Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students, thereby avoiding the death penalty, according to a letter sent to victims’ families outlining the terms of a plea agreement.

Kohberger, charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the November 2022 slayings of students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, will receive four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He will also serve a maximum 10-year sentence for the burglary charge. The sentencing is expected in late July, pending his formal guilty plea during a scheduled hearing on Wednesday.

Under the deal, Kohberger will waive all rights to appeal, and the state will seek financial restitution for the victims’ families.

The plea agreement comes just weeks before jury selection for Kohberger’s trial was set to begin on August 4, with opening arguments planned for August 18. According to the letter sent to families, Kohberger’s defense team approached prosecutors last week expressing interest in a resolution, prompting prosecutors to consult with available family members before extending a formal offer.

“This agreement ensures that the defendant will be held accountable, spend the rest of his life in prison, and spare families decades of uncertainty from appeals and post-conviction proceedings,” prosecutors wrote in the letter, calling the deal a “sincere attempt to seek justice.”

However, the family of Kaylee Goncalves has voiced strong opposition to the agreement, criticizing the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office for what they describe as a rushed and opaque process.

“They barely mentioned a plea on Friday, then presented it two days later without seeking our input,” the Goncalves family said in a statement. “We were informed by email, not even a phone call. It’s unacceptable. These were four vibrant young people, and their families have been treated like obstacles, not allies.”

The family added they were given just one day’s notice to attend the plea hearing, scheduled for July 2. “This is how it ends? A backroom deal rushed through without the families’ voice? We are devastated.”

The University of Idaho issued a statement on Monday, expressing solidarity with the families. “We keep the victims’ loved ones in our hearts as they process this outcome in their own ways,” the university said. “We will never forget the four incredible lives lost.”

The quadruple homicide occurred in the early hours of November 13, 2022, at a rental home near the university’s campus in Moscow, Idaho. The victims were stabbed to death, while two roommates survived. One of them reportedly saw the intruder and described him as an athletically built man with “bushy eyebrows,” according to court filings.

The shocking murders gripped the nation, rocked the tight-knit college town, and led to a nearly seven-week manhunt before Kohberger’s arrest.