Bryan Kohberger tells a judge he is guilty of killing 4 University of Idaho students

Brian Koberger, accused of killing four University of Idaho students, appeared in Ada County Court in Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, and pleaded guilty to the 2022 killings of the four students, a crime that sent shockwaves through campuses and drew national attention.

Koberger, then a graduate student in criminal justice at Washington State University, formally pleaded guilty in a plea deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty. His trial was scheduled for August.

Judge Steven Hippler said at the start of the hearing that he would not consider public opinion in his decision on the plea deal, adding:
“This court cannot compel prosecutors to seek the death penalty, nor is it appropriate to do so.”

The murders took place in the small northern Idaho town of Moscow, a town that had not seen a single intentional homicide in about five years prior to the incident. On November 13, 2022, the bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Zannah Kernodel, and Madison Maughan were found in a rented house near the university. According to the medical examiner’s office, the victims were asleep at the time of the attack; some had self-defense marks, and all four had been stabbed multiple times.

Since early Wednesday, reporters and members of the public had lined up for the court hearing, and the courthouse grounds were covered in news cameras.

The case has garnered worldwide media and public attention due to its gruesome nature and the extensive search for the perpetrator. Police identified Koberger as the suspect through the tracking of a white car that had repeatedly passed the victims’ homes, as well as genetic testing, and he was arrested in Pennsylvania after his DNA was matched to samples from the crime scene.

Koberger's online shopping records showed that he had purchased a military knife and sheath similar to the one found at the crime scene months before the murders.

The motive for the crime is still unclear, and it is unclear why Koberger left two other roommates alive that night. There was also no indication that he had any connection to the victims, all of whom were members of the Greek system.

Cellphone records and surveillance video show that Koberger had been to the victims' residences at least 12 times before the night of the murders and that he had been in the area on the night of the murders. His lawyers argued that Koberger had been driving alone at night at the time.

The trial was moved to Boise because of the high profile of the case in northern Idaho.

Judge Hippler must approve the plea agreement, and if approved, a final ruling is likely in July.

Meanwhile, the family of Keely Goncalves opposed the deal, demanding that Koberger fully confess to the details of the crime and the exact location of the murder weapon. They wrote in a Facebook post:
“We have a right to know when this nightmare began.”

But Ethan Chapin’s family supported the deal, their spokeswoman, Christina Tevez, announced the news on Tuesday.

The lawyer for Madison Maughan’s mother and stepfather also said they would issue a statement on their behalf after the hearing. Madison’s father, Ben Maughan, expressed satisfaction with the deal in an interview with CBS News, saying:
“We can put this behind us and no longer have to attend any further hearings or events that we don’t want to attend related to this terrible man. Now we can think about how we will continue our lives without Maddie and the rest of the children.”

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