Ex-Grad Student Pleads Guilty: Idaho University Murders

Bryan Kohberger, charged with the 2022 stabbing deaths of four Idaho university students, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, avoiding the death penalty. The plea gives him four life terms without appeal. The case divided the victims' families and brought national media attention to the quiet college town.

A former graduate student, Bryan Kohberger, has pleaded guilty to the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in 2022, taking a plea deal that spares him from the death penalty. Kohberger, who was studying criminal justice, admitted in court to first-degree murder and felony burglary.

The plea bargain, presented to the court, guarantees Kohberger four consecutive life sentences, foregoing any right to appeal. This plea concludes a case that shocked Moscow, Idaho, and garnered widespread media scrutiny. Relatives of at least two victims were present during the pivotal hearing.

Kohberger, who pursued a PhD at Washington State University, was involved in the 2022 off-campus killings of four students. While the deal closes the legal proceedings, families of victims, like the Goncalves, condemned it as lacking justice, with Steve Goncalves poignantly remarking on the insufficient nature of prison as punishment.

(With inputs from agencies.)