There is a stunning development in the criminal murder case against Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
Kohberger’s murder trial was set to begin in August, but now it has all come to an abrupt, unexpected end. Monday evening, prosecutors sent a letter to the family members of the victims telling them he has accepted a plea deal.
According to at least some of the families, they feel blindsided by this. And I don’t blame them for feeling shocked and disappointed. They wanted the death penalty. They think the case is open and shut. They want to see some of the major questions – like why he did this – answered. They want to see cross-examinations and have what happened fully fleshed out in front of a jury in a way that we will never get now. They didn’t think they needed his plea to get to a guilty verdict, and they feel like they were not consulted.
The Victims
From the very beginning, this was the case that captured the nation’s attention in its brutality and its unique indifference to human life. It is hard to describe just how heinous this crime was.
The victims that night were Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. Kylee and Madison were both 21 years old. They were best friends since sixth grade and were killed together in the same bed. Zana and Ethan, both 20, were girlfriend and boyfriend.
According to a recent Dateline episode, Ethan appeared to be the last of the four to be murdered. Sources close to the investigation told NBC News he was believed to be asleep in bed before his death, and Kohberger carved his lower legs with a blade.
Two roommates survived that night, and they were expected to testify at trial. As you may remember, they did not notify police until around noon when they called friends who called the police, even though this had happened at 4am. There has been a lot of speculation about what they would testify to and whether they would be helpful. There is no word yet on how they feel about this plea deal, but I am going to guess they are both very relieved.
The Evidence
The Dateline special was so explosive it caused the defense to move for the trial to be delayed, saying too much of the prosecution’s case has been aired and shared against the gag order. The judge did not grant the request. But the revelations were all terrible for Kohberger.
They included the nugget that, right around the time of the murder, Kohberger had searched the internet for information about infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. He also reportedly made a number of searches for pornography with the keywords “drugged,” “sleeping,” and “passed out.”
After the murders, he took a creepy selfie wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt that is almost identical to an infamous shot of Ted Bundy. That came on the heels of another photo he took the morning after the murders in which he was in a white button down shirt in front of a shower, looking as pasty and pale as a human being can be while still alive. He had a bizarre smile and thumbs up that almost seemed to be telegraphing ‘I did it.’ He almost looked proud of himself.
Why Now?
And now Kohberg is prepared to tell us all, “I did it.”
When he was dragged into court after first being arrested, he refused to say the words “not guilty.” He refused to speak, which meant the judge entered a plea for him. But he has been denying that he did it all along, and now we learn he is prepared to walk into court Wednesday – which has also shocked the families because they don’t all live in the area and need time to get there – and say, “I did it. I committed quadruple murder.”
Journalist Howard Blum, who has been doing excellent reporting on this case, sent me a note this morning saying he is hearing that a large part of the reason Kohberger cut this deal was to protect his parents.
His father would have been called to testify about what was said during that cross-country road trip they took together just days after the murders. On top of that, we learned from Dateline that, at 6am the morning after the murders, Bryan Kohberger called his mother and spoke with her for nearly an hour. I knew he had called home, but this was the first time I heard he spoke to his mother. He potentially did not want his mother to have to testify about that call, or his sister about confronting the father with her suspicions that Bryan may have done it.
Does a psychopath like this have feelings for his family? Is that possible?
The Families React
Kaylee Goncalves’ father Steve is hoping the judge will not sanction the deal. “He’s guilty. We all know he’s guilty. There’s more than enough evidence, but it’s tough… to put a community through this,” he told Ashleigh Banfield on NewsNation Monday night. “This is not justice. We had an outsider come to our community, kill our kids in their sleep while they’re getting a college education, doing everything they should do, and we don’t have the courage to hold him accountable?”
He also suggested the families were not asked for meaningful input. He said they first found out on Friday that conversations had begun about a plea and then were informed it was a done deal on Sunday via email.
Brian Entin of NewsNation reported Tuesday that Ethan Chapin’s family, meanwhile, will be in court tomorrow and does support the plea deal. That doesn’t surprise me because we have heard from them a bit over the years and they seem very focused on Ethan and trying to get us to remember what their son was like.
The Plea Deal
According to the letter sent to the families, Kohberger will be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the murder counts. That means life without the possibility of parole, so he should never see the light of day. The plea deal also requires him to waive his right to appeal.
But this is what we are debating right now in California with the Menendez brothers. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing their parents. But the argument has become: ‘They were young when this happened; they had an abusive dad. So now, with the benefit of all this hindsight, shouldn’t we let them out of prison?’
When there is no death penalty, it is possible we will have this conversation in 20 or 30 years about Kohberger. ‘He was young. ‘He had autism spectrum disorder’ – as if that makes people murder four innocent victims. The defense was already playing that card in the pre-trial motions and suggesting there should be some sort of a mercy afforded his way. As long as he is still breathing, that is still a possibility.
This is grave, and it is pretty shocking.
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,099 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.