Residents expressed a mix of relief and anger Tuesday in the small Idaho college town where four students were stabbed to death in 2022 after news that the man charged in the killings had agreed to plead guilty to avoid a trial and a possible death penalty.
Brian Kohberger, 30, is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday to charges that he murdered University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen at a rental home near the Moscow campus in November 2022.
No motive has emerged for the killings, which stunned a community that’s still healing — and news of the plea deal elicited mixed reactions from Moscow residents.
Telisa Swan had thanked authorities with a message on her tattoo shop’s marquee after Kohberger was arrested in early 2023. On Tuesday, Swan said she’s disappointed the victims’ families may not get full answers if Kohberger ’s quadruple-murder trial doesn’t happen next month.
“But at the same time, I’m glad that he’s admitting his guilt right now, finally,” Swan said, adding that the “death penalty would have been an easy way out for him. He should suffer in prison for a very long time.”
With word of a plea deal, news crews descended Tuesday on Moscow’s main street, where every other storefront boasts the University of Idaho’s colors, flags and insignia.
The nearby campus was quiet, with summer break in full swing. Bouquets of flowers and candles adorned the names of the victims etched on metal plaques at a campus healing garden and memorial opened in 2024 that honors the four students and others who lost their lives while enrolled at the university.
The off-campus home where the killings took place was demolished in 2023, leaving behind an empty lot with dry grass and weathered mementos from a makeshift memorial there.
Moscow resident Luke Brunaugh, who said he lives less than a mile from where the killings happened, didn’t like that a deal would mean the death penalty option would go away, saying that should be the punishment for murder.
“I think it’s just unfair to the families,” said Brunaugh. “It allows him to hide. He never had to really go to trial. He is answering to his crimes, but not to the fullest extent in my opinion.”
In Idaho, judges have the option to reject plea agreements, but that is rare. If Kohberger pleads guilty on Wednesday, he is expected to be sentenced in late July.
Kohberger, who was a criminal justice graduate student at Washington State University at the time of the killings, was arrested after investigators said they matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
Heidi Barnett said she felt trepidation when her son chose the University of Idaho as his college three years ago. Visiting him in Moscow Tuesday, Barnett said a long trial would have been very emotional for the families.
“I would think life in prison sometimes would be harder, so I kind of looked at it that way,” she said. “I’m not the parent, but I would be happy with that.”
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Golden reported from Seattle.
