Bryan Kohberger will declare guilty in 2022 murders of Idaho students

A 30 -year -old man who will be tried for the fatal stabbing of four roommates in a small university city in Idaho will declare himself guilty as part of an agreement with state prosecutors to avoid the death penalty, according to US media.

The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office refused to confirm the BBC that a guilt agreement had been reached with Bryan Kohberger.

But the relatives of a victim, Kaylee Goncalves, apparently confirmed the agreement on Facebook. “It’s true! We are more than furious for the state of Idaho,” said the post. “They have failed us.”

Mrs. Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were rejected at home outside the campus in Moscow, Idaho, days before Thanksgiving in 2022.

Mr. Kohberger, who was a postgraduate criminology student at the nearby Washington State University, will currently be tried in August.

Also on Monday, a judge in the native state of the defendant of Pennsylvania ruled that three people who knew him must travel to Idaho to testify for the defense.

Local media reported that a hearing for the guilt agreement was scheduled for Wednesday. The BBC has contacted the defendant’s legal team to comment.

Mr. Kohberger is expected to declare the four positions of murder and resign from his rights to any future appeal, local media reported.

If it is accepted by a judge, the agreement would see the defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of probation and prosecutors would not seek capital.

“We cannot understand the cost that this case has assigned to his family,” said Moscow’s fiscal lawyer, Bill Thompson, to families in a letter, According to the Idaho statesmanwho said he had seen a copy.

“This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family.

“This agreement ensures that the accused is convicted, will pass the rest of his life in prison and will not be able to put it to you the other families through the uncertainty of decades of appeals after the conviction.”

The defendant was arrested at his home in the family of Pennsylvania, weeks after the stabbing, after the investigators said they found DNA evidence in a “leather knife” in the crime scene. He was accused by a grand jury in May 2023.

The Court’s documents revealed that the police recovered a knife, a Glock gun, black gloves, a black hat and a black face mask during the search for the family of Mr. Kohberger’s family.

His defense team questioned the accuracy of DNA’s evidence and achieved his attempt to move the location of the trial, after arguing that his client would not receive a fair hearing of local jurors.

But they had not been able to eliminate the death penalty as a sentence option, after citing an autism diagnosis for Kohberger.

Idaho is one of the 27 US states that allows capital punishment, but there have been no executions since 2012, according to a database of the death penalty information center.