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Speaker 1: Crime alart hourly update, breaking crime news Now, I'm Jennifer Gould.

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Speaker 1: In a stunning development that sent shock waves across the nation,

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Speaker 1: Brian Coberger, the man accused of savagely stabbing four University

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Speaker 1: of Idaho's students in November of twenty twenty two, has

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Speaker 1: accepted a plea deal that spares him from the death penalty.

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Speaker 1: The agreement ensures the former criminology PhD student will spend

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Speaker 1: the rest of his life behind bars without any possibility

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Speaker 1: of parole. Coburger, thirty, was charged with four counts of

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Speaker 1: first degree murder and one count of burglary in the

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Speaker 1: brutal deaths of Madison Mogan twenty one, Kaylee Gonsalvez twenty one,

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Speaker 1: Xana Kernodle twenty and Ethan Chape in twenty The four

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Speaker 1: students were found with fatal stab wounds in their off

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Speaker 1: campus Moscow, Idaho rental home during the early morning hours

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Speaker 1: of November thirteenth, twenty twenty two. Investigators believe they were

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Speaker 1: at between three am and five am, likely while sleeping,

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Speaker 1: with no signs of sexual assault reported by the coroner.

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Speaker 1: This dramatic plea deal comes just weeks before Coburger's highly

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Speaker 1: anticipated trial was set to begin on August fourth, with

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Speaker 1: opening statements set for August eighteenth. The timing is particularly

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Speaker 1: significant given recent setbacks for the defense. Judge Stephen Hipler

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Speaker 1: recently dealt a critical blow to Coburger's legal team, rejecting

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Speaker 1: their alternate perpetrator theory, which attempted to implicate four other individuals.

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Speaker 1: The judge dismissed the theory as quote wild speculation end quote,

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Speaker 1: emphasizing the complete lack of evidence connecting those individuals to

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Speaker 1: the gruesome crime scene. Hippler also denied a defense request

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Speaker 1: to delay the trial, despite claims of slow discovery and

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Speaker 1: intense public scrutiny threatening a fair trial, Prosecutors have meticulously

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Speaker 1: built a compelling case against Coburger. Their evidence includes crucial

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Speaker 1: DNA linking him directly to the crime scene, as well

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Speaker 1: as chilling surveillance footage that captured a car matching his

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Speaker 1: white Hyundai a Lantra near the victim's home around the

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Speaker 1: very time of the murders. A door dash driver who

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Speaker 1: made a delivery to Kernodle's residence just hours before the

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Speaker 1: horrific killings was prepared to testify, claiming she saw Coburger nearby. Furthermore,

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Speaker 1: surveillance data allegedly placed Coburger's phone near the crime scene

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Speaker 1: multiple times in the weeks leading up to the murders.

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Speaker 1: The case has drawn immense national and international media attention

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Speaker 1: since Coburger's arrest at his parents' Pennsylvania home on December thirtieth,

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, over a month after the killings. His defense,

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Speaker 1: led by Ann Taylor, has faced numerous hurdles, including failed

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Speaker 1: attempts to suppress the damning DNA evidence. This sudden plea

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Speaker 1: deal marks a pivotal and shocking turn in one of

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Speaker 1: Idaho's most high profile and disturbing murder cases, providing a

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Speaker 1: definitive end to the courtroom battle, but leaving lingering questions

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Speaker 1: for some as to the motive. A court hearing for

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Speaker 1: a change of plea will be held on Wednesday. For

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Speaker 1: the latest crime of justice news, follow the Crime Alert

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Speaker 1: hourly update on your favorite podcast app with this crime Alert.

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Speaker 1: I'm Jennifer Gould.