'Guilty': Bryan Kohberger admits to murdering 4 University of Idaho students

Alex Brizee and Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman on Jul 2, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

BOISE, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger, in his own words Wednesday, admitted he killed four University of Idaho students in 2022, finally bringing some closure to the 2 1/2-year case that brought national attention to the grieving college town.

The hastily scheduled hearing comes a month before Kohberger’s attorneys were expected to begin their fight for their client’s innocence at his high-profile capital trial, with jury selection slated for the end of July.

Instead, Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. They were found fatally stabbed at an off-campus home in Moscow in November 2022.

Kohberger, a former Washington State University Ph.D. student of criminology, lived just 10 miles west of the students on the other side of the Idaho-Washington state line in Pullman.

Wednesday’s decision to enter a guilty plea spared him from facing the possibility of death row, and eventual execution.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Kohberger had faced the prospect of capital punishment if found guilty by a jury. His public defense team spent nearly a year trying to remove the death penalty as a possible sentencing option, to no avail ahead of the plea agreement in exchange for a life sentence with no ability to appeal.

The plea agreement came over the protest of half of the four victims’ families. Most outspoken were the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, who worked this week to inspire supporters to call the judge, the U.S. Department of Justice and Gov. Brad Little’s office to force Kohberger’s capital murder trial to proceed, in pursuit of a possible death sentence.

_____