Bryan Kohberger accepts plea deal in Idaho student murders case, agreeing to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding death penalty for killing four college students in 2022

Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger has accepted a plea deal to spare his life in the murders of four University of Idaho students, two sources close to the case told Fox News Digital Monday.

Kohberger, 30, is accused of killing Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in a 4 a.m. home invasion attack on Nov. 13, 2022.

Goncalves' family issued a scathing statement Monday evening, hours after the news became public, saying that they had been "vaguely" approached on Friday about the possibility of a deal but were blindsided that it was done by Sunday.

"The death penalty is merely an illusion in the criminal justice system. When available, it serves as a bargaining tool for the State, and when rarely applied, it’s never enforced due to a highly inefficient appellate process," the family said in a statement through attorney Shanon Gray. "The notion that someone can plead guilty to a crime and still face years of appellate delays reveals a systemic failure."

BRYAN KOHBERGER RETURNS TO COURT FOR HEARING ON PILE OF EVIDENCE HE WANTS THROWN OUT BEFORE TRIAL

"We weren’t even called about the plea; we received an email with a letter attached," the statement continued. "That’s how Latah County’s Prosecutor’s Office treats murder victims’ families. Adding insult to injury, they’re rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the courthouse for a plea on July 2."

Goncalves' parents live more than seven hours away, in Rathdrum. The hearing will be held Wednesday in Boise after Kohberger successfully argued for a change of venue.

Read the full statement:

The family questioned early choices in the investigation, the restrictive gag order, pressure from school officials as frustrating factors in the way they were treated.

Members of Kernodle's family also condemned the plea deal. Her aunt, Kim Kernodle, told TMZ that relatives were vehemently opposed to the idea when Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson's office first raised it over the weekend.

All four had been stabbed multiple times with a large knife. Police recovered a Ka-Bar sheath that they allege had Kohberger's DNA on it near Mogen's body.

Kohberger was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. That's 10 miles up the road from Moscow, Idaho, where all four victims were undergrads at the University of Idaho.

"By taking a plea deal, Bryan Kohberger has insulated himself from a sentence that would require his execution," said Edwina Elcox, a Boise defense attorney who said the deal came as a surprise. "Only a jury can sentence him to death. Regardless, he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of ever being in society again."

She said she hopes the process brings peace to the families after the horrifying crime – and also that the move would spare Kohberger from facing Idaho's newly revived firing squad as the means of execution if he were convicted and sentenced to death. 

"They will not have to go through the stress of a trial and the virtually guaranteed appeal process, in the event Kohberger was convicted at trial," Elcox told Fox News Digital.  "The judge will take his guilty plea and then set a hearing for Kohberger to be sentenced. He can absolutely expect to spend the rest of his life behind bars."

The plea deal came as a surprise – prosecutors had not telegraphed the move and fought hard to keep the death penalty on the table in pretrial proceedings.

Kohberger's defense failed repeatedly to have it removed, revealing his autism diagnosis and crying foul over discovery deadlines it claimed that prosecutors missed.

"If they don't get the why, this is the most incomprehensible deal of all time," said Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector who is following the case.

If Kohberger agreed to truthfully explain what happened, that could be a reason for the deal to have materialized so unexpectedly, he said. Especially with opposition from at least one family, he said. 

Ted Williams, a Fox News contributor and a former Washington, D.C. homicide detective who has been following the case since the beginning, agreed.

"These four kids did not deserve to die this way, and as a part of any plea, he should be required to tell when, how and why he committed these offenses," he told Fox News Digital. "I think that should be a part of any plea – he owes those families, and the public."

The latest development comes hours after a hearing in Pennsylvania to determine whether witnesses there can be compelled to travel to Idaho to testify in a trial that would have started on Aug. 18.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.