WEBVTT - The Plea Deal 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:07.400 Bombshell development Brian Cooberger appearing set to accept a plea 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:10.680 deal just five weeks before his quadruple murder trial was 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:15.000 set to start. Brian Coberger was simply out of options 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:15.800 and out of time. 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:19.400 Why did the prosecution take this? They were holding all 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:20.120 the cards. 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.759 He essentially gets to live rent free, no expenses, for 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.280 the rest of his life, and we call that justice. 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:31.360 It's insane. 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:39.080 This is the Idaho Massacre, A production of KAT Studios 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:47.440 and iHeartRadio, Season three, Episode one, The Plea Deal. I'm 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:51.239 Courtney Armstrong, a producer at KAT Studios, with Stephanie Leideger 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:52.639 and Gabriel Castillo. 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.000 Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:03.760 Yes. After nearly three years of silence, nine hundred and 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:07.959 sixty two days of unanswered questions and national headlines, the 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:16.000 moment finally came. In a Boise courtroom under harsh fluorescent lights, 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.000 thirty year old Brian Coberger, a former pH d student 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:24.240 at Washington State University, stood before a judge and admitted 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:30.240 to the brutal murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylie Gonsalvez, Xana Kernodle, 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:36.760 and Ethan Chapin. He showed no emotion, no hesitation, and 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:42.280 offered no explanation. In exchange for avoiding the death penalty, 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:47.240 he accepted four life sentences without parole. There was no apology, 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.000 no remorse, just a chilling end to a case that 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:57.080 shattered a community and gripped the nations. 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.760 To Count two murder in the first degree three as 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:03.240 it relates to the murder of Madison Mogan, how do 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.720 you plead guilty or not guilty guilty as to count three? 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.079 As it relates to murder in the first degree for 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:11.440 the murder of Kaylee Gunslvus, How do you plead guilty 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:15.840 or not guilty guilty as to count four? The first 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:18.519 degree murder of Xana Kernodle a human being? How do 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:22.040 you plead guilty or not guilty guilty as to count five? 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:26.119 The first degree murder of Ethan Chapin a human being? 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:32.800 How do you plead guilty or not guilty guilty? 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.160 We've spent the past two and a half years asking 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:39.640 the same haunting questions. Could Brian Colberger, a man with 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.840 academic promise and a seemingly bright future, really be responsible 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:48.000 for one of the most shocking mass murders in recent memory. 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:52.120 Colberger was arrested on December thirtieth, twenty twenty two, in 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:57.920 his home in Pennsylvania, following a nationwide manhunt. Investigators tied 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.960 him to the crime scene a house in Moscow, Idaho, 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:06.560 where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered. They 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:11.600 did this using DNA, cell phone data, vehicle tracking, and 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:18.239 surveillance footage. But even now, the most chilling questions remain, why, 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:24.680 Why that house, Why those four students? Was this random 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:29.920 or planned? Was he stalking them? Who was his intended target? 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:37.760 And now a new question, why did he plead guilty 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:42.840 after months of denials and courtroom silence? What made him 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:50.560 change course? Was its strategy, fear, remorse or something else Entirely, 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.160 we know the how and the when, but the why 0:03:56.320 --> 0:04:01.440 still echoes through a grieving community. Until that answer comes, 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.240 all we can do is sift through the theories, searching 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:14.440 for the truth. Here's Stephanie speaking with crime analyst Body Moven. 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.880 We've been tracking this case closely, candidly. 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:19.799 We're all a little. 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:23.720 Shook at this exact moment. It's pretty earth shattering. Brian Coberger, 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:27.800 who has been accused of murdering for college students at 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:31.679 the University of Idaho. He has admitted to killing four 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.560 students that he seemingly has no connection to. This clown 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.800 just decides that the gig is up. I've wasted everybody's time, 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.240 all of Idaho's resources. I've been in the press, maybe 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:45.760 enjoying it every step of the way, and every single 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.320 thing that we thought was possibly maybe not true, or 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:50.520 we maybe hoped for the sake of humanity, wasn't true. 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.640 It seems as though this riddle has been solved and 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:57.800 the boogeyman is Brian Coburger, and we are so sad. 0:04:57.839 --> 0:04:59.720 I don't even know where to start with it. 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.600 It's it's so hard to imagine that this guy is, 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:07.000 this dork, let's be honest, you know, is capable of 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.440 this kind of madness. But I have to say I'm 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.080 not shocked. I'm a little surprised that this happened. But 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.880 there was a May fifteenth hearing and the judge did 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.000 say that the best offer would have to be done 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:22.520 at the end of June early July, and here we are. 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.679 The last day of June. The defense approached the state 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:27.640 about a plea and it was accepted. 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:34.440 Here's journalist an Jeannette Levy with the Law and Crime Network. 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.440 An Jeannette has been following this case from the beginning. 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.479 She's joined by one of our producers, Alison Bankston. 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:46.560 I just thought to myself, there's no way the state 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.640 of Idaho is going to make a deal on this. 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.400 How could the state of Idaho when they say they've 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:55.400 got all of this evidence, it appears to be a strong, 0:05:55.480 --> 0:06:00.039 circumstantial case. How could they make a deal in this 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:05.240 case when you have somebody who they were saying, crossed 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:09.760 into their state and murdered for college kids, you know, 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:12.800 some in their sleep, I mean, attacked them in the 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:16.400 middle of the night. How on earth could you make 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:20.480 a deal? What message does that send? But then maybe 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.800 Brian Coberger gets scared when when the grim reality of 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:29.599 going to trial and sitting there for three months with 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.279 all of the media attentions. You know, somebody who appears 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:37.159 to be very introverted, how does he sit in the 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:39.560 glare of the media spotlight for three months? You know, 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:44.640 will he come to the realization that I very well 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.440 could be convicted and at some point in my life 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.960 face the possibility of being walked down that long hallway 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.560 to the firing squad. So part of me was surprised, 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:57.880 part of me wasn't when he pleaded guilty. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:02.160 I completely agree why it happened. Then what are you 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:04.240 some of your theories on why that decided that this 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:05.840 is the time for him to plea. 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.680 I believe that Brian Coberger was simply out of options 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.920 and out of time. His request for a continuance had 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:17.120 been denied. The judge denied his motion to introduce four 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:21.120 alternate perpetrators at trial. He was asking to point the 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.920 finger at four people, three of whom were in the 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:28.160 friend group of the victims. One was a guy who 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.280 tried to approach Kaylie at the grocery on an occasion, 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.640 thought she was pretty or whatever. All of these people 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.560 provided DNA, All of these people handed over their phones 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:41.240 to law enforcement, and so his defenses were narrowing. He 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.640 had no alibi. The judge was not going to give 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:47.680 the alibi instruction. So that was out. The driving around stargazing, 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:50.760 no dice there. He had no some other dude did 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:53.440 it defense. He didn't have that. It was he was 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.560 going to have to go the OJ route. Planted evidence. 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:58.760 The sheath was planted. It was somebody else in a 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:02.160 white car that looks just like mine, so he had 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:03.280 nothing else going on. 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.480 Author and veteran investigative journalist Howard Blum recently wrote a 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:14.840 piece for Vanity Fairs air Mail magazine exploring the possible 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:23.400 reasons behind Brian Coberger's surprising decision to plead guilty. Here's 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:24.120 Howard Now. 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:30.560 According to my reporting earlier on in the case, Coburger's 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:34.840 legal team and Taylor had come to the realization that 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.920 their client was not going to win this case, so 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:41.600 they approached Brian Coberger and said, we'd like you to 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:44.360 consider taking a plea deal. He spoke with his mother. 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:49.000 His mother said no. Why she said no? The speculation 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:51.880 is that she actually at that point believed her son 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:56.199 was innocent. Fast forward then to last May. Last May, 0:08:56.280 --> 0:09:02.200 there was a special on NBC's Dateline show in Full Transparency. 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:04.000 I was part of that show, and I appeared on 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.840 the show talking about the case talking head. But what 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:13.120 they had uncovered was that approximately two hours after the murderers, 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:16.720 Coburger had made a six a m phone call to 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.959 a number tied to a phone that was in the 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:24.280 name of Coburger's father, Michael Coburger. My reporting indicated that 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.560 during this fifty four minute phone call nearly an hour, 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.800 just two hours after the murder. I speculate he spoke 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:35.240 largely with his mother. What was said on that conversation, 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.960 who he spoke to I can only speculate, But according 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.320 to my reporting, he and his mother had this involved conversation. 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:44.600 And now that it had been revealed to the world, 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.880 now they had made known, the Coburger family had no doubt, 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:52.440 no doubt that this would come up at trial. They 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.400 would have to go on the stand and answer questions 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.199 about this phone call, probing questions under oath. So when 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:03.160 this was explained into Coburger by Anne Taylor, now, in 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:06.600 his own irrational way, something akin to remorse, and he 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:09.880 felt that he put his family through one version of 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:12.080 hell already. He did not want to put them in 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:15.679 legal jeopardy too. Plus he'd be able to save his life. 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.720 So he went to Ann Taylor and said, yeah, let's 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.880 see if we can make a deal. What's now more 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.400 astounding to me? Why did the prosecution take this? As 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:29.480 I said before, they were holding all the cards. Well, again, 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.920 I'm sort of forced to speculate. You can say that 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.800 every veteran prosecutor knows that every trial is a roll 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.840 of the dice. You never know what one witness out 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:44.040 there will be harboring reasonable doubt that could just destroy 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:47.520 your entire case, destroy your chance for a conviction. However, 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:52.920 what I feel, and I believe this, is that Bill Thompson, 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:58.840 the prosecutor, after nearly three years on this horrific, dispiriting case, 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:01.360 I just sort of lost the will, He lost the 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:05.600 appetite for a courtroom battle, and he was ready to say, okay, 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.480 let's settle it. He goes away to jail forever and 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.920 the state can move on. I can move on, Bill Thompson, 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.160 with my life, and for all I know, he wanted 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.560 to spend the summer of fishing rather than three months 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:22.480 in the courtroom. 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:24.760 Let's stop here for a break. We'll be back in 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:34.920 a moment. The families of the victims met with the 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.600 prosecution a week before to discuss the possibility of a plea, 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:43.200 but not all of the families were in agreement. One 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:47.640 of those families was the Gonsolves family. Here's victim Kelley 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:52.160 Gonsalvez's brother Stephen, reflecting on his sister and the impact 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.840 her loss had on those who loved her most. He's 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.200 joined by producer Alison Bankston. 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:04.560 Was essentially a more intelligent, more sociable, better version of 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.480 me in a lot of ways. You know, being her 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:08.560 older brother, I kind of had to look out for 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:13.280 and protect her. And you know, I'll miss the days 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.840 of receiving calls no matter how bad the news was 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:21.920 from her, you know, breakups, everything like that, just being 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.520 there to be either a shoulder to cry on or 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:30.240 having to go talk to some stupid boyfriend. Kaylee originally 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:34.160 she wanted to be a lawyer, which is somehow now ironic, 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:36.520 but then she kind of switched up into more of 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.640 a general education. She was just applying for jobs knowing 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:42.360 it was her last semester there at UI, and she 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:46.240 got an IT job that was down in Austin. Kaylee 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:50.360 was intelligent. She was very charismatic so to speak, and 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.960 was able to facilitate that in a way where she'd 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:58.240 be able to maybe get into positions without knowing exactly 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.320 what she was going to do, but find find a 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:04.160 way to get to the resolution that she was looking for. 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:06.800 I love that she chased the job out in Austin. 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.520 The ambition is wonderful, true. It truly is Can you 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:12.840 tell me a little bit about her and Mattie's friendship. 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:16.079 I know that they had a beautiful, beautiful friendship starting 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.360 from a young age. Can you tell me a little. 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:21.520 Bit about that they've been best friends since sixth grade. 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.640 I believe it was we were all going to private 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:27.800 schools back then, and that was really all she wrote. 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:33.439 They were essentially inseparable their friendship. I'd like to say 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:35.440 it's something that a lot of people think they have 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:38.720 but don't. Maddie and Keeley really had each other's back. 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:41.200 They were always looking out for each other's best interests. 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:46.319 Mattie was more soft spoken, she was there, I say, kinder, 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.000 and Kaylee was more you know, this is what we want. 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:54.320 I'm going to find a way to get this. I 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:57.000 guess that's how I would describe the Yin and yang thing. 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:01.960 They had. Obviously their similarities, but they also had this 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:05.200 discrepancy where they were almost polar opposites, but in a 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:07.520 way that kind of match each other perfect. 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:10.839 I think that's what makes those type of friendships so great, 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:12.680 is that you know, if the people are too similar, 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:14.560 they're going to clash. So just a little bit of 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:18.120 differences makes the pieces fit together. So that was a 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:19.360 beautiful way to describe it. 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:19.800 Thank you. 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.160 And can you often tell me about their time at 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:24.800 the University of Idaho, Like what do they love about 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.000 the university? What made them excited about it? 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:32.880 Sure, I can't speak too much to that because sororities 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.560 are a little bit different than fraternities. I was in 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:39.479 a fraternity down there. They were obviously in their respective sororities. 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:43.960 Kaylee got a fee, Maddy got pi fi. They joined 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:45.840 and they were just heartbroken that they weren't going to 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:49.440 be in the same sorority. And at that time I 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:53.200 was rushing as well. I had joined a fraternity. I 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.680 didn't do too well in the fraternity. I'm not great 0:14:55.760 --> 0:15:00.920 with stingent rules. It just didn't work for me. And 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:02.560 I had left after a year and I told Kaylee, 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.760 I was like, you're gonna hate this. You're gonna absolutely 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:09.000 hate this. I know your personality. And she ended up 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:13.320 not necessarily hating it, but hating all the rules in 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.480 the things, the guides you have to follow. And that's 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:20.400 why they ended up getting an apartment. Kailee, I believe, 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:23.320 moved out first. She got an apartment at what's called 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.280 the Whites. Actually not far from King Road at all. 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:29.520 We're talking one hundred feet or so. And then they 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.880 got the house on King Road together. 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.560 With King Road. Do you remember when Kaylee first told 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:36.160 you that she was going to move in there? It's 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:38.800 how excited were they to all kind of move into this. 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.400 Place with anything in a big family. It wasn't like 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.160 some big announcement that she was moving into this home. 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.000 In fact, I don't recall if she ever even told me, 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:51.560 but I know they were happy to finally coalesce once 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.680 again and be together. I can be certain of that. 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.480 Let's get into the plea deal because my heart breaks 0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.560 for you guys on that. Where were you, guys when 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:01.440 you found out that this was going on? Can you 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:03.280 take me back to that moment when you found out 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:04.960 that a plea deal had been reached. 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:07.840 I wasn't involved in this meeting, but from what I've 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:11.040 heard from my parents, my siblings, there was a meeting 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:14.000 had on Friday, because we had them weekly with the 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.720 prosecution to go over updates and whatnot with the case. 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:19.560 And there was a meeting and right at the end 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.280 of the meeting, they kind of slipped it in. They go, hey, 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.400 and if a plea deal were offered, How would you 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.360 feel about that? All of my family obviously answered no, 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:30.480 We've made our opinion very clear about the plea. There's 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.960 no confusion to be had, and they're like, okay, okay. 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.240 And then it would have been June twenty ninth and 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.880 we were out, we were having dinner at a restaurant 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:45.120 over here, and we found out prosecution had made some 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.600 decisions for us where they were willing to I don't 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:50.560 want to say sacrifice, but for the lack of a 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:56.160 better word for souls for permanent daycare, for an adult 0:16:56.560 --> 0:17:00.600 prison daycare. He has commissary, he has a that he 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.160 can work out. He's going to be with a lot 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:06.680 of similarly minded people. He essentially gets to live rent free, 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.399 no expenses, for the rest of his life. And we 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:13.000 call that justice. It's insane. They knew we wouldn't agree 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.080 with it, and they made it pretty clear they weren't 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.760 too concerned with how we felt about the whole situation. 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:22.320 In a letter that the prosecution sent to the families, 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:27.160 according to new sources, he said that they weighed heavily 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:30.600 the family and their decision making quote, we cannot fathom 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.160 the toll that this has taken on your family. This 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:36.600 resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family. 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:40.680 This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:42.800 spend the rest of his life in prison, and will 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:45.320 not be able to put you and the other families 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:49.680 through the uncertainty of decades of post conviction appeals that's. 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.720 Going to be considered. I mean, with a death penalty case, 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:55.919 there's appeal after appeal after appeal, and as a family 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:57.920 member of a victim, you're going to want to go 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.040 to those appeals. That's in your to be reliving this 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.760 over and over and over again. And you know, honestly, 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.160 I'm sure they relive it every day right now. They've 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:08.159 been living in suspended animation for the last two and 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:08.800 a half years. 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:15.400 Here's Prosecutor Bill Thompson speaking with KTVW News. 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.600 Every case stands on its own merits, and every case 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.520 that my office is handled since I took office thirty 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.960 three years ago, has been decided based on what is 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:31.040 unique to that case. I understand and I respect the 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:34.280 feelings of some of the families of the family members 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:38.439 who don't agree with our decision. I honestly do, but 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:42.880 there are also others who feel like they have received 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.879 some comfort and some closure from this, and in the 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:49.280 end it has to be the prosecutor's decision. 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:58.119 It was July second, twenty twenty five, a muggy summer 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:02.440 morning in Boise, Idaho. Temperatures had climbed into the nineties 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:06.320 as crowds began to gather outside the Ada County Courthouse. 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:10.760 Members of the press, local onlookers, and out of town 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:14.920 spectators packed the front steps, hoping to catch a glimpse 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:16.760 of the man who'd been at the center of a 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:22.040 national nightmare. For nearly three years. The question of who 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:26.080 killed four University of Idaho's students had loomed heavy over Moscow, 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:32.359 Idaho and beyond. And now the man accused of that crime, 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:36.440 thirty year old Brian Christopher Coburger, was about to walk 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.439 into the court and plead guilty to all five counts. 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.199 He was facing four counts of first degree murder and 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:50.160 one count of burglary. The moment was historic and emotional. 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:57.160 It also raised a new wave of questions. Here again, 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:01.720 producer Alison Bankston with Lawn Crime journalists an Jeannette Levy, 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:05.359 you actually. 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:06.800 Were at Ryan Colberger's plea hearing. 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:09.920 You had a really good feat I did. It was crazy. 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:12.600 You can paint a picture for me what it was 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:14.760 like going into that plea hearing on that Wednesday. 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:18.679 Going into the plea hearing, it was very intense because 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:22.760 you knew that Xanna's mother supported the plea agreement. Again, 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.080 solve family, of course did not support the plea agreement, 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:29.399 but Matti Mogan's family supported it, as did Ethan Shapin. 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.199 So it was very heavy. You're walking in there and 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:35.840 you know that you're walking into something where there's a 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:39.120 lot of contention. And I walked in and we were 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:42.639 told exactly where to sit. And then Brian Coburger walked in. 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:45.359 I could tell immediately his hair was kind of buzzed 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:48.119 on the sides. You know, he looked like he was 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:52.440 prepared for a big event, shirt and tie. Of course. 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:56.600 Khaki's his mother Mary Anne, and father Michael were over 0:20:56.600 --> 0:20:59.359 to my left. The victims were all over on the 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:01.840 other side of the court room to the right. He 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.320 came in no restraints, sat down, talked to his lawyers 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.639 very briefly, and then the hearings started. Bill Thompson in 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:12.680 court went through what he called a written factual basis, 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:15.800 and this was really them presenting to the court what 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:18.199 they believed the evidence would show a trial. And he 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:21.520 said basically that, you know, Brian Coburger bought this k 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:24.840 bar knife on Amazon using a gift card of all things, 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:28.359 in March, and then in late June or early July, 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:32.840 he moves to Pullman, Washington to pursue his PhD in 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:37.920 criminology and criminal justice, and for some reason, Brian Coburger 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:42.760 starts making these trips to the Moscow area. And you know, 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:45.520 they have this evidence that shows that on twenty three 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:50.159 occasions between July and the week before the murders, Brian 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:54.480 Coberger's phone is within a football field of that house 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.159 on King Road. It was always late at night, between 0:21:57.200 --> 0:22:02.920 ten pm and four am, painting this picture of a nightstalker, 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:07.480 somebody who was kind of circling this neighborhood and possibly 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:10.639 this house like a vulture looking for prey. And he 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:15.240 said basically that Brian Coburger on November thirteenth, twenty twenty two, 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:18.680 went over to King Road in his Hyundai A Lantra, 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:22.920 circled the area, then parked in an upper parking lot 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:29.440 above the house at King Road. 0:22:28.200 --> 0:22:33.800 Here's Prosecutor Bill Thompson in the courtroom. 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:37.560 Entered the residence, went to the third floor and with 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:42.920 a knife killed Madison Bogan and Kyle Getzalos. The defendant 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:47.159 as he left that room for whatever reason, ended up 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:49.960 leaving or the sheath for a k bar knife was 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:53.600 left on the bed next to Madison Molden's body, and 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:56.679 I can jump ahead. That sheath was tested by the 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:01.760 Iaho State Police forensic clab and singles male DNA was 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:04.959 found on the snap of that sheaf. The state's evidence 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:08.880 would show that Xana Canodle was still awake at this time, 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:11.560 in fact, had taken a door dash order not long 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:14.520 before this started. Her room was not on the third floor, 0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:17.199 it was on the second floor on the west side. 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:21.400 As the defendant was either coming down the stairs or leaving, 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:27.080 he encountered Xanna and he ended up killing her also 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:31.280 with a large knife. He's in Chapin. Xana's boyfriend was 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:35.760 asleep in their bedroom in her bedroom and the defendant 0:23:35.840 --> 0:23:39.720 killed him as well with a large big knife. Each 0:23:39.800 --> 0:23:41.520 victim suffered multiple wounds. 0:23:45.359 --> 0:23:49.600 He walked through the kitchen out the backslider door. They 0:23:49.720 --> 0:23:53.600 find him. In Pennsylvania, you know they're surveilling him. And 0:23:53.680 --> 0:23:58.119 then his vehicle is parked in his parents' garage and 0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:01.880 they find a bucket next to the vehicle and they 0:24:01.880 --> 0:24:05.159 say basically they took that vehicle apart and that it 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.720 had been cleaned. It was spotless. They also searched his 0:24:08.800 --> 0:24:12.160 apartment and they said it was spartan. There was no 0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:16.479 evidence of any of these students, no blood, no DNA 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:20.320 belonging to any of these victims in either his car 0:24:20.880 --> 0:24:23.840 or in his apartment. There was no social media connection, 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:28.800 There was no connection between Brian Coburger and these victims. So, 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:32.159 I mean, what he outlined sound like something out of 0:24:32.160 --> 0:24:37.359 a horror movie. This is a real life horror movie. 0:24:37.600 --> 0:24:41.360 What struck me was the fact that Brian Coburger barely 0:24:41.400 --> 0:24:45.960 blinked the entire time that Bill Thompson was going through 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:49.560 his statement of facts about what they believed the evidence 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:53.480