Kernodle Family Vows Clash Over Kohberger’s Death-Penalty-Free Plea
Trust me, this isn’t your routine court update: Xana Kernodle’s family has officially drawn a red line under Bryan Kohberger’s proposed plea deal. In a raw, emotion-charged conference call with prosecutors, Kim Kernodle—Xana’s aunt—says she was moved to tears as she learned the prosecution quietly entertained a deal that spares Kohberger from the death penalty. According to court filings obtained by TMZ and reports from the Idaho Statesman, the defense approached prosecutors with a plea agreement that would see Kohberger plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in exchange for life sentences without the possibility of parole, with prosecutors recommending the same to avoid the emotional toll of a full trial.
Kim insists the “spare the families” rationale is nothing short of disingenuous. “We know the graphics,” she told us, referring to the gruesome crime-scene photos all immediate relatives were shown early in the case. Prosecutors allegedly claimed that avoiding a trial would shield the families from revisiting those horrors in open court, but Kim and at least one other victim’s kin—members of the Goncalves family—demand a jury’s verdict. Both families believe a public trial is the only way to acknowledge the brutality of the December 2022 knife attack on the University of Idaho campus that claimed Xana’s life and three others.
What’s more puzzling, Kim adds, is that prosecutors assured her they already have enough evidence to secure a guilty verdict. District court records note surveillance footage, DNA traces, and Kohberger’s own phone data all link him to the crime scenes. Yet the sudden plea talks sidelined the death penalty option without notifying the families that their beloved victim could become collateral in a negotiation. Prosecutors never mentioned removing the possibility of capital punishment when they first alerted the Kernodles and Goncalves clans to the deal’s existence.
A hearing is slated for this Wednesday in Moscow, Idaho, where presiding Judge John Judge (name hypothetical) will decide whether to greenlight the plea. Kim says the families plan to push for a continuance, buying time to file formal objections and press for victim-impact statements in open court. Local legal analysts tell the Idaho Statesman that once a plea is tendered and a judge signals approval, overhauling it becomes extremely difficult—making this next hearing critical.
From a legal standpoint, life without parole is irreversible once signed off, whereas death-penalty appeals can stretch decades. But for the Kernodle and Goncalves families, nothing substitutes the closure of seeing Kohberger held to account by a jury of peers. And there you have it. Stay tuned—this courtroom clash is only getting started. Make of that what you will.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and TMZ, Idaho Statesman, District Court filings
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
