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BOISE, Idaho – The long‑running University of Idaho homicide case has reached a decisive turn: Bryan Kohberger, the former Washington State University criminology Ph.D. student accused of killing four undergraduates in 2022, pleaded guilty in court Wednesday as he accepted a deal.
The deal involved Kohberger 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.
Kohberger admitted to killing the four students on Nov. 13, 2022. On Wednesday Judge Steven Hippler accepted Kohberger’s plea in Boise’s Ada County Courthouse
A formal change of plea hearing is set for 11 a.m. local time Wednesday in Boise’s Ada County Courthouse. If the agreement is accepted by the judge, sentencing is expected before the end of July, closing one of Idaho’s most closely watched criminal cases.
Here’s a timeline of the events leading up to Kohberger’s plea deal.
BRYAN KOHBERGER EXPECTED TO OFFICIALLY PLEAD GUILTY: WHAT’S NEXT
Bryan Kohberger and his alleged victims, clockwise from top left, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves. (WSU/Instagram)
The night of the killings
“Saturday is for the girls,” read a sign seen hanging through one of the windows at 1122 King Road, an off-campus rental house in Moscow, Idaho, which was home to five University of Idaho students.
These included Madison Mogen, a 21-year-old senior majoring in marketing; her best friend Kaylee Goncalves, also 21, who had recently moved out but was visiting for the weekend; Xana Kernodle, a 20-year-old junior majoring in marketing; and two other roommates.
Though not a roommate, Ethan Chapin, Kernodle’s 20-year-old boyfriend, was staying overnight at the house and was among the four victims. The two surviving roommates were both home at the time but were unharmed during the attack.
The house at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, behind police tape on Nov. 15, 2022. Police say four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death inside on Nov. 13. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
BRYAN KOHBERGER ACCEPTS PLEA DEAL IN IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS CASE
On the frigid night of Nov. 12, 2022, roommates Mogen and Goncalves ended an evening at Moscow’s Corner Club and a downtown food truck, while Kernodle and Chapin walked back from the Sigma Chi fraternity house only 200 yards away.
Shortly after 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, police say a lone intruder entered 1122 King Road and fatally stabbed the four students in a blitz that lasted roughly 15 minutes.
Timeline of Nov. 13, 2022:
- 4 a.m.: Suspect arrives at house
- Between 4 and 4:17: Time of murders
- 4:19: Roommate calls three victims; no one answers
- 4:22 to 4:24: Surviving roommates text each other from inside the house
- 4:27: Roommate calls victims again, no one answers
- 4:32: Roommate texts Goncalves ‘Pls answer’
- 10:23: Surviving roommate texts victims, no one answers
- 11:39: Roommate calls her father
- 12 p.m.: 911 call placed from roommate’s phone.
Key moments in the investigation:
Dec. 30, 2022
The investigation led authorities to Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University. He was arrested in December 2022 in Pennsylvania after forensic evidence linked him to the murders, including DNA found on a knife sheath at the crime scene and cellphone data placing him near the victims’ home multiple times.
Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, is escorted into a courtroom for a hearing in Latah County District Court on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren/Pool)
Jan. 4, 2023
Kohberger was extradited to Idaho on Jan. 4, 2023. He had waived his right to an extradition hearing in Pennsylvania the previous day. He was booked into the Latah County Jail in Moscow, Idaho.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, is accused of killing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen. (Latah County Sheriff’s Office)
May 17, 2023
On May 17, 2023, a grand jury in Latah County, Idaho, indicted Kohberger on five felony charges: four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
BRYAN KOHBERGER ALLEGEDLY SEARCHED PICTURES OF FEMALE STUDENTS, SOME WERE CLOSE TO ALLEGED VICTIMS
May 22, 2023
On May 22, 2023, Kohberger was arraigned in Latah County on charges including four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. During the arraignment, Kohberger chose to “stand silent,” meaning he did not enter a plea.
As a result, the judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf.
Latah County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Jennings and Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson arrive at the Ada County Courthouse for a hearing in the Bryan Kohberger case on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 in Boise, Idaho. (Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
June 26, 2023
On June 26, 2023, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson filed a formal notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Kohberger. This filing occurred within the 60-day window mandated by Idaho law following Kohberger’s arraignment on May 22, 2023.
August 2023
Defendant waives right to a speedy trial, postponing proceedings. Kohberger’s attorney, Anne Taylor, cited the need for additional time to prepare the defense.
June 30, 2025
Kohberger accepts a plea deal: guilty pleas in exchange for life without parole and a waiver of appeals.
BRYAN KOHBERGER SELFIE FROM DAYS BEFORE ARREST SEEN FOR FIRST TIME
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)
July 2, 2025
Kohberger appeared in the Ada County Courthouse to officially plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He will be sentenced on July 23 at 9 a.m. to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, who were stabbed to death Nov. 13. (Fox News)
Immediately following the hearing, the Mogen family issued a heartfelt statement through their attorney, Leander James, on the steps of the courthouse.
“We now embark on a new path,” James said on behalf of the family. “We turn from tragedy and mourning. We turn from darkness and uncertainty of the legal process to the light of the future. We have closure. We embark on a path of hope and healing. We invite all of those who have mourned with us to join us, and we wish you well.”
The sentiment drew a stark contrast compared to remarks made by Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, as he arrived at the courthouse but chose not to attend the hearing.
“He’s going to own this,” Steve Goncalves said of Judge Steven Hippler. “He’s gonna inherit what [Bill] Thompson did. And he’s the only one that can fix it. He’s the one who can make it right. He needs to protect those other surviving victims and make this person say that they had nothing to do with it. He did it solely, he did it all on his own. And nobody else was responsible.”
When asked by reporters if he felt justice was served, the grieving father went on to slam the court’s decision to hand down four life sentences to Kohberger, saying, “No, of course not. It’s daycare.”
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Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
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.
