Outrage from Idaho stabbing victim’s family over Bryan Kohberger plea deal
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Outrage from Idaho stabbing victim’s family over Bryan Kohberger plea deal
Bryan Kohberger accepted a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. The Goncalves family said they learned of the plea deal in a letter from prosecutors. The victims’ father said he wants a jury to make a decision on Kohberger’s fate. Kohberger is expected to change his plea from not guilty in the July 2 hearing.”This is anything but justice. This is the opposite of our will. There was no majority believing that this was acceptable,” the victim’s father said. “No plea deal. Let’s go for this guy. One hundred percent, let’s do it,” he told News Nation’s “Banfield” in an interview on July 1. “We had an outsider come to our community, kill our kids in their sleep,” he said.
Kohberger, now 30, was charged in the murders of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. The four were found stabbed to death in their rental house close to the University of Idaho campus on Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger, who was studying criminal justice at the time at a nearby university, was arrested weeks after the murders in Pennsylvania, where his family lives.
The Goncalves family confirmed in a statement to Reuters from their attorney that they learned of the plea deal in a letter from prosecutors and said prosecutors mishandled the deal.
“After more than two years, this is how it concludes with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims’ families on the plea’s details,” the Goncalves family said. “Adding insult to injury, they’re rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the courthouse for a plea on July 2.”
The news of the agreement came after Kohberger’s defense team faced additional setbacks in the upcoming murder trial, which was set to begin Aug. 18. On June 26, Ada County Judge Steven Hippler rejected the defense team’s attempt to present an alternate perpetrator defense during the trial, saying the evidence presented was “irrelevant.” A previous attempt to toss out DNA evidence linking Kohberger to the crime scene was also rejected.
Shanon Gray, an attorney representing the Goncalves family, didn’t immediately respond to an email from USA TODAY on July 1. Kohberger’s attorney and the state attorney general’s office also didn’t immediately respond to inquiries.
Victim’s father says plea deal is ‘anything but justice’
Steve Goncalves, the father of victim Kaylee Goncalves, told News Nation’s “Banfield” he wanted a jury to make a decision on Kohberger’s fate. He said he wouldn’t speak on behalf of other victims’ families, but said multiple families believe the same as he does.
“This is anything but justice. This is the opposite of our will. There was no majority believing that this was acceptable,” Steve Goncalves said.
Steve Goncalves told News Nation he wants the judge to reject the plea agreement.
“This is not justice. We had an outsider come to our community, kill our kids in their sleep while they’re getting a college education, doing everything that they should do, and we don’t have the courage to hold him accountable,” he said. “No plea deal. Let’s go for this guy. One hundred percent, let’s do it.”
What happens next in Kohberger case?
Kohberger is expected to change his plea from not guilty in the July 2 hearing. A judge previously entered the not guilty plea on his behalf. In Idaho, a judge isn’t obligated to accept the terms of an agreement between prosecutors and a defendant, and Kohberger could withdraw the guilty plea if the judge rejects the agreement.
His trial was expected to commence with jury selection on Aug. 4 and with opening statements on Aug. 18, Hippler wrote in a scheduling order last week.
Contributing: Reuters