Bryan Kohberger to plead guilty to killing 4 University of Idaho students to avoid death penalty, multiple media report

BOISE Idaho AP Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students as part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty multiple media outlets stated Monday The news was delivered to families of the casualties in a letter according to ABC News Kohberger is accused in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin Xana Kernodle Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow Idaho in November Autopsies displayed the four were all likely asleep when they were attacked certain had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times Goncalves family expressed outrage in a Facebook post We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho They have failed us Please give us certain time This was very unexpected Kohberger then a criminal justice graduate aspirant at Washington State University was arrested in Pennsylvania weeks after the killings Investigators revealed they matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath discovered at the crime scene THIS IS A CURRENT NEWS UPDATE AP s earlier story follows below STROUDSBURG Pa AP A Pennsylvania judge on Monday ordered that three people whose testimony has been requested by defense attorneys will have to excursion to Idaho to appear at the trial of a man accused of stabbing to death four college students in The defense subpoenas were granted regarding a boxing trainer who knew Bryan Kohberger as a teenager a childhood acquaintance of Kohberger s and a third man whose significance was not explained The -year-old Kohberger who was arrested at his parents home in Albrightsville Pennsylvania weeks after the November killings is accused of sneaking into a rental home in Moscow Idaho not far from the University of Idaho campus and attacking Ethan Chapin Xana Kernodle Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves The deaths shocked the rural Idaho population and neighboring Pullman Washington where Kohberger was a graduate learner studying criminology at Washington State University A prison official came to court with records from Kohberger s stay in the Monroe County Correctional Facility after he was arrested although the subpoena hearing was continued because he must still provide a comment attesting to their authenticity Common Pleas Judge Arthur Zulick also continued for a week the hearing regarding a subpoena for Ralph Vecchio who owns a car dealership where Kohberger s parents purchased a Hyundai Elantra in There was uncertainty about whether the subpoena was directed at Vecchio or at his father who owned the business at the time of the purchase The judge disclosed prosecution witness subpoenas will also be at issue next week A sixth witness hearing had previously been rescheduled for next week because of a movement conflict and the seventh person sought by the defense consented last week to journey to Idaho for the trial expected to begin in August Brandon Andreola argued unsuccessfully that his subpoena should be canceled saying he is his family s sole breadwinner and is worried publicity might lead to him losing his job Andreola reported his relationship with Bryan Kohberger has been minimal and distant since high school with their last notable interaction taking place in two years before the stabbings If I m brought out there I believe the attention will be multiple times greater than the attention that I ve received already Andreola argued Jesse Harris commented he trained Kohberger as a - or -year-old at a boxing gym but does not think he has testimony that will help the development Harris also mentioned a relative s robustness problems were an issue and he is needed to run a small construction company Zulick approved the summonses for Andreola and Harris along with a third one for witness Anthony Somma who did not oppose it Zulick declared Harris can return to his courtroom if his family member s fitness issues become a barrier to Harris ability to voyage to Idaho Kohberger s trial on four counts of murder and one count of burglary is on track to begin Aug in Boise Idaho after a judge declined his lawyer s request for a delay last week Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty In a court filing his lawyers explained Kohberger was on a long drive by himself around the time the four were killed Kohberger was silent during his arraignment prompting a judge to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf A gag order has largely kept attorneys investigators and others from speaking publicly about the analysis or trial The defense crew s lawyer in the Monroe County Courthouse on Monday Abigail Parnell declined to comment