Furious Family Speaks Out as Bryan Kohberger Strikes Plea Deal in Idaho Murder Case

Just weeks before the long-awaited trial was set to begin, prosecutors are reportedly striking a plea deal with Bryan Kohberger—the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022. And for at least one of the victims’ families, it’s a devastating twist they never saw coming.

“After more than two years, this is how it concludes—without our input, without justice, and without the chance to be heard,” said the family of Kaylee Goncalves in a searing statement.

A Shocking Turn in a High-Profile Case

Kohberger, a 30-year-old former criminology PhD student at Washington State University, was arrested in late December 2022 and charged with the brutal stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in their off-campus Moscow, Idaho, home.

After nearly two years of motions, delays, and legal wrangling, jury selection for his murder trial was set to begin in August. Prosecutors had planned to pursue the death penalty.

Now, that plan is reportedly off the table.

According to CNN, Kohberger will plead guilty to four counts of murder in exchange for life in prison—no chance of parole, and no appeals. A court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday to formalize the agreement.

But the Goncalves family says they were blindsided by the news.

“We Are Beyond Furious”

The family says they learned of the deal not through a phone call or a meeting—but via an email with an attached letter from Moscow Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson.

In the letter, Thompson defends the decision, calling it a “sincere attempt to seek justice,” and assuring the family that Kohberger would “spend the rest of his life in prison.” But that did little to calm the outrage.

“We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us,” the family wrote in a post shared on social media.

Kaylee’s younger sister, 18-year-old Aubrie, said the abruptness of the plea deal after so much waiting felt like “a second trauma.”

“Had this proposal come a year and a half ago, we might have had time to process it,” she said. “But dropping it on us just weeks before trial? It’s both shocking and cruel.”

Life Sentence vs. Justice Denied

The Goncalves family isn’t asking for revenge, they say—but they feel life in prison falls short of true justice.

“Kohberger will still get to speak, to form relationships, to live. Our loved ones are gone forever,” Aubrie wrote.

The prospect of the death penalty had loomed large in this case. Kohberger’s defense team had fought to get it removed, arguing against the evidence and trying to block its use. For the Goncalves family, that fight now feels one-sided.

A Painful Journey Through Delays and Disappointment

From the very beginning, the families of the victims endured long periods of silence, delay, and uncertainty.

It took more than six weeks after the killings for police to arrest a suspect. Kohberger was eventually tracked down using DNA evidence—collected from a knife sheath left at the crime scene and garbage from his family home in Pennsylvania.

But his arrest only marked the beginning of a frustrating legal battle filled with slow-moving court proceedings.

In May 2023, Kohberger remained silent at his arraignment, forcing the judge to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf. Since then, his defense team has filed motion after motion—attempting to suppress DNA evidence, challenge search warrants, and even propose alternate suspects, a theory a judge recently shot down as pure speculation.

The trial was delayed several times and ultimately moved to Boise, far from the small college town of Moscow. Last year, the Goncalves family described the process as a “hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions.”

Now, It May All End with a Plea

While the plea deal may bring legal closure, it doesn’t bring peace for the families—especially for those like the Goncalves, who say they’ve been kept in the dark.

“Justice shouldn’t feel like a negotiation behind closed doors,” they said.

CNN has reached out to the families of the other victims—Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen—for comment on the proposed plea.

Whether the deal is accepted this week or not, one thing is clear: the long journey for justice in this devastating case hasn’t ended—it’s just changed course.