Given at the end is an article. Analyze it and output in the following JSON format.
{
"analysis": {
"bias": {
"score": "1-10, where 1-10 measures UNFAIR or UNHELPFUL bias.
As the AI analyst, you must judge:
1. Fairness of Bias:
- Is the tone/alarm proportional to events?
- Is criticism warranted by facts?
- Are similar actions judged equally?
2. Utility of Bias:
- Does the bias help readers understand real implications?
- Does it highlight genuine concerns that neutral language might minimize?
- Does it provide valuable context through its perspective?
Example: An article about climate change might use emotional language
and scary scenarios. While this is technically 'bias', it might be
USEFUL bias if it helps readers grasp real dangers that cold, neutral
language would understate.
A high bias score should only be given when bias is both unfair AND unhelpful.",
"description": "Explain both unfair and useful bias found. For each biased element:
1. Is it fair/warranted?
2. Does it serve a valuable purpose for readers?
3. Should it be removed or retained?"
},
"missing_context_misinformation": {
"score": "1-10",
"points": [
"", # DIRECTLY provide essential context the reader needs without ANY phrases like "the article lacks/doesn't/fails to mention/omits" etc. Simply state the relevant facts. Each point up to 5 sentences as needed. Up to 10 points. NEVER refer to the article itself or what it's missing - just supply the information directly. The missing context should try to compensate for the bias in the article, and not just add related information.
]
},
"disinformation_lies": {
"score": "1-10",
"points": [
"" # Provide corrections for verifiably false statement. These lines should be brief. Upto 10 points.
# Use Wikipedia (via the search tool) to verify events and dates up through 2025-07-01. Any event dated ≤ 2025-07-01 should not be marked as disinformation if it matches Wikipedia. Only flag statements you can not verify or that Wikipedia contradicts as of 2025-07-01.”
]
}
},
"summary": [], # A list of 2 to 5 paragraphs. Provide a version that: * Retains key facts and proportional concerns, * Removes unfair bias while keeping warranted criticism, * Adds critical missing context, * Corrects any inaccuracies. Remove author attribution. Maintain article's POV - no meta-references. You can decide the most appropriate length based on the article.summary can be longer than the article if needed.
"title": "Provide an Appropriate Title Based on the Article's Content.",
"changes_made": [
"List significant changes made in the summary",
"Include both removals and additions",
"Note bias adjustments"
],
"key_words": [
"3-10 relevant terms to help identify related articles",
"Focus on major themes and topics"
],
"keywords_update": {
"keyword-to-add-or-update": "new summary or updated to replace the previous"
}
}
KEYWORDS UPDATE INSTRUCTIONS:
- We want to save new information from beyond your knowledge cutoff of Mar 2024.
- Information can come from the provided article or Wikipedia.
- Pick up to 3 keywords of highest importance to update with new information.
- If a keyword lacks a summary, write one from scratch.
- For each keyword, list one line per new fact (up to 50 sentences per keyword).
- Each fact must:
1. Be one or two sentences long.
2. End with 1-3 references in brackets, e.g. [apnews], [nytimes,wikipedia].
3. Immediately after the reference(s), append a hyphen and the date of the event or when the fact was reported, in ISO format:
`Statement. [source] - [YYYY-MM-DD]`
- If you update an existing keyword's source (e.g. [foxnews] → [apnews]), ensure the replacement is supported by an article.
- Ensure each keyword is specific enough that its new facts warrant inclusion.
<example>
ARTICLE TOPIC
Raiding of 100+ immigrants allegedly illegal alients and alleged members from the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and the Hells Angels for deportation. Authorities also found drugs at the underground nightclub at a strip mall in Colorado Springs. President Donald Trump praised the raid, saying on TruthSocial it had targeted some of the worst people in the US, whom he alleged judges are reluctant to deport.
keywords worth updating:
tren-de-aragua (I am sure this gang has a big list of information, but this deportation will be worth a mention)
tren-de-aragua+deportation (a more specific keyword that can take more detail about this incident)
trump+illegal_deportation (add this to the list of illegal deportations conducted by trump administration)
colorado_springs (this is a unique event for this town. an update here will add some trivia.)
trump+immigration (a key fact worth mentioning about how trump is implementation his immigration policies)
keywords to not update:
trump (too broad. not one of top 50 facts related to trump.)
illegal_deportation (depending upon existing content, may be too crowded for this incident to be added)
colorado (too broad, unlikely to fit this event in top 50)
drug_raids (too broad, unlikely to fit this event in top 50)
</example>
<existing_keywords_summaries>
bryan-kohberger+plea-deal :
university-idaho-murders+plea-agreement :
death-penalty+plea-bargain :
victims-families+plea-notification :
kohberger+defense-strategy :
moscow-idaho+quadruple-murder :
dna-evidence+genetic-genealogy :
gag-order+high-profile-cases :
life-sentence+appeal-waiver :
university-students+violent-crime :
bryan-kohberger+plea-deal :
university-idaho-murders+plea-agreement :
victims-families+plea-notification :
moscow-idaho+quadruple-murder :
dna-evidence+genetic-genealogy :
bryan-kohberger+plea-deal :
university-idaho-murders+plea-agreement :
victims-families+plea-notification :
moscow-idaho+quadruple-murder :
dna-evidence+genetic-genealogy :
</existing_keywords_summaries>
<wikipedia_requested_titles>
TITLE 2022 University of Idaho killings
In the early hours of November 13, 2022, a mass murder took place in Moscow, Idaho, in the United States. Four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus three-story rented home. The authorities identified 28-year-old Pennsylvania-native Bryan Christopher Kohberger as a suspect who was taken into custody in Pennsylvania. The investigation has been marked by a reversal of police statements as to whether the community may be at risk, and a lack of apparent progress in solving the crime.
== Background ==
Five female University of Idaho students lived in a rented off-campus home in the 25,000-person rural college town of Moscow, Idaho, which had previously not seen a murder since 2015. A sixth person was listed on the lease but not home at the time of the murders. The three-story, 2,295-square-foot (213 m2) home had six bedrooms; two on each floor.
The three female victims – Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle – lived at the house, while the fourth victim, Ethan Chapin, was Kernodle's boyfriend who was sleeping over on the night of the attacks. Two other female roommates also lived at the house; they slept through the attacks, and were not injured.
== Events ==
In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 13, 2022, between 3am and 4am, four University of Idaho college students were stabbed to death in a shared rental home close to campus, in which three of them resided.
Earlier on Saturday evening, two of the four victims, Chapin and Kernodle, were at an on-campus party at the nearby Sigma Chi fraternity from 8pm to 9pm. Both returned home at 1:45am. That same evening, the other two victims, lifelong best friends Mogen and Goncalves, had gone to The Corner Club, a downtown sports bar at Main and 'A' Streets, at 10 pm, from which they departed at 1:30 am. A livestreamed video from Twitch from The Grub Truck, a food truck four blocks south at Friendship Square (Main and Fourth Streets), showed Mogen and Goncalves at 1:41 am, chatting and smiling, getting their food ten minutes later, and leaving to take what the police initially said was an Uber ride home, a trip of about one mile (1.6 km). The police later rephrased their statement to say the ride was provided by a "private party," arriving home at 1:56 am.
All four individuals were home by 1:56am. Seven uncompleted phone calls were made from the phone of Goncalves to her former longtime boyfriend, Jack DuCoeur, a fellow student, from 2:26 to 2:52am. Mogen also called the boyfriend three times with similar results from 2:44 to 2:52am. These calls were investigated with the police concluding they do not believe he was involved in the crime.
The two surviving roommates had returned home by 1:00am, and were in their beds on the ground floor of the home at the time of the murders. They were not attacked or held hostage, and did not awaken until later that morning. The four victims were stabbed to death on the second and third floors in the home, where they had been sleeping. The victims were not gagged or restrained, and the walls at the scene were splattered with blood.
No calls to 911 were made until 11:58 am, many hours after the early morning killings. At that time, a call was made from inside the residence, from the cellphone of one of the surviving students who lived at the residence, asking for aid for an "unconscious" person. When police arrived, the door to the home was open, there was no sign of forced entry or damage inside the home, and nothing appeared to be missing. The two surviving roommates were in the residence when the police arrived, as were other friends of the victims, as the surviving roommates had called friends over to the home because they believed one of the second-floor victims was unconscious and was not waking up. The identity of the 911 caller was not released, and the person was not considered a suspect.
All four victims were pronounced deceased at 12:00 pm. That night, officers came upon Goncalves's dog, which she shared with Jack DuCoeur, alive and unharmed at the house; it was ultimately handed over to what police said was a 'responsible party'.
== Victims ==
Four college students were killed: Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona (later Post Falls, Idaho); and Madison "Maddie" Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Chapin was a freshman, Kernodle was a junior, and Goncalves and Mogen were both seniors. All of the victims were also part of the university's Greek life, with Chapin a member of Sigma Chi, Goncalves a member of Alpha Phi, and Kernodle and Mogen members of Pi Beta Phi.
== Aftermath ==
On Sunday night, the university canceled classes for Monday, November 14; it also scheduled a candlelight vigil to be held on the UI administration building lawn on Wednesday evening, then postponed it two weeks. Fall break was scheduled to begin after Friday, November 18, with classes resuming on Monday, November 28. Many students and other Moscow residents, not trusting the initial assurances of the police and fearing for their own safety, began an early Thanksgiving holiday exodus from the area, while others who stayed were anxious and cautious, and a number of professors canceled their classes. Because of weather concerns, the candlelight vigil was moved indoors to the Kibbie Dome and held on the evening of Wednesday, November 30.
== Investigation ==
The investigation of the murders is being conducted by the Moscow police (who had in their force four detectives and 24 patrol officers working on it), supported by the Idaho State Police (20 investigators, 15 troopers, and a Forensics Services and mobile crime scene team), the FBI (22 investigators, 20 assigned agents, and 2 Behavior Analysis Units), and the Latah County Sheriff's Office. In all, almost 130 members of law enforcement from three different agencies began working on the case. A phone tip line and email were created for students and others to submit potential evidence to officials. By December 5, it was reported that there had been more than 2,600 emailed tips, 2,700 phone calls, and 1,000 digital media submissions from the public to these tip lines.
The Latah County coroner conducted autopsies on the four victims on November 17. She said they all appeared to have been stabbed multiple times (with fatal wounds in the chest and upper body) with a large knife (if not the same knife, very similar ones). At least one victim (with what were apparently defensive stab wounds on her hands) and possibly more appear to have tried to fend off their attacker, and the victims may have been attacked while sleeping in their beds. None showed signs of sexual assault, and toxicology reports are pending. All four deaths were deemed homicide by stabbing. They were not tied and gagged. No weapon has been recovered, though the police believe the killer or killers used a fixed-blade knife.
The police have ruled out: (a) a fellow student wearing a white hoodie seen in the video footage speaking to Mogen and Goncalves by the food truck; (b) the person who drove Mogen and Goncalves home; (c) the two surviving roommates, who were home during the killings; and (d) Goncalves's former long term boyfriend whom she and Mogen had called a total of ten times that night. The authorities left open the possibility that there could be more than one perpetrator. In a November 23 press conference, the Moscow police chief said that authorities had received a number of tips including that Goncalves allegedly had a stalker, but were unable to verify that claim or identify any such individual at that time.
On December 27th, a screengrab was posted on Reddit, showing Gonclaves and Mogen conversing with a patron at a local bar, the Corner Club, at 1:32 am on the night of the killings. Moscow Police reported that they have reviewed the footage but provided no other information.
== Suspect ==
In the early morning hours of December 30th, authorities in Monroe County, Pennsylvania outside Stroudsburg, announced that they had taken a suspect into custody. The person, identified as 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania (born November 21, 1994), was referred to as a person of interest in the investigation.
Kohberger's previous life before the massacre has not been detailed yet, but Kohberger was a former graduate at the Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, and had pursued his Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology.
== Response ==
The incident has been marked by a reversal of police statements as to whether the community might be at risk, and a perceived lack of apparent progress in solving the crime. From the day of the killings, investigators initially said that there was no risk to the community. Three days later, however, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said: "We cannot say that there is no threat to the community."
Due to the slow release of details about the crime to the public, some began to speculate and spread misinformation about the case on social media. Three days after the killings, the father of Ethan Chapin spoke out about the lack of information from the University of Idaho and local police, highlighting the spread of rumors due to the silence from officials. The father of Kaylee Goncalves spoke of the lack of flow of information from police to the families of the victims about 11 days after the attack, saying: "They’re just so vague with everything that they say and then they like slowly peel it back later until you like find the real story".
== Related pages ==
Ted Bundy, killed university sorority house roommates in Florida
== References ==
TITLE Joseph James DeAngelo
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. (born November 8, 1945) is an American serial killer, serial rapist, burglar, and former police officer. He murdered about thirteen people, raped 50 women, and did over 100 burglaries in California between 1974 and 1986.
== Crime spree ==
He was responsible for at least three crime sprees throughout California.
DeAngelo killed many people in southern California, where he was known as the Night Stalker and later the Original Night Stalker (because serial killer Richard Ramirez had also been called the "Night Stalker"). He is believed to have threatened both victims and police.
During the decades-long investigation, several suspects were cleared through DNA evidence, alibi, or other investigative methods.
In 2001, after DNA testing indicated that the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker were the same person, the name EARONS started to be used. He was nicknamed Golden State Killer in early 2013 to raise awareness that he was not caught.
== Capture ==
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local law-enforcement agencies held a news conference on June 15, 2016, to announce a renewed nationwide effort. On April 24, 2018, authorities charged 72-year-old DeAngelo with eight counts of first-degree murder, based upon DNA evidence; investigators had identified members of DeAngelo's family through forensic genetic genealogy.
== Verdict ==
DeAngelo cannot be charged with 1970s rapes, but he was charged in August 2018 with 13 related kidnapping and kidnapping attempts. On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo pled guilty to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping.
As part of the plea bargain, DeAngelo was also required to admit to many crimes he had not been formally charged with, including rapes.
== References ==
TITLE 2022 University of Idaho killings
In the early hours of November 13, 2022, a mass murder took place in Moscow, Idaho, in the United States. Four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus three-story rented home. The authorities identified 28-year-old Pennsylvania-native Bryan Christopher Kohberger as a suspect who was taken into custody in Pennsylvania. The investigation has been marked by a reversal of police statements as to whether the community may be at risk, and a lack of apparent progress in solving the crime.
== Background ==
Five female University of Idaho students lived in a rented off-campus home in the 25,000-person rural college town of Moscow, Idaho, which had previously not seen a murder since 2015. A sixth person was listed on the lease but not home at the time of the murders. The three-story, 2,295-square-foot (213 m2) home had six bedrooms; two on each floor.
The three female victims – Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle – lived at the house, while the fourth victim, Ethan Chapin, was Kernodle's boyfriend who was sleeping over on the night of the attacks. Two other female roommates also lived at the house; they slept through the attacks, and were not injured.
== Events ==
In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 13, 2022, between 3am and 4am, four University of Idaho college students were stabbed to death in a shared rental home close to campus, in which three of them resided.
Earlier on Saturday evening, two of the four victims, Chapin and Kernodle, were at an on-campus party at the nearby Sigma Chi fraternity from 8pm to 9pm. Both returned home at 1:45am. That same evening, the other two victims, lifelong best friends Mogen and Goncalves, had gone to The Corner Club, a downtown sports bar at Main and 'A' Streets, at 10 pm, from which they departed at 1:30 am. A livestreamed video from Twitch from The Grub Truck, a food truck four blocks south at Friendship Square (Main and Fourth Streets), showed Mogen and Goncalves at 1:41 am, chatting and smiling, getting their food ten minutes later, and leaving to take what the police initially said was an Uber ride home, a trip of about one mile (1.6 km). The police later rephrased their statement to say the ride was provided by a "private party," arriving home at 1:56 am.
All four individuals were home by 1:56am. Seven uncompleted phone calls were made from the phone of Goncalves to her former longtime boyfriend, Jack DuCoeur, a fellow student, from 2:26 to 2:52am. Mogen also called the boyfriend three times with similar results from 2:44 to 2:52am. These calls were investigated with the police concluding they do not believe he was involved in the crime.
The two surviving roommates had returned home by 1:00am, and were in their beds on the ground floor of the home at the time of the murders. They were not attacked or held hostage, and did not awaken until later that morning. The four victims were stabbed to death on the second and third floors in the home, where they had been sleeping. The victims were not gagged or restrained, and the walls at the scene were splattered with blood.
No calls to 911 were made until 11:58 am, many hours after the early morning killings. At that time, a call was made from inside the residence, from the cellphone of one of the surviving students who lived at the residence, asking for aid for an "unconscious" person. When police arrived, the door to the home was open, there was no sign of forced entry or damage inside the home, and nothing appeared to be missing. The two surviving roommates were in the residence when the police arrived, as were other friends of the victims, as the surviving roommates had called friends over to the home because they believed one of the second-floor victims was unconscious and was not waking up. The identity of the 911 caller was not released, and the person was not considered a suspect.
All four victims were pronounced deceased at 12:00 pm. That night, officers came upon Goncalves's dog, which she shared with Jack DuCoeur, alive and unharmed at the house; it was ultimately handed over to what police said was a 'responsible party'.
== Victims ==
Four college students were killed: Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona (later Post Falls, Idaho); and Madison "Maddie" Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Chapin was a freshman, Kernodle was a junior, and Goncalves and Mogen were both seniors. All of the victims were also part of the university's Greek life, with Chapin a member of Sigma Chi, Goncalves a member of Alpha Phi, and Kernodle and Mogen members of Pi Beta Phi.
== Aftermath ==
On Sunday night, the university canceled classes for Monday, November 14; it also scheduled a candlelight vigil to be held on the UI administration building lawn on Wednesday evening, then postponed it two weeks. Fall break was scheduled to begin after Friday, November 18, with classes resuming on Monday, November 28. Many students and other Moscow residents, not trusting the initial assurances of the police and fearing for their own safety, began an early Thanksgiving holiday exodus from the area, while others who stayed were anxious and cautious, and a number of professors canceled their classes. Because of weather concerns, the candlelight vigil was moved indoors to the Kibbie Dome and held on the evening of Wednesday, November 30.
== Investigation ==
The investigation of the murders is being conducted by the Moscow police (who had in their force four detectives and 24 patrol officers working on it), supported by the Idaho State Police (20 investigators, 15 troopers, and a Forensics Services and mobile crime scene team), the FBI (22 investigators, 20 assigned agents, and 2 Behavior Analysis Units), and the Latah County Sheriff's Office. In all, almost 130 members of law enforcement from three different agencies began working on the case. A phone tip line and email were created for students and others to submit potential evidence to officials. By December 5, it was reported that there had been more than 2,600 emailed tips, 2,700 phone calls, and 1,000 digital media submissions from the public to these tip lines.
The Latah County coroner conducted autopsies on the four victims on November 17. She said they all appeared to have been stabbed multiple times (with fatal wounds in the chest and upper body) with a large knife (if not the same knife, very similar ones). At least one victim (with what were apparently defensive stab wounds on her hands) and possibly more appear to have tried to fend off their attacker, and the victims may have been attacked while sleeping in their beds. None showed signs of sexual assault, and toxicology reports are pending. All four deaths were deemed homicide by stabbing. They were not tied and gagged. No weapon has been recovered, though the police believe the killer or killers used a fixed-blade knife.
The police have ruled out: (a) a fellow student wearing a white hoodie seen in the video footage speaking to Mogen and Goncalves by the food truck; (b) the person who drove Mogen and Goncalves home; (c) the two surviving roommates, who were home during the killings; and (d) Goncalves's former long term boyfriend whom she and Mogen had called a total of ten times that night. The authorities left open the possibility that there could be more than one perpetrator. In a November 23 press conference, the Moscow police chief said that authorities had received a number of tips including that Goncalves allegedly had a stalker, but were unable to verify that claim or identify any such individual at that time.
On December 27th, a screengrab was posted on Reddit, showing Gonclaves and Mogen conversing with a patron at a local bar, the Corner Club, at 1:32 am on the night of the killings. Moscow Police reported that they have reviewed the footage but provided no other information.
== Suspect ==
In the early morning hours of December 30th, authorities in Monroe County, Pennsylvania outside Stroudsburg, announced that they had taken a suspect into custody. The person, identified as 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania (born November 21, 1994), was referred to as a person of interest in the investigation.
Kohberger's previous life before the massacre has not been detailed yet, but Kohberger was a former graduate at the Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, and had pursued his Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology.
== Response ==
The incident has been marked by a reversal of police statements as to whether the community might be at risk, and a perceived lack of apparent progress in solving the crime. From the day of the killings, investigators initially said that there was no risk to the community. Three days later, however, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said: "We cannot say that there is no threat to the community."
Due to the slow release of details about the crime to the public, some began to speculate and spread misinformation about the case on social media. Three days after the killings, the father of Ethan Chapin spoke out about the lack of information from the University of Idaho and local police, highlighting the spread of rumors due to the silence from officials. The father of Kaylee Goncalves spoke of the lack of flow of information from police to the families of the victims about 11 days after the attack, saying: "They’re just so vague with everything that they say and then they like slowly peel it back later until you like find the real story".
== Related pages ==
Ted Bundy, killed university sorority house roommates in Florida
== References ==
TITLE Joseph James DeAngelo
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. (born November 8, 1945) is an American serial killer, serial rapist, burglar, and former police officer. He murdered about thirteen people, raped 50 women, and did over 100 burglaries in California between 1974 and 1986.
== Crime spree ==
He was responsible for at least three crime sprees throughout California.
DeAngelo killed many people in southern California, where he was known as the Night Stalker and later the Original Night Stalker (because serial killer Richard Ramirez had also been called the "Night Stalker"). He is believed to have threatened both victims and police.
During the decades-long investigation, several suspects were cleared through DNA evidence, alibi, or other investigative methods.
In 2001, after DNA testing indicated that the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker were the same person, the name EARONS started to be used. He was nicknamed Golden State Killer in early 2013 to raise awareness that he was not caught.
== Capture ==
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local law-enforcement agencies held a news conference on June 15, 2016, to announce a renewed nationwide effort. On April 24, 2018, authorities charged 72-year-old DeAngelo with eight counts of first-degree murder, based upon DNA evidence; investigators had identified members of DeAngelo's family through forensic genetic genealogy.
== Verdict ==
DeAngelo cannot be charged with 1970s rapes, but he was charged in August 2018 with 13 related kidnapping and kidnapping attempts. On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo pled guilty to multiple counts of murder and kidnapping.
As part of the plea bargain, DeAngelo was also required to admit to many crimes he had not been formally charged with, including rapes.
== References ==
</wikipedia_requested_titles>
Given below is the article you have to analyze. Generate the JSON as per schema with relevant keyword summaries as per instructions.
strictly response in json formate.
<article>
Crime
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Bryan Kohberger, the 30-year-old accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in their apartment in 2022, has agreed to a plea deal in his quadruple murder case, skirting the death penalty and bringing a possible end to the years-long legal proceedings against him.
The deal involves Kohberger pleading guilty to four counts of murder in exchange for the government not pursuing the death penalty, a person familiar with the details confirmed to CNN. Shanon Gray, attorney for the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves, also confirmed the deal to CNN.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Kohberger was slated to go on trial in August, and prosecutors indicated they would pursue the death penalty.
The deal was announced with a letter sent to the victims’ families, according to the Idaho Statesman and the Goncalves family, who described the announcement as “very unexpected” and said they were “furious at the State of Idaho” in a post on Facebook.
“They have failed us. Please give us some time,” reads the post.
In a statement shared with CNN, the Goncalves family said that they “weren’t even called about the plea; we received an email with a letter attached.”
“After more than two years, this is how it concludes with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims’ families on the plea’s details,” reads the statement. They said victims’ families had been “treated as opponents from the outset.”
Gray, their attorney, said, “The issue is they are trying to cram the plea for July 2, only giving the families a day to get to Boise.”
Lengthy legal battle
The past week has seen the options for Kohberger’s legal defense dwindle. Last week, the judge rejected a bid from Kohberger’s defense to delay the trial and dismissed the defense’s request to propose an “alternate perpetrator” theory. Defense lawyers had hoped to suggest that one of four alternate perpetrators killed the students, but the judge ruled nothing but “rank speculation” linked the proposed alternate perpetrators to the crimes. The judge had also previously barred Kohberger’s defense from entering an official alibi – since no one could vouch for where he was during the time of the killings.
Related article
Bryan Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
Ted S. Warren/Pool/Getty Images
The latest pretrial developments in the Idaho student killings case
Kohberger’s trial date was pushed back multiple times due to disputes about evidence and witnesses, and saw a change of venue from Latah County to the state capital of Boise. A not guilty plea was previously entered on Kohberger’s behalf. Last year, the Goncalves family expressed their frustration at the incessant delays, saying the case had turned into a “hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions.”
The letter specifies Kohberger will likely be sentenced to life in prison if he pleads guilty as expected, according to the Idaho Statesman. It also requires him to waive his right to appeal, the Statesman reported.
“We cannot fathom the toll that this case has taken on your family,” read the letter, signed by Moscow Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson, according to the Idaho Statesman. “This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family. This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals.”
Kohberger, previously a PhD student of criminology at Washington State University, was charged with killing the four students in January 2023. Authorities say Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, were fatally stabbed in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022 in Moscow, Idaho. CNN has reached out to the families of Chapin, Kernodle, and Mogen.
An assistant at the Kootenai County Public Defender’s office told CNN “no comment” about the news of the plea deal. The office of Thompson, the Moscow Prosecuting Attorney, told CNN they could not comment due to the wide-ranging gag order in the case, which prohibits prosecutors, defense lawyers, attorneys for victims’ families and witnesses from saying anything publicly, aside from what is already in the public record.
Related article
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AP/Getty Images/Reuters
The summer of trials and true crime coverage is here – and it’s not even Memorial Day yet
The killings shook the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, inspiring fear as law enforcement spent weeks searching for a suspect. The harrowing details of the crimes and years-long legal proceedings against Kohberger have also been the subject of public scrutiny. Kohberger appeared to have little connection to the victims.
Kohberger was arrested over a month after the killings in Pennsylvania, after forensic DNA testing from trash outside the Kohberger family home gave Idaho law enforcement the probable cause to arrest him.
Prosecutors had submitted a variety of evidence they say ties Kohberger to the crimes, including DNA found on a knife sheath on a bed close to Mogen. The single source profile was determined to be male and matched to Kohberger through investigative genetic genealogy, the process of taking unknown DNA to public databases and finding relatives that share the profile.
His defense attorneys have said he has autism in part of their push to get the death penalty off the table. They have said he was out driving alone during the night of the killings.
Four students killed overnight
The four university students were found dead on November 13, 2022 after a Saturday night out. Investigators believe the four roommates were killed sometime between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m.
Accounts of what unfolded that night in Moscow have emerged from two of the surviving roommates, who were both expected to testify at trial. One survivor, Dylan Mortensen, said she was woken overnight by strange noises in their off-campus house.
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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
Inside the hours of terror among surviving roommates the night of the Idaho student murders
She told investigators she saw a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” in the home, according to an affidavit.
When their roommates didn’t respond to their text messages in the morning, Mortensen and the other survivor, Bethany Funke, called 911 at around noon, records show.
Heavy breathing and crying can be heard in audio of the 911 call as the surviving roommates pass the phone between them and what sounds like two other people, answering the dispatcher in fragmented responses.
“Something has happened in our house, we don’t know what,” one of the roommates says.
On the call they reported 20-year-old Kernodle unconscious, telling the dispatcher she had come home drunk the night before. “She’s not waking up,” one of them says.
Police arrived to find Kernodle and Chapin dead on the floor of the second floor. Upstairs, Goncalves and Mogen were dead in one of the beds with visible stab wounds.
“They were sons, daughters, siblings, and friends—real people with real dreams,” reads another statement posted to Facebook by the Goncalves family, attributed to Kaylee’s sister Aubrie, after the deal was announced.
“They deserve to be remembered for who they were in life, not only for the tragedy of their deaths. But before that can truly happen, they deserve justice,” it added.
This story has been updated with more information.
Correction: An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated Kohberger’s university. He had attended Washington State University.
This story is based on reporting from Jim Sciutto, Josh Campbell, Jean Casarez, Jason Kravarik, and Lauren del Valle. Zoe Sottile wrote from New York. CNN’s Taylor Romine and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
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