Bryan Kohberger accepts four consecutive life sentences without parole for the 2022 University of Idaho student killings
WATCH LIVE: Bryan Kohberger expected to plead guilty to murders of four University of Idaho students
Bryan Kohberger accepted a deal agreeing to plead guilty in exchange for four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, waiving all appeals and sparing himself the death penalty, according to sources close to the case.
BOISE, Idaho – Bryan Kohberger has 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 spares Kohberger, 30, from the death penalty. In exchange, he will serve four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
As part of the agreement, Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.
A formal sentencing date has not yet been set.
IDAHO MURDERS TIMELINE: BRYAN KOHBERGER PLEA CAPS YEARSLONG QUEST FOR JUSTICE
Bryan Kohberger, charged in the murders of four University of Idaho students, appears at the Ada County Courthouse, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves' final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
The case has drawn national attention since the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, when four students — Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves — were found stabbed to death in an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger, a former Ph.D. criminology student at nearby Washington State University, was arrested in Dec. 2022 after a cross-country investigation.
Bryan Kohberger, charged in the murders of four University of Idaho students, appears at the Ada County Courthouse, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
According to court documents, DNA from a knife sheath left at the crime scene matched Kohberger’s, and cellphone data placed him near the victims’ house multiple times before the killings. Surveillance footage also captured a white Hyundai Elantra in the area.
BRYAN KOHBERGER EXPECTED TO OFFICIALLY PLEAD GUILTY: WHAT’S NEXT
Kohberger was indicted by a grand jury in May 2023 and had initially pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors later announced their intent to seek the death penalty, citing the heinous nature of the crimes.
However, on Wednesday, Kohberger agreed to a plea.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital.
Since joining in 2021, she’s covered high-stakes criminal justice—from the Menendez brothers’ resentencing, where Judge Jesic slashed their life-without-parole terms to 50-years-to-life (making them parole-eligible), to the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump's life and shifting immigration enforcement, including her reporting on South Florida’s illegal-immigration crisis, covering unprecedented migrant crossings from the Bahamas and ensuing enforcement operations.
Beyond those beats, she reports on crime, politics, business, lifestyle, world news, and more—delivering both breaking updates and in-depth analysis across Fox News Digital. You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
