Murder suspect Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to killing four Idaho students to avoid death penalty

Bryan Kohberger has pleaded guilty to murdering University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen.

Over two and a half years from the devastating killing of the four US students in November 2022, Kohberger, 30, has officially entered a guilty plea for four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.

Kohberger had previously entered a not guilty plea for all charges, however, it is understood that he'd accepted a plea deal in order to avoid facing the death penalty if the case was brought to trial.

What happened to the University of Idaho students?

Students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Madison Mogen, 21 were fatally attacked in their off-campus home in the town of Moscow, Idaho just days before Thanksgiving.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle (Instagram/@Kaylee Goncalves)

Two of the students - Mogen and Kernodle - were living at the off-campus address at the time while Chapin was staying the night with Kernodle.

Meanwhile, Goncalves had previously lived at the address but had since moved out. Two more students were in the house at the time of the killings, however, they were not attacked.

Goncalves and Mogen had been attacked in Mogen's bedroom on the third floor of the residence, while Kernodle and Chapin were found in Kernodle's room on the second floor.

The two surviving housemates had been in their rooms on the first and second floor when the murders occurred. All four victims had been attacked numerous times with a bladed weapon, which has not been recovered.

What have the families of the victims said about the plea deal?

Bryan Kohberger changed his plea to guilty (Kai Eiselein-Pool/Getty Images)

The family of Goncalves released a statement via their Facebook page shortly after the news that Kohberger would accept a plea deal broke yesterday, revealing they felt 'failed' by the decision.

"It's true! We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho," the post read. "They have failed us."

Kernodle's aunt - Kim Kernodle - told TMZ that the prosecution accepted the deal in order to 'spare the families' the pain of going through the trial, something which she disagreed with.

Meanwhile, Ben Mogen, Madison's father, appeared to be more accepting of the news, with the Idaho Statesman reporting the family accepted the agreement if it meant avoiding reliving their daughter's murder at trial.

"If you get that quick death sentence, you don't have to spend decades thinking about how terrible you made the world," he added to CBS.

"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 said. "We get to just think about the rest of lives and have to try and figure out how to do it without Maddie and the rest of the kids."

Newsweek added that the Chapin had traveled to the court today in order to support the plea deal.