Kohberger pleads guilty to Idaho student murder, avoiding death penalty

Boise, Idaho – Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022.

On Wednesday, at the ADA County Courthouse in Boise, Judge Steven Hippler approved a plea agreement that exceeded the death penalty of Kohberger, 30. In exchange, he will be sentenced to four consecutive life imprisonment without parole.

As part of the agreement, Koberg pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony theft.

A formal sentencing date has not been set yet.

Idaho Murder Schedule: Bryan Kohberger

Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend Kaylee Goncalves, who pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Goncalves’ last two roommates and share the day before four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/instagram)

The case has attracted national attention since the early morning of November 13, 2022, when four students – Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves – were stabbed to death in an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho.

Kohberger, a former PhD in off-road investigation, was arrested in December 2022 by a criminology student near Washington State University.

Bryan Kohberger has appeared in Boise, Idaho on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in the murder of four University of Idaho students. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Swimming Pool)

According to court documents, the DNA of the scabbard left at the crime scene matched Kohberger’s data, which brought him closer to the victim’s house several times before the killing. Surveillance footage also captures the white modern Elantra of the area.

Bryan Kohberger expects to formally plead guilty: What’s next

Koberg was indicted by a grand jury in May 2023 and initially pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors then announced that their intention was to be an outrageous crime in the case to seek the death penalty.

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But on Wednesday, Koberg agreed to the request.