Families of University of Idaho Victims React to Bryan Kohberger Plea Deal

This week, Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022, reached a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. 

This development shocked the families of the four victims, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

In a letter to the families, prosecutors revealed that Kohberger’s defense team asked for a plea offer. He would plead guilty to all charges, face four consecutive life sentences, and waive all rights to appeal.

The Goncalves family responded to the plea deal almost immediately. 

“After more than two years, this is how it concludes, with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims’ families on the plea’s details,” the Goncalves family said in a statement. 

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Reportedly, members of the family worked on changing Idaho state law to allow the firing squad as a form of capital punishment. 

In the days that followed, family members of the other victims also spoke out. 

According to Idaho News 6, the family of Ethan Chapin publicly supported the plea agreement. Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin, reached out to NonStop Local on Tuesday, saying, "The Chapins will be in Boise, ID tomorrow, 7/2, in support of the plea bargain. We will not be participating in media interviews."

Idaho News 6 also reported that Madison Mogen’s family supported the plea agreement. 

“We support the plea agreement 100%,” Leander James, an attorney for Mogen’s parents, said.

Xana Kernodle’s father told The New York Times that he does “not agree” with the plea deal. He informed the Times that he expressed this to prosecutors.

“After nearly three years of waiting and being told there would be a trial, with evidence presented to convict him, I’m disappointed in the prosecutors’ decision,” he told the Times in a statement.

The quadruple murder occurred on Nov. 13, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. The four students were stabbed to death in their beds. Two other roommates were in the home when the murders occurred and survived. The affidavit revealed that one surviving roommate saw the murderer in the house as he walked straight past her and left out a back door. She did not call the police until hours later when her roommates’ corpses were discovered. 

Kohberger pleaded guilty to all charges and will face four consecutive life sentences and waive all rights to appeal.