Quadruple homicide suspect Bryan Kohberger has accepted a plea deal in the horrific slaying of four University of Idaho students.
Kohberger, 30, will now plead guilty to the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20 in their off-campus home in November 2022. He will also admit a burglary charge stemming from the same incident.
Idaho prosecutors have agreed to drop the death penalty in exchange for his plea, according to News Nation.
Instead, Kohberger must agree to spend life in prison without the possibility of parole for the grisly murders that captivated America three years ago.
The former criminology grad student had previously pleaded not guilty to the slayings, and is now scheduled to issue a change of plea in court on Wednesday.
News of the plea deal infuriated those who have been supporting the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves since her untimely death.
‘We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho,’ supporters wrote on a Facebook page to support the family. ‘They have failed us.’
‘This was very unexpected,’ they added.
Quadruple homicide suspect Bryan Kohberger, 30, is due to accept a plea deal that would see him avoid the death penalty
Kohberger is accused of murdering University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20
News of the plea deal came just hours after a key hearing in Kohberger’s case descended into chaos, with his defense apparently calling the ‘wrong witness’ as others expressed their bewilderment at being called at all.
Five men connected to Kohberger’s past in Pennsylvania appeared in Monroe County Court on Monday to determine whether they would be ordered to travel to Idaho for his high-profile trial, which was scheduled for August.
The group of Pennsylvanians included the accused killer’s former boxing coach, a man who he went to high school with, and a guard who worked at the local jail where he was briefly held while awaiting extradition.
But when the defense called on Ralph Vecchio III, 65, who owns the business where the Kohbergers bought his now infamous white Hyundai Elantra, he claimed he thought the attorneys may have subpoenaed the wrong guy.
He noted that his father with the same name had run the business when the Kohbergers bought the car – which matched one seen circling the students’ home at 1122 King Road and then speeding away from the scene moments after Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin were stabbed to death.
Vecchio even said he has never met or laid eyes on the murder suspect.
‘I feel the subpoena has no merit for me. I have never seen in my lifetime or talked to in my lifetime the accused,’ he told the court.
‘I’ve never had any personal contact with him ever.’
Kohberger had been due to face trial in August, but is now expected to submit a change of plea in court on Wednesday
Vecchio then went on to say he had ‘no idea’ why he had been called as a witness in the case, adding: ‘It doesn’t make sense.’
‘I’ve never seen or met, seen from a distance or had any contact with the accused in my life,’ he said.
He also said that Kohberger had never stepped foot inside his auto business, that it was Kohberger’s mother or father who had purchased the vehicle back in 2019 – and that he himself wasn’t the one who had made the sale.
When Judge Arthur Zulick then questioned if the Ralph Vecchio present was the right one, attorney Abigail Parnell – who was speaking on behalf of Kohberger’s legal team – admitted she didn’t know.
‘Your honor, I cannot say for certain,’ she said.
Of the other four men, one agreed to travel to Idaho to testify ahead of the hearing, two were ordered by the judge to appear after voicing their opposition, and the fourth had yet to decide.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
