Bryan Kohberger Evading Death Penalty Reignites Age-Old Debate

Bryan Kohberger will accept a plea deal to serve four consecutive life sentences for the slayings of four University of Idaho students in November 2022: Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves. The plea will spare him the death penalty, according to a letter sent to the victims' families by prosecutors.

The news was met with mixed reactions, reigniting the age-old debate about whether a life sentence or quick death is a more fitting punishment for the most depraved humans among us -- including from the parents of the victims.

Ben Mogan, Madison's father, said he was relieved to receive the letter about the plea deal.

"If you get a quick death sentence, then, you know, you don't have to spend decades thinking about how terrible you made the world," Mogan told CBS News on Tuesday.

"We can actually put this behind us and not have these future dates and future things that we don't want to have to be at, that we shouldn't have to be at, that have to do with this terrible person," he added. "We get to just think about the rest of our lives and have to try and figure out how to do it without Maddie and without the rest of the kids."

The Goncalves family, however, had previously called for the death penalty and expressed disappointment with the state's agreement on Tuesday.

The family wrote in a Facebook post that they are "beyond furious" at the State of Idaho. "They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support," they wrote.

Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee, appeared on "NewsNation" and asked viewers to help pressure the state to reverse course, in the name of justice:

"This is the opposite of our will," Steve Goncalves said. "There was no majority (of victims’ families) believing that this was acceptable."

We sympathize with the father.

For reference, Idaho lawmakers have advanced a bill to make a firing squad the state’s primary method of execution.

As my friend Stacy Washington of SiriusXM Patriot would say, spare us the idea that the death penalty is inhumane. Any time you feel sorry for a killer sentenced to death, just envision someone brutally stabbing four innocent college students to death.

Speaking in the first person, I would have preferred that the state sentence the killer to an hour in a room with the fathers of all four victims, with access to garage equipment.

But that's just me.

MOSCOW, IDAHO - MAY 22: Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court, May 22, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Photo by Zach Wilkinson-Pool/Getty Images)

The evidence against Kohberger is overwhelming. According to the police affidavit, police recovered a knife sheath left behind at the murder scene containing Kohberger's DNA. FBI data detected Kohberger's cellphone "pinged nearly a dozen times" to a tower that provides coverage of an area within 100 feet of the home in which the victims were murdered.

An episode of "Dateline" in May also obtained street camera footage of a vehicle matching Kohberger's driving around the home of the victims for nearly an hour before the murders.

Fox News Digital provided a summary of the "Dateline" reporting below:

At 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, the night when Kernodle, Goncalves, Mogen and Chapin were killed, a white Hyundai Elantra resembling Kohberger's was seen turning onto King Road, according to security video. Just three minutes later, the car was seen leaving King Road and turning right. Five minutes later, at 3:38 a.m., the car was back on King Road and exited at 3:40 a.m.

At 3:56 a.m., the car was again seen turning onto King Road, and left at 3:58 a.m. At 4:06 a.m., the Elantra was seen doing a U-turn and going back onto King Road. At 4:20 a.m., after Kohberger allegedly killed the four college students, the car was seen speeding away from the King Road house.

At 10:31 a.m., Kohberger's phone pinged to a tower that served the towns of Clarkston, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho. According to the "Dateline" report, law enforcement officials believe Kohberger could have been disposing of evidence such as a knife or clothing.

Kohberger allegedly went back to the King Road area at 9:12 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022. He was allegedly in the area for nine minutes, then went back to his apartment in Pullman, Washington.

At 10:31 a.m., Kohberger's phone pinged to a tower that served the towns of Clarkston, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho. According to the "Dateline" report, law enforcement officials believe Kohberger could have been disposing of evidence such as a knife or clothing.

Moreover, because of an ongoing gag order, the public is likely unaware of other key points of evidence the defense learned of when deciding to accept the plea deal.

It remains unclear what, if any, connection Kohberger had with the victims. However, author Howard Blum, who wrote a book about the murders in 2024, proposed that while strangers, Kohberger may have come across Madison Mogen at the Mad Greek restaurant, where she was a waitress and served dishes that matched the stringent vegan diet Kohberger followed.

"Kohberger most likely first crossed paths with Mogen at the Mad Greek restaurant on Main Street in Moscow," Blum, whom Dateline interviewed, claims. "The restaurant was the only one in town to serve the sort of vegan dishes that Kohberger's relatives told me he preferred. It was also where Mogen worked as a waitress."

"Did they talk? Did he ask her out? The prosecution and the defense have agreed that there is no evidence of any interaction – either in person or on social media. But I believe that wouldn't have been necessary for Kohberger to become infatuated with 21-year-old Mogen's pretty face, long blonde hair and sparkling personality. Obsessions came easily to him. He was, after all, a recovering heroin addict."

Still, no one can ever predict with certainty how a jury will rule.

Lexie Rigden is a criminal law attorney in New Jersey and a legal analyst on television. On Monday, she explained that a conviction is never guaranteed, no matter how strong the evidence seems.

"It’s not as though the State gave the case away. He will get 4 life sentences. No appeals," Rigden explained in an X post.

"Hopefully he must provide an explanation for his heinous conduct. The death penalty was never guaranteed to be imposed, let alone to be carried out. I get the anger, to a point, but it’s not as though the State agreed to a wildly inappropriate resolution."

Bryan Kohberger is expected to confess to the murders during a hearing on Wednesday.