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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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The family of Bryan Kohberger have released a statement ahead of his appearance in court on Wednesday to plead guilty in the murders of four University of Idaho students in a deal to avoid the death penalty.
"In light of recent developments, the Kohbergers are asking members of the media for privacy, respect, and responsible judgement during this time," Martin Souto Diaz, an attorney for the Kohberger family, said in a statement provided to CBS News.
"We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties, and will not release any comments or take any questions."
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Why It Matters
Kohberger, 30, is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday morning to charges that he murdered Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022.
He agreed to the plea deal in the past few days, just weeks before his trial was set to begin, after his attorneys failed to stop prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.
The deal has divided the victims' families, with some angry that it will allow Kohberger to avoid the death penalty, while others have supported it.
What To Know
The four University of Idaho students were found fatally stabbed at a rental home near the university's campus in Moscow in the early hours of November 13, 2022.
The slayings sparked a massive hunt for the perpetrator, including an effort to track down a white sedan seen on surveillance cameras repeatedly driving by the property.
Kohberger, who at the time was a graduate student at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania weeks after the murders. Investigators said they had matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He stood silent when asked to enter pleas in 2023, prompting a judge to enter not-guilty pleas on his behalf.
No motive has emerged for the killings, and it is not clear why the attacker spared two roommates who were also in the property at the time.
What People Are Saying
The Goncalves family, who oppose the plea deal, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday: "We stand strong that it is not over until a plea is accepted. We will not stop fighting for the life that was stolen unjustly."
They added: "While we are cognizant that some may have wanted the plea, the prosecution relayed to us it was NOT a majority vote that was the deciding factor in offering this plea. At a bare minimum, please - require a full confession, full accountability, location of the murder weapon, confirmation the defendant acted alone, & the true facts of what happened that night. We deserve to know when the beginning of the end was."
Mogen's father, Ben Mogen, told CBS News: "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.
"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."
What Happens Next
Kohberger is due to appear before Idaho Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler in Boise at 11 a.m. MDT on Wednesday.
Hippler must approve the plea deal. If Kohberger pleads guilty as expected, he will likely be sentenced this month.
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