The prosecutor who handed Bryan Kohberger a plea deal to allow him to avoid the death penalty broke down as he read the victim’s names.
Prosecutor Bill Thompson choked up as he laid out the timeline of the shocking murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022 at the hearing on Wednesday.
He grew emotional shortly after Kohberger broke his silence in court as he confessed to murdering Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21,
His admission marked the first time the alleged killer has spoken in court. When asked whether he was pleading guilty because he is guilty, he coldly replied ‘yes’, as several of the victims’ heartbroken relatives broke down in tears.
Some of their relatives have vehemently opposed the plea deal because it spares Kohberger the death penalty, while other families have said they support it.
Kohberger stared coldly ahead as Thompson laid out the timeline, saying that he stalked the students’ home at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho before the slayings.
Thompson said the state would have argued in court that Kohberger slipped in through a side door before killing Mogen and Goncalves on the third floor.
He said Kohberger then encountered Kernodle as she came down the stairs to pick up a Doordash order, and killed her with the same Ka-Bar knife he used on her roommates.
He then entered Kernodle’s bedroom and stabbed her sleeping boyfriend Chapin to death, Thompson said.
Prosecutor Bill Thompson choked up as he laid out the timeline of the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022 at a hearing on Wednesday
Thompson grew emotional shortly after Bryan Kohberger (pictured) broke his silence in court as he confessed to murdering Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21
As his victims’ loved ones sobbed in the courtroom, Kohberger showed no emotion and stared ahead.
He stared intently at the judge – and then the prosecutor – as they spoke about his horrific crimes and the senseless violence that he inflicted upon the four young students.
