Based on public comments from one victim’s family and confirmation from their attorney, it appears that prosecutors and accused killer Bryan Kohberger have reached a plea deal which will take the death penalty off the table in the University of Idaho student murders case.
Kohberger, 30, is accused in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022 in a case that shocked the country.
Autopsies showed the four were all likely asleep when they were attacked, though some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times.
Kohberger was charged with four counts of murder in the students’ deaths. All four were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022.
Based on public comments from Goncalves’ family on a verified Facebook page and confirmation from their attorney Shanon Gray, it appears that prosecutors and Kohberger have reached a plea deal which will take the death penalty off the table in the University of Idaho student murders case.
“It’s true! We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support,” read a Monday afternoon post on The Goncalves Family Page on Facebook.
Kohberger’s trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 11 in Boise.
NBC News spoke with a representative from the Latah County Prosecutors Office on Monday who said the case was under a non-dissemination order and they could not comment.”
Attorneys for Kohberger, a doctoral student in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, have said he was out driving alone when the students were killed.
They attended the University of Idaho, just across the state line from Pullman.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
A newly unsealed affidavit in the University of Idaho killings case alleges a tan leather knife sheath with the suspect’s DNA was left in one of the bedrooms after the killings.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
