Accused person Four students were killed at the University of Idaho Monday is scheduled to enter a petition in court. Brian Kohberger, 28, was accused Four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary were indicted by a grand jury last week.
Prosecutors allege Kohberger entered an off-campus home and fatally stabbed 20-year-old Ethan Chapin of Conway, Washington. 21-year-old Madison Mozen from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kylie Goncalves, 21, from Rathdrum, Idaho.
He is expected to plead not guilty to the charges.
Goncalves’ family plans to be in court in Moscow, Idaho for the arraignment.
“He knows, you know, what he did to our daughter,” Kylie Goncalves’ mother, Christy Goncalves, told “48 Hours” last week.
“He’ll feel like we’re all staring at the back of his head because he won’t even turn around,” she said.
It is unlikely that Kohberger will be offered a plea deal. It could be six months or more before his case goes to trial.
Kohberger is waiting to hear whether prosecutors will pursue the death penalty in the high-profile case.
Christy Goncalves said that at the end of the trial, she hopes Kohberger is “executed like an animal, like he was.”
According to prosecutors, the alleged crimes occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, when Kohberger entered the hunters’ off-campus residence. Using a large military-style knife, he allegedly stabbed Goncalves, Mogen, Karnodol and Chapin multiple times. Authorities believe the victims may have been asleep at the time of the attack.
After an extensive investigation, Kohberger was arrested about seven weeks after the murder at his family home in eastern Pennsylvania. Prosecutors presented a variety of evidence, including DNA traces that matched Kohberger’s found in a knife sheath at the crime scene and surveillance footage showing a car similar to one owned by the accused repeatedly driving past the student’s home on the night of the murder.
Kohberger, who was doing a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University and living in Pullman, Washington, became the subject of intense investigation at the time of the murder. Police seized several items including possible evidence from his apartment, but no murder weapon was recovered. According to CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson, the absence of a clear motive and lack of weapons could pose potential challenges for prosecution.
“Having a defendant who’s at least obviously an expert in the criminal justice system adds an extra layer. It’s going to be really interesting to see if the prosecution uses that to argue exactly what he’s doing,” Levinson said.
Last weekend, the University of Idaho posthumously awarded degrees to Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves honoring their academic achievements.
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