GUILTY PLEA DEAL ACCEPTED - 4 Univ of Idaho Students Murdered, Bryan Kohberger Arrested, Moscow, Nov 2022 #111

[Sundog]

I should have been clearer in my post, but I was trying to address 2 separate points at once.
The threat/safety issue was separate from the KR discussion regarding her take on BK.

This is nothing more than personal opinion, but I'm really not a fan of anyone who comes out on the heels of a tragedy and in any way gives even the slightest appearance of trying to turn it into a self-promotional opportunity, e.g., media interviews, writing a book, etc.

Reminds me of that infamous quote by Rahm Emanuel, "You never want to let a good crisis go to waste." That kind of attitude genuinely makes me sick.

If KR wants to interview BK in prison, that's fine. Do it quietly, without fanfare or media promotion.
If KR wants to write a book, that's also fine. Give a huge chunk of the proceeds to charities of the victims' choosing.

I'll stick to my Ann Rule collection. Again, just my own personal thoughts and preferences.

Catherine Ramsland has been hounded by the media since the BK case first was in the news. She gave her interview with Brian Entin after his many attemps to interview her. She wasn't seeking media attention, she gave the interview at his request after his many attempts once BK pleaed guilty. During the interview she very graciously answered all his questions. I didn't see her taking advantage of an opportunity. Her statements about working with BK is based on her work, it's what she does. I have more concern about people like James Patterson and others who are jumping on the entertainment band wagon and will profit from it.

 

[Chloegirl]

Reporter Kayna Whitworth mentions in her podcast DM attending the plea deal hearing. I have not heard this before.

Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty

Podcast Episode · The King Road Killings: An Idaho Murder Mystery · 07/03/2025 · 15m

podcasts.apple.com

Also of interest, she mentions BKs father turning his head and his face turning red as charges were read and he pled guilty.

 

[Sundog]

RE: what to classify BK as (mass, serial, etc)

I think many of us feel that the reason we have to call him a mass murderer is because he was stopped going further on the path he seemed to be on to becoming a serial killer.

If he hadn't left the knife sheath there and there hadn't been a bit of his DNA in the snap.....what would his behaviors have been like after these murders? If he felt like there was absolutely no way the police were going to start looking at him, what might we have seen? Would he have gone ahead with purchasing another knife and sheath? How long would he have been able to wait before he started seeking out new locations and victims? How would have losing his TA position have changed any future murder plans he had....if he had to move back to live with his parents, would he have dared to try again while living with his parents or would he have felt like he needed to wait until he could afford to move out on his own?

Good questions.

 

[Ghostwheel]

DM has been a SM target all this time. This deal protects her.

I don't actually see how? I'm very glad she won't have to testify. But some of those forums are freaking scary. I almost think she needs to change her name and move somewhere she isn't known. It's not like the world doesn't know her name or what she looks like, so how does this protect her from crazy forum/SM people?

 

[farmgirl04]

We need to face the facts. Our legal system does not, and should not, revolve around personal revenge OR personal forgiveness.

It is best for the State of Idaho that a quadruple murderer be locked up for the rest of his life. Anyone who’s paid any attention to at all to jury trials will know why it’s better to choose that certainty.

I haven’t posted in a very long time.
There are families that are hurting because their child was viciously murdered. There are a lot of steps from a trial to an execution. They are actionable steps that I’m sure were explained to the victims’ families. Some families will start out angry in their grief as court dates come and go. Some families will be the opposite. While I may not agree with some people’s approach in expressing their displeasure. I am understanding of the task oriented mindset because I think that’s how SG was going to get through a portion of his grief. Most importantly these parents did not let those 6 college students down. The 4 that were murdered and their roommates. IMO
Also we don’t have information that the families have and there could be information that relayed that makes this worse.

 

[Sundog]

I posted upthread that Dr. Catherine Ramsland had contacted BK's family and that I thought that Ramsland had connected in some way with Ethan Chapin's mother, Stacy Chapin, at a true crime conference a few years ago.

After researching on google, it isn't clear if Stacy Chapin and Catherine Ramsland ever talked at the 2023 CrimeCon (conference). Ramsland was a speaker on a panel on "Violent Minds: What drives the Most Heinous Serial Killers" and Stacy Chapin was a surprise speaker following a presentation by Joseph Scott Morgan.

Other speakers and panelists at CrimeCon 2023 included representative from Othram, the Petito family, and many well-known podcasters, etc.

The Nation’s Obsession With True Crime Meets a Mother’s Grief (Published 2023)

Less than a year after losing her son in a murder that captivated the true crime community, Stacy Chapin spent three days navigating CrimeCon.

www.nytimes.com

Stacy Chapin's schedule for CrimeCon 2023

Check out what Stacy Chapin will be attending at CrimeCon 2023

crimecon2023.sched.com

 

[PunishThenForgive]

I’m in the minority, but I do not think BK saw DM. I just can’t see him going right by an eye witness. I realize he is exhausted but he also had adrenaline flowing.

I agree that it’s much more likely that BK didn’t see DM. I always thought the Good Vibes sign must have blinded him from seeing her as he made his way from Xana’s bedroom.

I only considered the possibility that BK could see DM, yet inexplicably leave her alive, after reading the bushy eyebrow court document, in which DM herself insists BK looked right at her. Of course, DM thinking he saw her doesn’t mean it’s true.

I also still question the two traffic stops of BK and his dad not being set up.

I agree that the two Indiana traffic stops seem suspicious, but LE explained it plausibly (Indiana pulled over out-of-state drivers to see if they were transporting drugs). We also know that LE doesn’t have to tell the truth outside of court or court docs. The only reason I believe what LE said is that sending two separate uniformed officers to encounter BK alone seems too dangerous. If the FBI were following BK (which I think far more likely), they were probably freaking out when they saw BK being pulled over twice in quick succession.

Like most everything else in this case, we only know what we’re told in court documents, or in court hearings. And a lot of that may have been challenged during the trial.

So really all we know is what BK admitted to be true during the plea hearing—which is not a lot more than we learned after reading the PCA.

So we spend time here weaving different theories that fit what we do know.

I say at least every day since the plea…I wish the slider would have been locked. In no way am I blaming them, just wishing things were different.

With respect to the slider, @iamshadow21 made a good point that such doors are easily opened, regardless of whether they are locked. There are ways to improve the security of such sliders, but as iamshadow21 reminded us, the students living at 1122 King Road and across Moscow thought they were safe. Until BK took their innocence away.

May everyone start healing after this monster is locked away.

Yes! Soon, soon.

 

[Boxer]

I don't actually see how? I'm very glad she won't have to testify. But some of those forums are freaking scary. I almost think she needs to change her name and move somewhere she isn't known. It's not like the world doesn't know her name or what she looks like, so how does this protect her from crazy forum/SM people?

Not testifying is the big one, and MOO a lot of crazy alternative theories like the "it was her friends that were the killer"s will subside as he gets sentenced.

 

[LinasK]

I believe the whole objective of the prosecution and court is to get justice, be it guilty or not guilty, death, life or freedom. The prosecutor didn’t have to accept the plea and nor did the judge.

The families will always have to worry until the murderer no longer takes breath. Look what happened with the Menendez brothers and what if some misguided governor decides to pardon him.

It's highly UNlikely that Gavin Newsom would pardon the Menendez brothers.

 

[PunishThenForgive]

Why do you think she'd want to have anything to do with him?

Sorry, I addressed this in a few of my previous posts. Ramsland discusses her interest in working with BK in her July 1 NewsNation interview with Brian Entin.

 

[crhedBngr]

Wrong, wrong, and wrong. There is a reason that a pic of my Boxer, Vino, is up there instead of a pic of me. He was far more handsome. I am about a month away from turning 70. But my ego thanks you!

Did he look like you?

Dogs supposedly look like their owners!

Dogs look like their owners – it’s a scientific fact

JMVHO.

 

[LinasK]

Meaning sentenced by a jury of his peers, not some hurried plea deal so the murderer gets what he wants…

It wasn't hurried, and two of the families were okay with the deal. I'm sure both of the surviving roommates and the Door Dash driver were quite happy not to have to testify. (I actually do get your position where you are coming from and I'm Pro-Death penalty myself), but Steve Gonzalez has to realize that it's not all about him, not under his control and accept the outcome. My cousin accepted a Plea Deal for his son's murderer, not what I would have done, but it wasn't up to me.

 

[LinasK]

He has every right to express his anger at the prosecution team, the judge and the court system in general. It is justified as he feels wronged and that the aforementioned entities enabled a murderer to get what he wanted.

Anger, yes. Violence against them, no! The way that he can make an impact if he feels wronged is to seek a legal recall of the judge.

 

[LinasK]

Have I missed something?
How do we know the plea deal was rushed. As far as I know the defense could have been trying to persuaded him for a long time. All her silly reasons for delaying the trial, SODDI etc. The prosecution did their job and could have been open to a plea as well.

Moo.

Please post a link if I'm mistaken.

I agree. I think the reason that Kohlberger pled was because his defense attorney had a "Come to Jesus" moment with him and told him that they no longer had any valid defense for the case. She tried everything. And that if he didn't plea, he stood a very real chance of getting the Death Penalty.

 

[LinasK]

Dumb question. How could one sue for wrongful death if the party responsible for the death hadn't been found guilty?

Different burdens of proof. In Civil Court, OJ WAS found Guilty. It happened after the Criminal trial where he was acquitted.

 

[LinasK]

I'm wondering if this had gone to trial, would BK have been allowed to alter his appearance by shaving/making his eyebrows less noticeable, as well as possibly dying his hair somewhat lighter.

Since his very bushy eyebrows were one very obvious and important reason that the survivors identified him, and did the Door Dash driver identify him by his Bushy eyebrows ? So during a trial, don't you think the jury would need to see him, in person, still having those very bushy eyebrows ? I don't think he would haven been allowed to alter that very identifiable item, since they were such an important piece of physical evidence, as well as lightening his hair, did the lighter hair make him look less menacing ?

His trial appearance would have been irrelevant. All the prosecutor had to do was to show the selfie photo with his bushy brows and it would have matched the surviving roommates description of him. Suspects change their appearance in court all the time to appear more sympathetic to a jury. It's allowed. Probably his lawyer was allowed to bring the razor into jail for him to shave his brows.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Not testifying is the big one, and MOO a lot of crazy alternative theories like the "it was her friends that were the killer"s will subside as he gets sentenced.

Ah, I'm not seeing them slow down at all. Now it's "She's getting off scot free". I can't pass by some accidental drive throughs fast enough. I just have to avoid better.

 

[Boxer]

Ah, I'm not seeing them slow down at all. Now it's "She's getting off scot free". I can't pass by some accidental drive throughs fast enough. I just have to avoid better.

And how much worse it would be with her court appearance. So many crazy people.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

Bryan Kohberger May End Up in Max Security Prison with Chad Daybell or Facility in Middle of Arizona Desert​

Bryan Kohberger is likely to end up serving his sentence at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, but he could also be placed out of state

• Bryan Kohberger, 30, will be sentenced on July 23 with prosecutors recommending he serve four fixed life sentences after confessing to the murders of four college students
• After being sentenced, Kohberger will undergo two weeks of evaluations and assessments to determine where he will be placed in the Idaho prison system
• He will most likely end up at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, which currently houses death row inmate Chad Daybell, but he could also be placed out of state

.....
Majorjon Kaylor, the Idaho man who murdered his four neighbors in June 2023, is currently serving his life sentences in the middle of the Arizona desert at the Saguaro Correctional Center.

The IDOC has a contract with SCC to send prisoners from Idaho to that facility, and given the similar nature of the crime, the state might decide it best to send Kohberger to that facility.
.......

Bryan Kohberger May End Up in Max Security Prison with Chad Daybell or Facility in Middle of Arizona Desert

Bryan Kohberger is likely to end up serving his sentence at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, but there is also a chance he will be sent to a prison out of state

people.com

 

[cottonweaver]

His plea deal, when finalized by Judge H, may include a ban on any book deals, but even if not, I do believe media policies at IMSI will not allow it.

IMO

Jumping off this point in your post to ask your - and everybody else's - opinion on the last Katherine Ramsland interview I saw and related issue. ( Also author Howard Blum's)

It disturbed me to listen to Ramsland and Blum salivate over the prospect of interviewing BK for future book projects.
While I appreciate that BK won't be able to sign any book contract nor gain financially from recounting his crimes, it sounds as if others will offer him a platform for their books

As much as I too am interested in the details & unanswered questions - having followed the case on WS for the first 1.5 years - I worry he will get a mouthpiece.
( Maybe authors will also put money on his commissary? Also empathise with the families at the prospect of BK's future prison interviews & exclusive access books)

Ramsland's interview is around 23mins through to the end of the show where Howard Blum replies ' You bet, I'm ready to go'

As an aside, I was also surprised to hear Ramsland say she thought he'd had great potential. Like you, I don't think he's very smart. A diligent & obsessive student, sure.