Bryan Kohberger has reportedly accepted a plea deal in the murders of four University of Idaho students in a bid to avoid the death penalty, as friends of the victims speak out.
On the 13th November 2022, Hunter Johnson made the uncharacteristic decision to lock the door to his girlfriend’s off-campus apartment in Moscow, telling PEOPLE: "That’s something I've never done in my life there."
"There was no noise," the 24-year-old continued. "I don't know why, but something in my soul told me that I should go lock my door."
Upon locking the door, his girlfriend, Emily Alandt, her roommate, Josie Lauteren, and her boyfriend at the time all woke up with 23-year-old Emily adding: "We hung out in the living room for about 30 minutes before we all went back to bed."
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In less than an hour, four of their closest friends were brutally murdered
Maddie Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in an off-campus house.
Madison and Kaylee were discovered on the second floor of the home, meanwhile Xana and Ethan were found together on the third floor, in what has been described by police as the most 'gruesome' crime scene they'd ever seen.
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There were two other roommates in the home at the time, but they were left unharmed.
When asked by Dylan to come over to the house following the events of the night before, Hunter went over first before later being followed by Emily where they discovered the bodies.
"I was like, 'What is going on?'" Hunter told PEOPLE. "'Is this real?' Then you realise the gravity of what you just walked into. At that moment, you don't really realise what you walked into until you really look at it and process it."
Hunter lamented: "That was our last day living as kids."
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"Our innocence was gone," Emily added.
News of what went down spread like wildfire with the quadruple homicide later becoming became known as 'the Idaho Four'.
The following month (30 December 2022), 28-year-old former criminology PhD student Kohberger was arrested on suspicion of carrying out the killings. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
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He has reportedly accepted a plea deal with prosecutors, which means he will avoid the death penalty, according to a letter sent to victims' family members, ABC News reports.
This Wednesday (2 July), Kohberber is expected to plead guilty to four charges of first-degree murder and one count of burglary, the outlet adds.
According to ABC News, the plea agreement states that he will be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the murder charges and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary charge.
Kohberger is also expected to waive all rights to appeal the verdict, according to the agreement cited by ABC News.
Topics: Bryan Kohberger, US News, Crime, True Crime
Rhiannon Ingle