What Happened to Idaho House Where Bryan Kohberger Murdered 4 College Students?

Bryan Kohberger has pled guilty to the murders of four University of Idaho students after striking a deal with prosecutors in a bid to avoid the death penalty.

Kohberger, 30, appeared at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, ID, on July 2 to enter a guilty plea for the stabbing deaths of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, who were brutally murdered inside a rented college home in November 2022.

The plea deal comes just one month before Kohberger’s murder trial was set to begin—a process that could have seen him facing the death penalty if he was found guilty by a jury.

However, in accepting a plea deal, Kohberger will avoid having to go to trial, and he has also avoided the death penalty. The plea agreement states that he will be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for the murders of the four students; he also received a 10-year sentence for the felony burglary charge.

“By taking a plea deal, Bryan Kohberger has insulated himself from a sentence that would require his execution,” Idaho defense lawyer Edwina Elcox explained to Fox News. “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.”

The plea deal also means that Kohberger will likely get to avoid ever explaining his reasons for carrying out the heinous killings at the property at 1122 Kings Road in Moscow, ID, a move that one criminal expert said gives the former criminology student “the upper hand” in the case.

“With no trial, he gets to keep certain secrets. The air of mystery and in some ways that gives him the upper hand,” crime author Jeff Guinn told the New York Post.

When and where was Bryan Kohberger arrested?

Kohberger was stopped twice by police in Indiana on Dec. 15, 2022, for a traffic violation while he was driving in a car with his father, with his lawyers later stating that the pair had been traveling across the country in order to return to the family’s home in Pennsylvania for the holidays.

The pair were stopped in a white Hyundai Elantra—the same make and model of car that authorities had been seeking in connection to the Idaho murders, according to ABC News.

On both occasions when the vehicle was stopped, Kohberger was behind the wheel, authorities revealed.

However, they were not detained at this time, with local authorities stating that they did not have access to any information pertaining to the Idaho murders that would have prompted a state trooper to detain either man.

“The Trooper, having learned the two had been stopped minutes before by a Deputy from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, who he knew was working just down the interstate from him, used his discretion and released the two men with a verbal warning,” a state police spokesperson said of the second time Kohberger and his father were stopped.

However, on Dec. 27, police announced that DNA from the suspect in the Idaho case had been found on a knife sheath that was discovered on the bed of one of the four victims—which they linked to DNA found on trash that was recovered from the Kohberger family residence in Pennsylvania.

Kohberger was then officially arrested in the Poconos on Dec. 30 on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. He was extradited to Idaho on Jan. 4.

What was Kohberger charged with?

Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. During his first appearance in a Moscow courtroom on Jan. 5, a judge noted that each victim had been “stabbed and murdered with premeditation with malice and forethought.”

He was officially indicted by a grand jury on May 17. His lawyers entered a not guilty plea on his behalf five days later.

The prosecution announced on June 26 that they would be seeking the death penalty in the case.

What happened to the Idaho home where the students were murdered?

The rented property where the bodies of Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle, and Chapin were discovered on Nov. 13, 2022, was located on the border of Idaho and Washington—where Kohberger was studying for a doctorate in criminology.

The six-bedroom, three-bathroom home had been used largely as off-campus housing for University of Idaho students in the years leading up to heinous crime, and was being resided in by three of the four victims.

Mogen, Goncalves, and Kernodle were understood to have been living in the dwelling along with two other roommates—Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke—while the fourth victim, Chapin, the boyfriend of Kernodle, was staying in the home on the night of the murders.

The property was owned privately but managed by a real estate company, which stated in January 2023 that the home was still “in the hands” of law enforcement as they continued their investigation into the murders.

However, in February, the owner offered to give the property to the University of Idaho, which then announced plans to raze it to the ground—a decision that was met with ire by some of the families of the victims, who argued that the home should not be demolished until Kohberger’s trial began.

In an email sent to University of Idaho students that same month, the institution’s president, Scott Green, said that the plans to destroy the home were being carried out in an effort to help the community heal from the atrocities that had been carried out inside its walls, while also preventing any further sensationalizing of the location.

“This is a healing step and removes the physical structure where the crime that shook our community was committed,” Green wrote. “Demolition also removes efforts to further sensationalize the crime scene.”

The property was eventually razed in December 2023—with the entire process taking less than two hours to complete.

Addressing the criticism from some of the victims families, Green said in a statement at the time that, while he understood their positions, he felt it was time for the lingering reminder of the victims’ deaths to be removed.

“It is the grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there,” he stated, justifying his decision to pull down the house. “While we appreciate the emotional connection some family members of the victims may have to this house, it is time for its removal and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue.”

As of February 2025, the University stated that it did not have any immediate plans to use the land on which the house once stood for any other purpose, although some have suggested that it might one day be used as the location for a memorial in honor of the students who lost their lives.

Is Kohberger in jail?

Yes, Kohberger is currently being held in the maximum-security section of the Ada County Jail in Boise, where it is understood he will be remanded until his sentencing.

It is widely expected that the court will uphold the proposed sentence set out in the plea agreement: four consecutive life sentences, as well as an additional 10-year sentence for the burglary charge.

The judge in the case noted that Kohberger’s sentence will only be made official at his official sentencing hearing—although he noted that Kohberger has accepted the maximum prison sentence, explaining that a court would therefore only have the power to reduce the proposed sentence.

Per the plea agreement, Kohberger will waive his right to appeal and will also forfeit the ability to seek a more lenient sentence.

He is also liable for fines of up to $50,000 for each of the crimes he has pled guilty to, as well as a $5,000 fine that would be paid to the families of each of the four victims. He may also be required to pay restitution to each of the victims’ families.

Kohberger’s sentencing hearing will take place on July 23, beginning at 9 a.m. local time.