- Bryan Kohberger's plea deal removes the death penalty for his quadruple murder trial.
- The Goncalves family criticizes the unexpected plea, calling it "shocking and cruel."
- Victim Madison Mogen's father accepts the plea to avoid trial, saying it can let them focus on healing.
MOSCOW, Idaho — The grieving family of 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves spent weeks waiting for an arrest in her killing. Since then, they and relatives of the three other University of Idaho students fatally stabbed on a late 2022 night in their off-campus home have endured a legal process punctuated by delay after delay.
Now, a month before the suspect's murder trial was set to begin, the wait for justice is poised to end in what one Goncalves family member called a "shocking and cruel" plea deal that would remove the possibility of the death penalty.
"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 shared with CNN.
The plea deal would bring an abrupt end to a case that has captured national attention since the four brutal killings rocked the small college town of Moscow. Bryan Kohberger, a 30-year-old former PhD student of criminology at nearby Washington State University, was charged in January 2023 with fatally stabbing Goncalves; Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, both 20; and Madison Mogen, 21.
Under the deal, Kohberger will plead guilty to four counts of murder in exchange for the government dropping the death penalty, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Goncalves family attorney Shanon Gray confirmed the deal to CNN, which has reached out to the families of Chapin, Kernodle and Mogen about the pending agreement.
"This is anything but justice," Kaylee's father, Steve Goncalves, told NewsNation Monday evening. "This is the opposite of our will. There was no majority (of victims' families) believing that this was acceptable."
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, a court document shows; it will deal with the plea agreement, a letter from the prosector to a victim's family says, the Idaho Statesman reported. The Goncalves family has asked prosecutors to delay Wednesday's hearing to give them more time to get to Boise, the family's lawyer told the Associated Press.
Jury selection in Kohberger's murder trial was set to begin Aug. 4. Prosecutors previously indicated they would pursue the death penalty.
An abrupt end to a national saga
The Goncalves family wasn't "even called about the plea" and merely "received an email with a letter attached," it said.
The letter, from Moscow prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson, indicates Kohberger will likely be sentenced to life in prison if he pleads guilty and the deal requires him to waive his right to appeal, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Still, the Goncalves family blasted prosecutors' "very unexpected" decision, writing in a short social media post: "We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us."
By contrast, Madison Mogen's father is choosing acceptance, he told the Idaho Statesman, saying the plea agreement would let his family avoid a trial and allow its wounds to keep healing.
If Kohberger were given a death sentence, he wouldn't "have to spend decades thinking" about "how terrible (he) made the world," Mogen added to "CBS Mornings."
"We can actually put this behind us and not have these future dates and future things that we don't want to have to be at, that we shouldn't have to be at, that have to do with this terrible person," Mogen told CBS. "We get to just think about the rest of our lives and have to try and figure out how to do it without Maddie and without the rest of the kids."
Thompson's office could not comment on news of the plea deal because of a wide-ranging gag order in the case, he told CNN. In the letter to the Goncalves family, the prosecutor defended the deal as "our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family," arguing it will ensure Kohberger "will spend the rest of his life in prison," the Statesman reported.
In a lengthier statement posted by the Goncalves family, Kaylee's 18-year-old sister Aubrie took issue with the suddenness of the deal after a painfully long legal process, calling it "both shocking and cruel" to bring it to the families "just weeks before the scheduled trial."
"Had this proposal come a year and a half ago, the families could have had time to process, discuss, and potentially come to terms with the idea of a life sentence – however difficult that may be," the statement said.
The Goncalves family is "not asking for vengeance," Aubrie wrote, but considers the possibility of life in prison an unfair outcome.
"Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world. Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever," she wrote.
The possibility of the death penalty has loomed large over the proceedings, with Kohberger's defense team repeatedly arguing for it to be taken off the table.
"We all know he's guilty," Steve Goncalves told NewsNation. "There's more than enough evidence, but it's tough to put a community through this, and it could be bad for reputations and business identities, and there's fallout, but this isn't the will of the victims."
"This is just one person making a decision," he added, "and it doesn't reflect what we were asking for."
