Steve Goncalves was stunned over the weekend when he heard that prosecutors in Moscow, Idaho, had reached a plea deal with Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the 2022 stabbing deaths of his daughter, Kaylee, and three other University of Idaho students.
Just days earlier, Goncalves said he and a few of the victims’ loved ones told prosecutors they did not support a plea deal. Instead, they urged prosecutors to continue pursuing the death penalty in Kohberger’s upcoming quadruple murder trial, which Goncalves hoped would bring much-needed closure to their families.
“We don’t want to deal. We’re not interested in that. We didn’t wait two and a half years for this,” the father said he told prosecutors on a Friday afternoon call.
Goncalves said he walked away from the conversation with the impression that a plea deal was not a serious option in the case, leaving him blindsided when he received an email just two days later notifying him a deal had been reached.
Ultimately, it was Kohberger’s attorneys who broached the possibility of a plea deal as they endured a series of legal blows to their defense strategy, Goncalves told CNN’s Jim Sciutto, citing conversations with prosecutors last week.
The agreement would avoid a trial by allowing Kohberger to plead guilty to all four counts of murder in exchange for the government dropping the death penalty in the killings of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.
Goncalves and his family have slammed the deal as “hurried” and “secretive,” saying prosecutors should have sought input from victims’ loved ones on the conditions of the deal. Jeff Kernodle, Xana’s father, also expressed disappointment in the prosecutor’s decision.
Kernodle mourned the deal as a “missed opportunity to set a stronger precedent in how accountability should be handled in cases like this,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
“It could have sent a message to others that these kinds of horrific crimes carry real consequences. Instead, four beautiful lives were taken, and the person responsible won’t be used as an example to help prevent something like this from happening again,” Kernodle added.
In contrast, families of the other two victims say they support the plea deal.
Ben Mogen, father of Madison, told the Idaho Statesman he was choosing acceptance, adding the plea agreement would let his family avoid a trial and allow its wounds to keep healing. Ethan’s mother, Stacy Chapin, told CNN affiliate KHQ her family would be in court Wednesday “in support of the plea bargain.”
But the deal is not set in stone, and the judge could require Kohberger to confess to details of the crime, a legal expert said.
State District Judge Steven Hippler must approve the deal and will oversee a hearing in the case at 11 a.m. Wednesday, during which the plea agreement will be addressed, a letter from the prosecutor to a victim’s family says, according to an Idaho Statesman report.
Closed-door plea negotiations shrouded in mystery
Plea deal negotiations are often protected by a halo of privacy, so details of the closed-door conversations between prosecutors and Kohberger’s attorneys are unlikely to come out unless one side steps forward, according to University of Idaho associate law professor Samuel Newton.
Commonly discussed in the legal process, plea deals involve prosecutors offering a defendant incentives, such as a less severe sentence, if they accept a guilty plea, Newton said.
The costs and time commitment of a death penalty case may have also played a role in both sides wanting to reach an early conclusion, Newton said. Death penalty convictions often lead to decades of painstaking appeal efforts, which he said some victims’ families describe as “torture.”
“The family is looking at … decades of legal proceedings in a death penalty case, versus if he takes life without parole, it’s done and the family gets that degree of closure,” Newton said.
Kohberger’s legal defense team has also suffered a series of losses in recent weeks which have narrowed their strategy options, including rulings barring the defense from submitting an official alibi – as no one could confirm Kohberger’s whereabouts at the time of the killings – and rejecting their attempt to present an “alternate perpetrator” theory.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the judge is likely to question Kohberger thoroughly to make sure he understands that he would be forfeiting his right to a trial and sentencing appeals if he accepts the deal, Newton said.
Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were killed Sunday, November 13, 2022 off campus at the University of Idaho.
Obtained by CNN
Families push for details of the killings
Both Goncalves and Kernodle have criticized prosecutors for not including provisions in the plea deal that would require Kohberger to confess to specific details of the crime. Those details could have been revealed at trial, which still leaves questions over motive and how the stabbings were carried out.
Goncalves hopes Judge Hippler will require Kohberger to make statements in court that would shed light on the remaining mysteries of the case. He also believes such statements would provide the suspect’s supporters – many of whom maintain his innocence – less ground to stand on.
“We’re all going to live with the repercussion for the rest of our lives … unless Hippler steps in and says, ‘You’re not going to just say you’re guilty. You’re going to communicate some of the details so these families can actually move on and not have to be dragged through this true crime nightmare over and over and over again.”
Kernodle agreed, saying in his statement, “It’s incredibly hard to accept that a trial won’t be happening. I had hoped the agreement would include conditions that required the defendant to explain his actions and provide answers to the many questions that still remain, especially where evidence is missing or unclear.”
Goncalves also believes the plea deal should have barred Kohberger from reaping financial gain from selling the details of his story in the future.
Could Kohberger maintain his innocence?
There is a slim chance Kohberger could maintain his innocence while accepting the plea deal by entering an Alford plea, an option that stems from a 1970 Supreme Court case.
“The benefit of the Alford plea is for a defendant who feels that they’re innocent but wants to take the deal,” Newton said, noting there are no substantial differences between a regular guilty plea and an Alford plea. “It has the same result as a guilty plea. It’s just the defendant themselves is not going to say that they did it.”
If the defense went this route, the state may present a factual basis for Kohberger’s guilty plea, including details of how the crime was carried out, and would require him to say “guilty” after the facts were read, Newton said. Like a regular guilty plea, Kohberger would likely be waiving his right to appeal as well, he added.
Newton said it seems unlikely prosecutors would have agreed to a plea deal if they didn’t have assurances Kohberger would take responsibility for the killings, making the chances of an Alford plea questionable.
CNN’s Norma Galeana and Betul Tuncer contributed to this report.
Wow. First of all, they can't profit from their crime in ID so they have that one wrong, I just heard it in the Daybell case.
So the families are evenly split.
The two would NEVER be happy with an Alford plea where they don't admit guilt.
I think the judge will require he give details, however, it seems like the P has to give those questions if I recall, and let's hope they require all the two families want, like where the weapon is.
You know, the P got the D in this position which is probably always a goal. And the judge recently denied last ditch attempts by the D.
I can understand not wanting him on the face of this earth, and I can understand wanting answers, and a trial but I wonder if this deal wasn't struck, how these two families would feel when they are still going through appeal after appeal 20 years from now and probably for the rest of their lives.
I'm sure or imagine the P and the judge are aware of what is going on and that some of the families are not happy. Hopefully he will require all they want, however,, there is no guarantee he would be telling the truth either.
I think it was in the News Nation thing above that Goncalvez seemed to be happy with LE, and I think the judge, but NOT with the prosecutor who made this deal.
It does still seem like they don't entirely understand the process and that was on the P and team to ensure they know how things work.
I don't know if they could have put all that in the plea agreement either, probably they could have, unsure.
He is not being not held accountable, he has a firm sentence on four counts. They seem to feel that way though.
I think they are not happy about no trial either.
One thing I do agree with, a good P would have sat down with all the families and went over this with them before ever agreeing. They don't HAVE to though. Should be interesting today.
It sounds as if they have somewhat accepted this is going to happen but they want answers and more. Not saying they like it though.
