Families of Idaho Murder House Victims Will Demand Death Penalty for Accused Murderer Bryan Kohberger
Two of the Idaho quadruple murder victims’ families will seek the death penalty for the students’ alleged killer, a lawyer has said.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, is charged with the November 13, 2022 murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He remained silent when asked to give a plea at a hearing last week.
Goncalves’ family’s attorney said their family, as well as Mogen’s, support the death penalty in this case following the grizzly killings.
They are filing notices indicating they want to seek the death penalty at trial, NewsNation reports.
Shanon Gray, the Goncalves family’s attorney, told me NewsNation: “We have spoken to the prosecution about the case, Mr. Thompson. He is going to meet all the families individually and make a decision based on that.
Best friends Kaylee (left) and Madison were found dead next to each other in bed
Kohberger sat silent as Judge John Judge read his rights and reiterated that he faces the death penalty if found guilty of any of the murder charges before answering “yes” when repeatedly asked if he understood
Steve and Kristi Goncalves, the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, who was murdered in her dorm
“So the Goncalves family is clearly in favor of the death penalty in this case.”
This comes just days after the families of Goncalves and Mogen filed legal papers suggesting they can sue the city of Moscow for damages, according to notices filed with the city on May 3 and 11.
Shanon Gray, an attorney representing the two families, told ABC News that while no lawsuit had yet been filed, the claims would allow them to file suit within two years.
Shanon Gray (pictured), the lawyer for the Goncalves family, said: ‘The family clearly supports the death penalty in this case’
Kohberger, who is accused of brutally stabbing four students to death last November — leaving a place police describe as “the worst we’ve ever seen” — appeared in court last week in Moscow, Idaho, where he refused to plea to four premeditated murders.
Kohberger, 28, was expected to plead not guilty, but instead opted to use Idaho’s “still” plea, meaning he didn’t plead either way, but could still be tried.
The trial date is set for October 2.
Experts said his refusal to enter a plea was a way for him to potentially keep a plea deal open as the trial progresses.
Kohberger should have had a preliminary hearing, but in a surprising twist announced last week, the Washington State University PHD candidate was indicted by an Idaho Grand Jury who heard the evidence in secret and decided to send the case to a full trial to send.
Best friends Madison and Kaylee, both 21, and young couple Xana and Ethan, both 20, died in the horror attack, which was so brutal that blood could still be seen lining the walls of their rental home days after the murder.
Police finally arrested Kohberger during a raid on his parents’ home in Poconos Mountains, Pennsylvania on December 30 and he was flown back to Idaho on January 4 in a small Pilatus PC-12 turboprop plane.
Karen Caufield Laramie and Scott Laramie are seen with their daughter Madison, one of the victims of the Idaho house murders
Maddie Mogen (above) Kaylee Goncalves (left) Xana Kernodle (right) and Ethan Chapin (center) – all students at the University of Idaho – were stabbed to death on Nov. 13 in the quiet college town of Moscow
Bryan Kohberger, 28, appeared in court in Moscow, Idaho, last Monday where he “stood still” as he made a plea. The judge pleaded not guilty on his behalf for the murder of four University of Idaho students
Ethan and Xana were found on the floor below, while Xana was discovered slumped on the floor of her bedroom in the off-campus house.
Monday’s appearance, in which the 28-year-old appeared in court wearing an orange prison suit and looking pale, is his first appearance since he was formally charged with the murders in early January.
Since returning to Gem State, the alleged killer has been incarcerated in the Latah County Jail, according to prison sources who tell DailyMail.com he spends his time obsessing over TV coverage of the case and has turned to God-encounter with a local pastor every Sunday.
Monday’s appearance, in which the 28-year-old appeared in court wearing an orange prison suit and looking pale, is his first appearance since he was formally charged with the murders in early January.
Kohberger sat silently as Judge John Judge read his rights and reiterated that he faces the death penalty if found guilty of any of the murder charges before answering “yes” when repeatedly asked if he understood.
When the four murder charges and one burglary charge were read by Judge Judge, he flipped through his indictment papers and shifted in his chair before his attorney Anne Taylor told the judge that her client would “stand still” if asked to respond. .
The non-plea now means the case will go to trial, with Taylor asking the judge to schedule a six-week trial that now begins Oct. 2.
Madison’s father Ben Mogen and Kaylee’s parents Steve and Kristi watched, both dressed in black, looking sad and serious as their daughters’ names were heard in the packed courtroom.
The November 13 murders shocked the small college town of Moscow, which had not seen a single murder in seven years when Madison, Kaylee, Ethan and Xana were found dead in their beds.