the Idaho Victims Rights Act requires prosecutors to confer with victims' families prior to this type of decision, but the Goncalves family said in statements Monday they received an email with a letter attached about the plea deal, rather than a phone call. "It's almost like snatching a defeat from the jaws of victory," Mauro said. Shanon Gray, an attorney for the Goncalves family, said in a statement the "death penalty is merely an illusion in the criminal justice system." "When available, it serves as a bargaining tool for the state, and when rarely applied, it's never enforced due to a highly inefficient appellate process," Gray said. "The notion that someone can plead guilty to a crime and still face years of appellate delays reveals a systemic failure. "We weren't even called about the plea; we received an email with a letter attached," the statement continued. "That's how Latah County's Prosecutor's Office treats murder victims' families. Adding insult to injury, they're rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the courthouse for a plea on July 2." Steve Goncalves told NewsNation Monday the plea deal decision is "anything but justice." He further commended law enforcement for their work in investigating the case, noting that "the failure was at the court level." "The fault is in leadership and the people that you place this evidence upon. They were weak," Goncalves said. Goncalves added that he met with prosecutors regularly, but no one called him about Kohberger's decision to accept a plea deal. Gray told NewsNation he expected Hippler to accept Kohberger's plea Wednesday and move on to his sentencing in the next "few weeks," when victims will be able to give victim impact statements in court. Ethan Chapin was a triplet. His two siblings recalled the moment they found out from a friend what had happened to the 20-year-old and his girlfriend, Kernodle, in their home off the University of Idaho campus Nov. 13, 2022, in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" recorded before news of the plea deal emerged. "I was like, 'Where's Ethan and Xana?'" Hunter Chapin, Ethan's brother, said of that morning, when he walked to the house where Ethan was staying after hearing there were police outside. "And [a friend was] like, 'They're not here anymore.' It's like, 'What do you mean they're not here anymore?' He's like, 'I think they were murdered last night.'" Stacy Chapin, Ethan's mother, told GMA she was in a grocery store when she received a call from Hunter, who repeatedly said, "He's not here anymore," to which he responded, "'Well, go get him. Go find him.' "And he just kept saying it," Stacy Chapin said. "And he goes, 'No, Mom. You don't understand. Ethan and Xana,' I think he said, 'are not on this earth anymore.'" She said that within hours of receiving the news about Ethan, she made a commitment to keep her family intact. "The first thing that I told these kids was, 'I do not know what in the hell has just happened to our family right now, but this isn't gonna sink us. We will carry on,'" Stacy Chapin told GMA. "It will look different, it's gonna feel different. But we will do it. "These two deserve a lifetime of happiness. I mean, they have seen the very bottom," she told GMA. "I'd do anything for them."
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Family Members Of Victims In Idaho College Killings Are Furious About Prosecutors' Plea Deal
Some family members of the Idaho college students killed in a brutal 2022 stabbing are slamming a plea deal that prosecutors made with Bryan Kohberger, the suspect charged in the case. 'Idaho has failed. They failed me. They failed my whole family,' Steve Goncalves, the father of one of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves, said in a Tuesday interview on NBC's 'Today' show. In a letter sent to victims' relatives, prosecutors announced that Kohberger intended to plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen, four Idaho college students who were stabbed to death at an off-campus house. As a result of the plea, Kohberger is set to face a life sentence without parole and avoid the death penalty. Members of the Goncalves family have emphasized that they'd like to keep the death penalty on the table, and members of the Kernodle family want Kohberger to face a jury trial, which was previously set to begin in August. Meanwhile, relatives of both Mogen and Chapin have said they support the agreement that prosecutors reached. 'If you get that quick death sentence, you don't have to spend decades thinking about how terrible you made the world,' Ben Mogen, Madison Mogen's father, told CBS News. The opposition certain family members have expressed to the recent developments underscores the role prosecutors have in reaching these types of agreements. 'Victims may have the opportunity to be heard on an issue, but ultimately, it is the state, it is the prosecutors who make this final decision, and it is very common for victims and their families to be very upset with the decision that the prosecutors make,' NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos said on 'Today.' Prosecutors have said they consulted available family members before they offered the plea agreement, though both Goncalves and Kernodle's relatives say that they previously expressed their opposition. 'We DID talk to the prosecution on Friday about the POSSIBILITY of a plea deal and it was a HARD NO from our family,' the Goncalves family posted on Facebook. Kim Kernodle, Xana Kernodle's aunt, similarly told TMZ that her family told prosecutors they weren't interested. Kohberger's family issued a statement on Tuesday requesting 'privacy, respect and responsible judgment' from members of the media during this time. 'We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties,' they said. Kim Kernodle has urged the judge to delay a decision on the plea deal, which is expected to be made during a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
