Murder victim's sister slams 'cruel' deal that could see killer dodge death row
The younger sister of one of the Idaho murder victims has branded Bryan Kohberger's shock plea deal 'cruel' and 'shocking,' after learning the accused killer may avoid the death penalty.
Aubrie Goncalves, 18, shared a heartbreaking statement on Facebook begging for Kohberger to face a jury for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students - including her sister, Kaylee. Kohberger, 30, has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence without parole - a bombshell move announced on Monday. He is charged with stabbing Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin to death at an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
Kaylee's family say they were blindsided by the deal and only learned of it via email hours before the announcement. 'What the families of Ethan, Kaylee, Maddie, and Xana have endured over the past two and a half years is beyond comprehension,' Aubrie wrote.
She said the plea deal, announced just weeks before the scheduled August trial, has left them devastated: 'The introduction of this plea deal, just weeks before the scheduled trial, is both shocking and cruel.'
The Goncalves family is 'beyond furious' and struggling to come to terms with the abrupt change. 'With mere weeks left, we are being asked to absorb and respond to life-altering decisions with no room to breathe,' Aubrie continued.
She said knowing Kohberger will still be able to speak and form relationships behind bars brings the family no peace. 'Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever. That reality stings more deeply when it feels like the system is protecting his future more than honoring the victims' pasts.'
Kaylee's father Steve told NewsNation they will continue to push for the death penalty. 'This is not justice,' he said. On NBC's Today, he added, 'How can you say it's just when you haven't even talked to us to see what justice looks like for us?'
Xana Kernodle's aunt, Kim, also rejected the deal, saying the family wanted a trial. She dismissed claims that the deal spares them the trauma of graphic evidence. 'They were not trying to spare us,' she told TMZ.
But not all families agree. Madison Mogen's dad, Ben, told CBS he welcomed the plea. '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 the rest of the kids.' Ethan Chapin's family has not yet commented.
At the time of his arrest, Kohberger was a criminology PhD student living at his family house in Pennsylvania. He was a former student at Pleasant Valley School District, where his mother was also employed.
Nick McLoughlin, 28, who attended classes at Pleasant Valley High School with Kohberger told The Daily Beast the man had been interested in becoming a police officer and took criminal justice courses. Speaking after the man's arrest, she added: 'He was just a regular 12th grader, had a few friends, was a good student.'
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Bryan Kohberger's family makes galling request as they break silence after shock Idaho murders plea deal
's family have broken a years-long silence to make a galling request for privacy after their son secured a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. The former criminology PhD student will plead guilty to murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20 in their off campus home in November 2022. The plea will ensure he spends the rest of his life behind bars, without the possibility of parole or future appeals. In exchange, prosecutors have agreed not to pursue the death penalty. Now, Kohberger's family have spoken publicly for the first time since his initial arrest urging the public to respect their privacy. The family went on to say it had been 'a difficult time for all those affected.' 'In light of recent developments, the Kohbergers are asking members of the media for privacy, respect, and responsible judgment during this time,' they told NewsNation. 'We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties and will not release any comments or take any questions. 'We ask that you respect our wishes during a difficult time for all those affected.' It marks just the second time during the entire ordeal that Kohberger's family have addressed the allegations against him. Shortly after his arrest, the family released a statement through attorney Jason A. LaBar expressing sympathy for 'the four families who have lost their precious children.' 'There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them,' they said. 'We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family we will love and support our son and brother. 'We have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions.' The extraordinary request comes as their son's victim's families grapple with the news that he is now likely to serve out his natural life behind bars. The Goncalves family were particularly devastated by the news of a plea deal, issuing several statements on Monday night decrying the prosecutor's efforts. 'If anyone knows Judge [Steven] Hippler... reach out to him and ask him to put his foot down and not accept this offer,' grieving dad Steve Goncalves said. And Goncalves' younger sister, Aubrie, said: 'We are not asking for vengeance. We are asking for accountability. We are asking for dignity for our loved ones. And we are asking - pleading - for a justice system that truly lives up to its name.' Kernodle's aunt, Kim, was equally upset by the plea deal, while Mogen's father said he had accepted the decision and believed it would avoid reopening old wounds. Chapin's family will support the proposed plea deal when it is presented to Judge Steven Hippler on Wednesday. Prosecutors had tried to assure families that the plea deal was the best possible outcome, ensuring Kohberger will never be free while also avoiding a messy and traumatizing trial which could result in decades of appeals or even a verdict in which Kohberger walks free. Under the terms of the proposed deal, 30-year-old Kohberger will, on the murder counts, be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole - and, on the burglary count, the maximum penalty of 10 years. He will also waive all right to appeal his conviction or sentence down the line, ensuring that he will never have the possibility of freedom for the heinous crime that sent shockwaves across the nation. But under the terms of the deal, Kohberger is under no obligation to reveal his motive for the vicious attacks. He may also never disclose whether he was targeting one of the victims in particular, or why he spared two housemates who were in the home at the time of the attack. Over the course of the investigation into the murders, authorities have been unable to find any digital connection between Kohberger and any of the four victims, according to court documents. There is also no known digital connection between Kohberger and the two surviving roommates. Some investigators believe Mogen was the intended target based on the path Kohberger took once entering the home. According to Dateline, Kohberger went straight to Mogen's room on the third floor and was caught off guard when he found Goncalves sleeping with Mogen in her bed. When a struggle then broke out, Kernodle - who was downstairs in the kitchen, looking at TikTok on her phone - went to investigate and the killer then chased her to her room, Dateline reported. The killer stabbed Kernodle to death and then turned to her boyfriend Chapin, who was in her bed, killing him too and then 'carving' his legs. Kohberger was arrested nearly six weeks after the students were found dead at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania where he had returned for the holidays. Kohberger has been desperately trying to get the death penalty off the table over the past few months Kohberger has remained behind bars ever since, and has been desperately trying to get the death penalty off the table over the past few months - even arguing at one point that his autism diagnosis precludes him from facing the ultimate punishment. In more recent efforts, Kohberger's defense attorneys tried to get his purchase of the balaclava deemed inadmissible to the upcoming trial, but prosecutors argued it was crucial to their case. It now appears that the defense moved to reach a plea deal after Judge Hippler slapped down their efforts to point the finger at four alternate suspects - blasting his legal team's evidence as 'entirely irrelevant' and 'wild speculation 'Nothing links these individuals to the homicides or otherwise gives rise to reasonable inference that they committed the crime; indeed, it would take nothing short of rank speculation by the jury to make such a finding,' the judge wrote in his decision last week. Just hours before news of the plea deal broke, the defense faced another setback after they apparently called the wrong witness and other witnesses expressed their bewilderment at being called at all.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Shock loophole that means Bryan Kohberger could still face death penalty despite plea deal... and a sensational new Luigi Mangione link
It came as a bombshell that caught even some of the victims' families off guard. After more than two years of fighting and legal wrangling - from arguments that his life should be spared due to a recent autism diagnosis to a failed attempt to point the finger at four other people - Bryan Kohberger has now agreed to plead guilty to all charges in the murders of four University of students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle and .
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
In Idaho college town where 4 students were killed, relief and anger over Bryan Kohberger plea deal
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.' ___
