According to U.S. media, a 30-year-old man will be tried for a fatal stabbing by four roommates in a small college town in Idaho, which will plead guilty as part of a deal with state prosecutors to avoid the death penalty.
The Lata County Attorney’s Office refused to confirm with the BBC that a plea agreement was reached with Brian Koberg.
But relatives of one victim, Kaylee Goncalves, apparently confirmed the agreement on Facebook. “Yes! We’re extremely angry at the situation in Idaho,” the Post said. “They failed us.”
Ms. Gonkavis, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were knitted in off-campus residences in Moscow, Idaho a few days before Thanksgiving 2022.
Mr. Kohberger, a former criminology student near Washington State University, is due to be tried in August.
Also on Monday, a judge in Pennsylvania, a defendant’s homeland, ruled that three people who knew him must go to Idaho to testify.
Local media reported that a hearing on the plea agreement was scheduled to be held on Wednesday. The BBC has contacted the defendant’s legal team for comment.
Local media reported that Koberg is expected to plead guilty to all four counts of murder and waive his right to appeal in the future.
If accepted by a judge, the deal would have seen the possibility of a defendant being sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, and prosecutors would not seek death penalty.
“We cannot understand the damage this case has caused to your family,” Moscow prosecutor Bill Thompson told his family in a letter. According to the Idaho State Man’s Newspapersaid it has seen a copy.
“This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family.
“The agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in jail and that the uncertainty of the decades of appeals after convictions will make you and other families.”
The defendant was arrested at his Pennsylvania family residence just weeks after investigators said they found DNA evidence of “leather scabbards” at the crime scene. He was indicted by a grand jury in May 2023.
Police recovered a knife, Glock pistol, black hat and black mask while searching for Mr Kohberger’s family home, court documents show.
His defense team questioned the accuracy of DNA evidence and successfully relocated the trial site after arguing that his client would not accept a fair hearing from local jurors.
However, they failed to use the death penalty as a sentence option after citing Mr Kohberger’s autism diagnosis.
Idaho is one of the 27 states that allow the death penalty, but has not been executed since 2012, according to the Death Penalty Information Center database.
