Furious Idaho murders families blast plea deal as they wait for Bryan Kohberger hearing: Live updates

Judge Steven Hippler will likely ask Bryan Kohberger if he killed the four University of Idaho students ‘willfully, unlawfully, deliberately with premeditation and with malice aforethought’ by stabbing them to death.

The language is a direct reference to the verbiage used by the Latah County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in its 2023 indictment of Kohberger.

If Hippler does not use the language of the indictment as a direct question during Kohberger’s plea hearing today, the narure of the charges will be addressed.

By accpeting a guilty plea, Kohberger would be admiting to the charges.

Bryan Kohberger’s family has confirmed they will be attending the hearing – and asked for privacy – in what marks only the second time they have ever spoken out about the case against their son.

Among the victims, Ethan Chapin’s family has said they will also be attending the hearing in support of the plea deal.

Kaylee Goncalves’ family, meanwhile, plans to hold a protest outside the courthouse in opposition to deal – rather than sit inside the courtroom with the man charged with killing their loved one.

The families of Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen did not respond to Daily Mail’s requests for comments.

However, some of Kernodle’s family members have voiced opposition to the deal – while Mogen’s father issued a statement supporting it.

Moscow, Idaho residents expressed a mix of relief and anger in response to the news that Kohberger has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

Several people echoed the Gonclaves family’s anger that Kohberger may be able to avoid a trial and the death penalty through the deal.

Others said they were relieved that the horror could be coming to a close and the victims’ families would not have to relive their trauma in court.

The family of Kaylee Goncalves is planning a protest outside Ada County Courthouse to demonstrate their fury with the plea deal that was reached with their daughter’s suspected killer.

Goncalves’ father Steve Goncalves told Fox & Friends that he will not go inside the courtroom for the bombshell hearing.

‘I’ll stay outside during the hearing to protest the deal made with our child’s killer,’ he said.The Goncalves family have voiced their anger and sense of betrayal over the deal that would spare Kohberger’s life.

Over the past two years, the family has publicly supported Kohberger getting the death penalty if convicted of the murders.

Steve was involved in pushing to pass the state law to make firing squad a legal method of execution while some of their other loved ones have worn pro-death penalty shirts to court hearings.

In a statement immediately after news of the deal broke Monday, the family said: ‘We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho.’

Members of the media, including Daily Mail Crime Correspondent Rachel Sharp, have gathered outside the Ada County Courthouse today ahead of Bryan Kohberger’s bombshell plea hearing.

Kohberger, 30, agreed to the plea in the past few days, just weeks before his trial was to begin, after his attorneys tried but failed to have execution stricken as a possible punishment.

The deal has drawn mixed reactions from the victims’ families, ranging from support to outrage.

The plea hearing is slated to begin in one hour.

Pictured: People wait in line to get seats for the Bryan Kohberger plea deal hearing outside the Ada County Courthouse on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boise, Idaho

Pictured: Daily Mail Crime Correspondent Rachel Sharp waits outside the Ada County Courthouse for the Bryan Kohberger plea deal hearing

If Bryan Kohberger does accept the plea deal today as expected, it is hoped that more evidence will finally come to light – though nothing is guaranteed.

Legal expert and attorney Neama Rahmani tells the Daily Mail he would expect the court to now face petitions to unseal all documents and evidence in the case.

‘The only reason to keep it sealed was to prevent the tainting of the jury pool and potential jurors seeing evidence that is inadmissible in the case,’ he says.

‘Now if he’s pleaded guilty, he’s waived his right to appeal, there is no legal basis to keep the documents sealed.. it’s very likely, at some point, that all or most of it should be made public.’

But, he adds: ‘No matter what, whether the evidence is good or bad […] nothing is going to change the result in this case. There’s no way to reinstate the death penalty. It is the prosecutor’s unilateral decision, and there’s nothing that can be done about it.’

The weapon – a military-style KaBar knife – used to slaughter the four victims has never been found.

Bryan Kohberger was tied to the murders after DNA found on a brown leather KaBar knife sheath left next to victim Madison Mogen’s body was found to be a match.

His Amazon shopping history further tied him to the murder weapon, with records revealing that he had bought a knife, sheath and sharpener in March 2022.

Following the murders, Kohberger then searched for a replacement knife or sheath on the shopping site, prosecutors said.

The grieving families of four University of Idaho college students savagely murdered in 2022 – and, indeed, most of America – were shocked when it was reported Monday that accused killer, Bryan Kohberger, had accepted a plea deal to live out the rest of his life in prison.

But beyond the justifiable outrage over the state prosecutor’s deeply cynical, yet pragmatic decision to put an accused murderer behind bars, many were left wondering: why now?

The exact terms of the plea deal offered to Bryan Kohberger are currently unclear.

Based on the letter sent by Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson to the victims’ families, Kohberger must plead guilty to all charges: four counts of murder and one count of burglary.

In exchange, he will not be sentenced to death but will be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

He will also agree to waive any right to appeal the conviction or sentence – meaning that he will never have the chance of freedom and will die behind bars.

What is currently unclear is what information Kohberger will have to give to the court – and victims’ families – about his shocking crimes such as his motive, planning, intended target and what exactly unfolded that night.

The family of Kaylee Goncalves has released a scathing statement slamming the ‘cowardly’ prosecutor Bill Thompson who offered Bryan Kohberger a plea deal.

‘He’s retiring on this deal, his shadow slithering toward the exit, leaving only the stench of his betrayal,’ the family wrote in a Facebook post this morning.

‘No spine, no shred of honor. He didn’t have the basic decency, the plain human courage, to face the families, to meet our eyes and ask, “How do we make an offer that works?”

‘Instead, Thompson cut his deal with the devil, his negotiations didn’t require anything other than a simple guilty plea.’

The family says Thompson ‘betrayed us’ and claims the plea deal ‘fails to shield the innocent’.

Idaho quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger was once investigated in connection to a terrifying home invasion in Pullman, Washington, it has been revealed.

The Pullman home invasion occurred in October 2021, just 10 miles from the horrific events in Moscow, Idaho, where four students were savagely stabbed to death in their off-campus home in November 2022.

Officials said Kohberger had been investigated in connection to the initial incident – but never charged with a crime.

However, newly released body camera footage obtained by ABC News has shed light on the eerie break-in that left a young woman shaken and fearing for her life.

Community members and true crime fanatics alike are lining up outside the Ada County Courthouse this morning for Bryan Kohberger’s plea hearing.

The hearing is expected to begin in roughly three hours.

Bryan Kohberger smirked and offered a ‘thumbs up’ to the camera in a chilling selfie taken hours after the murders of Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin.

The selfie appears to have been taken in a bathroom, with a shower as the backdrop.

Kohberger wears earphones and a collared long sleeve shirt buttoned to the top in the eerie picture.

The prosecution was expected to present the picture to jurors during his trial as they argue how one of the surviving housemates recalled seeing a person ‘with bushy eyebrows’ in her home on the night of the murders.

Two women who met at the trials of Chad and Lori Vallow Daybell have gathered outside the Ada County Courthouse today ahead of Bryan Kohberger’s plea hearing.

Sarah Parry and Julie Lorenz, who lived about 15 minutes away in nearby Meridian, Idaho, say they were ‘shocked’ the proseuction offered murderer a plea bargain.

‘We are disappointed that we took a plea. I didn’t think he should be offered that myself,’ one told Daily Mail.

The other added: ‘I was surpised. I wasn’t suspecting it.’

The pair, who arrived outside the courthouse today around 4.15am local time, have been closely following the trial because it’s ‘so close to home’.

They want to be in court today to see what could be one of Kohberger’s final court appearances if the judge accepts his plea deal.

Parry and Lorenz are devastated for the victims’ families, saying: ‘When you’re a mom and it happened to kids, it just kind of, you just have a heart for the family. You just kind of want to see justice.’

The pair, who are seemingly true crime fanatics, travel all over the country following major trials.

Pictured left to right: Sarah Parry and Julie Lorenz

Bryan Kohberger is due to appear before Idaho Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler in Boise today and enter a guilty plea.

His murder case was moved to Boise due to pretrial publicity in northern Idaho.

Hippler must approve the plea deal. If the judge does accept the deal, Kohberger would likely be sentenced in July.

Last week, before the plea bargain had been brokered, Hippler rejected the defense’s request to postpone Kohberger’s quadruple murder trial.

Hippler noted that interest in the case has only grown and that previous delays have only given the media more time to ‘provide coverage to a public audience which is clamoring for answers’.

‘The longer the public is made to sit and wait for the facts to come out at trial, the more time there is for inflammatory, speculative stories, movies and books to circulate and more time for prior ones to be rebroadcast, purchased, viewed and consumed by the public,’ he wrote.

The judge also denied the defense’s request to present evidence of four’alternate perpetrators’ to jurors, after finding that evidence was flimsy at best and would lead to ‘wild speculation’ – needlessly dragging out a trial that is already expected to last three months.

He also previously denied at least a dozen arguments by the defense to seeking to remove the death penalty from the case based on several different factors.

Hippler first assumed office in 2013. His current term will end in January 2027.

There is a possibility that the plea deal could collapse in court.

One possibility is that – when it comes to entering his plea – Bryan Kohberger will not accept the agreement and plead guilty.

The second possibility is that the judge rejects the deal.

Even when a plea deal is reached between state prosecutors and the defense, it still has to be signed off by a judge.

Idaho Judge Steven Hippler has the power to reject the deal during Wednesday’s court hearing, meaning the trial would go ahead this August.

Though it’s rare for a judge to step in and do this, the family of Kaylee Goncalves have been asking supporters to contact the court and judge in opposition to the deal.

I am standing at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, staring at the vacant lot where the murder house once stood.

The drab, gray three-story home was demolished in December on orders from the University of Idaho on the belief that its destruction would exorcise the demons still swirling in this tiny college town after November 13, 2022.

Nineteen months after four college students – Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin – were butchered to death with a hunting knife, there still is no convincing official explanation of what really happened.

Xana Kernodle’s aunt is furious that prosecutors offered Bryan Kohberger a plea deal after reportedly telling the victims’ families there was enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Kim Kernodle, who was reportedly so enraged that she was brought to tears, explained to TMZ that prosecutors told her Kohberger’s defense team approached them with a plea deal and prosecutors agreed to go along with it to ‘spare the families’ the pain of a trial.

She claimed the prosecutors were especially concerned that the families would have to see gruesome crime scene photos of their loved ones – though Kernodle said Monday night: ‘We know the graphics. They were not trying to spare us.’

Kernodle also claimed that prosecutors did not mention they were taking death penalty off the table when they met on Friday, when she said prosecutors acknowledged they have enough evidence to secure a guilty verdict.

She says her family, along with the family of Kaylee Goncalves, have made it clear they do not want the judge to accept the plea deal during today’s hearing.

This December 2021 photo provided by Jazzmin Kernodle shows father Jeff Kernodle, left, Xana, middle, and Jazzmin, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Chilling text messages between the two surviving roommates of the Idaho massacre were released earlier this year as part of a bombshell dossier which also unveiled a frantic 911 call made after they discovered one of the unresponsive victims.

Between 4.22am and 4.24am on the morning of November 13, 2022, survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke exchanged 17 frantic text messages fearing someone was in their house.

A 911 call was later made from Funke’s cellphone – about eight hours after the terrifying text exchange.

Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson offered Bryan Kohberger a deal on Monday that would see him spared the death penalty in return for a guilty plea for the slayings and life behind bars without the prospect of parole.

The ageing Democrat, who is listed as being either 68 or 72 according to publicly-available records, has served as Latah County Prosecutor since 1992.

He was slammed by one victim’s family after he ‘decided to play God and decide what this man’s decision should be’ instead of leaving it up to a jury.

He has also come under fire by local Idahoans and crime fanatics alike, with several urging Latah County to replace him.

Although it is unclear why Thompson agreed to the plea – removing the possibility of a death sentence off the table – some suggest it is because the ‘prosecution was in over their heads’.

Others suspect Thompson, whose reported $118,380 salary is nearly double the county average, wanted to avoid a lengthy trial and multi-year appeal process.

It has also been speculated that the Kohberger trial may have delayed his plans to retire and that he did not want to handle a monster case in the twilight of his career. The Daily Mail has approached him for further comment on the plea deal.

Bryan Kohberger is due to appear before Idaho Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler for a change of plea today.

The hearing will take place at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho at 11am local time (1pm EST).

The proceedings will be live streamed by the court.

Bryan Kohberger has named an alternate suspect who he claims is the real killer of four University of Idaho students, in a bombshell move just weeks before he goes on trial for his life.

The quadruple homicide suspect returned to a courtroom in Ada County, Idaho, Thursday morning where Judge Steven Hippler is expected to make a series of last-ditch decisions that will shape his looming capital murder trial this summer.

In an 11th-hour move to save him from the firing squad, the 30-year-old suspected killer’s defense took the explosive step of pointing the finger at another suspect.

The Kohberger family has issued a statement ahead of Bryan Kohberger’s plea hearing today.

The family, in a statement published by NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin, said: ‘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.

‘We ask that you respect our wishes during a difficult time for all those affected.’

This is the first ever comment the family has made since the one statement issued when he was first arrested.

Daily Mail Crime Correspondent Rachel Sharp went to Kohberger’s parents’ residence in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania on Monday but no one was home.

It’s unclear if the familyhad already been informed about the plea deal and were already on their way to Boise.

After more than two-and-a-half years of legal fighting, Bryan Kohberger is expected to change his plea to guilty for the horrific murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

As part of the plea agreement, Kohberger will have to publicly admit his guilt in a courtroom in front of his own family and the families of the four students he is charged with murdering in cold blood.

This means that today will be the very first time Kohberger will speak in court since his arrest back on December 30, 2022.

At his arraignment, Kohberger refused to speak.Standing silent, a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

As part of the plea deal, the judge is expected to require Kohberger to speak publicly, including revealing at least some details about what happened that night.

Daily Mail is here outside Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, for the bombshell plea hearing in the Bryan Kohberger case.

By around 4am local time, around 10 members of the media had gathered outside as well as several camera crews.

More people slowly began trickling to the courthouse to get in line over the coming hour.

It is unclear how many people will make it inside the courtroom, as seating has been reserved for the families of the victims Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin as well as the family of Kohberger himself.

The hearing will begin at 11am local time. Daily Mail will bring you more from inside the courtroom.

Chilling text messages between the two surviving roommates of the Idaho massacre have been released as part of a bombshell dossier which also unveiled a frantic 911 call made after they discovered one of the unresponsive victims.

Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were all found fatally stabbed in their off-campus student home in Moscow, Idaho.

Bryan Kohberger will appear in court today in hopes to plead guilty to murder in the November 2022 stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty.

Kohberger, 30, was due to face a capital murder trial in August for the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; her best friend Madison Mogen, 21; as well as their housemate Xana Kernodle, 20; and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20.

But it was revealed on Monday that Latah County prosecutors have offered the former criminology graduate student a deal in which he would plead guilty to the murders and a burglary charge, in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The trial was expected to last more than three months. But after his attorneys failed to have execution stricken as a possible punishment, he agreed to the plea deal.

The family of Kaylee Goncalves was quick to condemn the agreement, declaring the State of Idaho ‘failed us’ as they hit out at prosecutors for failing to notify them that a plea deal was going through.

Kaylee’s father Steven Goncalves has urged the judge overseeing the case to reject the plea deal.

Idaho Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler must accept the deal for Kohberger to enter the guilty plea.

When Bryan Kohberger enters a guilty plea today, it could spare him the death penalty.

But it also leaves a litany of questions for the victim’s that may now forever remain unanswered if Kohberger is no longer to have his day in court.

So what exactly might we be left second guessing?

Here the Daily Mail lays bare the questions that may never be resolved…

Ramsland – who called Kohberger ‘a promising student who could have made a mark’ on the field of forensic psychology – initially refused to believe he could be capable of killing, even after his arrest.

But as she investigated the case more, Ramsland began to believe Kohberger may be responsible and was forced to ask herself a tough question: ‘Did I inspire him?’

Bryan Kohberger will appear in court today and is expected to take a plea deal accepting his guilt on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.

Under the terms of the deal, Kohberger will now avoid the death penalty – and the firing squad – instead being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, while waiving all right to appeal his conviction or sentence down the line.

But a loophole in the deal means the 30-year-old criminology PhD graduate’s fight for his life might not be over just yet.