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[Music] Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Yes. What a moment. A guilty
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plea 962 days in the making in the murder case that horrified the country. Brian Coberger pleaded guilty to the
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murders of four University of Idaho students as their anguished loved ones looked on in a packed courtroom in
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Boise, Idaho. He did not react with emotion as he communicated with the judge. As to count two, murder in the
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first degree as it relates to uh the murder of Madison Mogan, how do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty. As
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to count three, as it relates to murder in the first degree for the murder of Kaylee Gonzalez, how do you plead guilty
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or not guilty? Guilty. As to count four, the uh first-degree murder of Xanna Kernal Kernodal, pardon me, uh a human
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being, how do you plead? Guilty or not guilty? Guilty. As to count five, uh the first-degree murder of Ethan Chapen, a
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human being, how do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty. This is what these four families of the victims had been
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longing to hear. An admission of guilt that Coberger had attacked their loved ones in their off-campus home in Moscow,
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Idaho. But family members were divided over whether justice was being fully served. Some wanted him tried,
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convicted, and sentenced to death. Coberger, who had been a PhD candidate studying criminology at nearby
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Washington State University, was arrested on December 30th, 2022. We've spent the last 2 and 1/2 years
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awaiting a trial for these monstrous crimes in hopes of finally understanding the full story of what happened that
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night and why? What was the motive? Who was Coberger's main target? How did he seem to know exactly where to go once
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inside that house? I'm Peter Vans. I've been covering this case for 48 hours since the beginning.
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I attended nearby Washington State University. I knew Moscow, Idaho to the point where I could just drive about
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anywhere without using a map. These murders really hit home for me. Here at 48 Hours, we were preparing to take you
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through the trial week by week. But then news broke on Monday evening that a plea
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deal had been struck and Brian Coberger would admit in open court that he was the killer.
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So joining me today to review these developments is CBS News legal analyst attorney Mary Fuljaniti. Mary, thanks
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for helping us sort all this out. Thanks for having me, Peter. And Mary, just starting at the beginning of today's
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hearing, I was struck by Judge Steven Hipler's introduction about outside pressure he was facing as it pertains to
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this plea deal. Court is not supposed to and this court will never take into account
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public sentiment uh in uh making an opinion regarding uh its judicial decisions in cases.
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Court should and I always will make decisions based on where the facts and the law lead me. Period. I have not read
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any of the numerous messages nor listen to any of the numerous voicemails that have been sent to me and my staff. Those
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have all been forward to security and where appropriate to law enforcement. And there's so much emotion in this
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case. Mary, what was your reaction to what the judge had to say? Well, you know, Peter, this case has
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captured the nation and the world really, and I think the judge is sending a clear message to the public that all
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the calls in the world are not going to impact his decision in this case, and that he's going to rely strictly on the
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facts and the evidence and to stop. You know, it's inappropriate. It's time consuming, and it's it's it's taxing on
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the people that are working in the courthouse. For the millions of people who have been following this case, all
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the attention was of course on the plea deal itself. A plea deal that surprised all of us. Talk about what this
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agreement entails. So the defendant pleaded guilty to all five counts included in the indictment,
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which were the felony burglary count and four first-degree murder counts. Uh and
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with regard to the homicides, all four of them, it was life, a fixed life sentence, which is life without the
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possibility to parole with all five counts to run consecutive to each other. In addition, the defendant waved his
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right to not only a jury trial, but to appeal his sentence and to even have the court consider any leniency in his
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sentence at the time of sentencing. Uh so it it was interesting because I think a lot of people didn't understand is the
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court bound by this and and what the court basically said is this is not a binding plea agreement which means he is
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not bound by the plea agreement and that he could impose a different sentence a lawful sentence obviously at the hearing
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when it comes up. Uh but I think that's probably unlikely in this case that he's
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going to stick with what the parties have agreed to uh which has taken a long time to get to. This plea deal seemed to
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come out of the blue. We were all prepared for a long trial. Why do you think the defense approached prosecutors
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about making a deal? Oh, to save his life, to take the death penalty off the table. And remember, accepting a plea
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deal is ultimately not the decision of the defense lawyers, but rather the defendant. And sometimes it's hard to
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get to that place until all legal arguments and strategies are thoroughly exhausted. And for all of us who've
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lived with this case, the prosecution today stood up and basically what seemed like almost an opening statement laid
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out what the prosecution's case was. Here's prosecutor Bill Thompson. Back in March of 2022, when the defendant was
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residing at his parents' residence or was residing back in Pennsylvania, his home state, he purchased online a KBAR
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knife and sheath with an Amazon gift card that he had purchased shortly prior to the purchase of the knife, sheath,
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and sharpener. Jumping ahead, the end of June of that year, uh the defendant, Mr.
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Coberger moved from Pennsylvania to Pullman, Washington, which is right across the state line from Moscow,
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Idaho, for the purpose of pursuing a PhD in criminal justice at Washington State
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University. The state's evidence would indicate that beginning July 9th of 2022,
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Mr. Cobberger's phone began connecting to a cell tower that serves the area of the 1122 King Road residence in Moscow,
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Idaho. Now, I I will acknowledge for the court and all present that there are many residences in that area. It's a
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dense population of mostly college related uh occupants. Between July 9th of 2022 and in November
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7th, the defendant's phone connected to that particular tower during late night,
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early morning hours, 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. on approximately 23 times. And then
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Thompson described what transpired in the early morning hours of November 13th, 2022.
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According to the state's evidence, Coberger's phone left his Pullman residence and was turned off at 2:54
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a.m. and remained off until 4:48 a.m. They also obtained video surveillance on the highway that runs between Pullman,
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Washington, and Moscow, Idaho, that showed a vehicle matching Coberger's car entering Moscow at 3:02 a.m. and
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circling the neighborhood. And at 4:05 a.m., surveillance video showed Coberger's car parked behind the 1122
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Kings Road home. The state believes that its evidence would then show that um the
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defendant entered the residence of 11:22 through the kitchen sliding door on the
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back side of the residence, which is the side of the residence that would uh face
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the area above where the defendant's car was parked. defendant entered the residence, went to
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the third floor, and with a knife, killed Madison Mogan and Caitlyn Gonzalez. The defendant, as he left that room, for
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whatever reason, ended up leaving or the sheath for a KBAR knife was left on the bed next to
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Madison Min's body. And I can jump ahead. That sheath was tested by the Idaho State Police Forensic Lab and
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single source male DNA was found on the snap of that sheath as well as blood from both Kaye and Madison and other
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trace evidence. But it's important to note single source male DNA was on the snap of that cheek.
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The state's evidence would show that Zana Kenodal was still awake at this time. in fact had taken a door dash
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order not long before this started. Her room was not on the third floor. It was on the second floor on the west side.
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As the defendant was either coming down the stairs or leaving, he encountered Zana and he ended up
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killing her also with a large knife. Ethan Chapen, Zanna's boyfriend, was asleep in their bedroom, in her bedroom,
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and the defendant killed him as well with a large fixed blade line. Each victim suffered multiple wounds. I will
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state for the record that there is no evidence there was any sexual component or sexual assault on any of the victims.
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I want to make that clear so there's no speculation. There were two other roommates in the
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house and they were already asleep. During the course of this, one of those roommates arro awoke, looked out her
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door, not knowing what was going on, and saw the defendant who was dressed in black with a black belt cob on, holding
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some sort of container in his hand. And she saw him leave the house through the direction of the kitchen where that
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sliding door is that I mentioned before. At approximately 4:20 that morning, so this would have been 15 minutes or so
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later, Finn's car is seen on a surveillance camera for 1112 King Road, which is immediately next door to the west of
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11:22, leaving the area at a high rate of speed. And if the court were to see that
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or anybody in this courtroom were to see that, you can see the court the car almost loses control as it makes the
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corner, heads north, and then turns to go south on Wenta, which is one of the only ways to get out of that part of
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town. The evidence would show that following that, the defendant in his Elantra drove south of Moscow. We know that he
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drove on the back roads because there are surveillance cameras on the main highways, Highway 95, that would have
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picked up the defendant's car if he'd gone that route and they did not show the defendants's car on that route
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during the time. So, we know that he went through a variety of back roads and very rural isolated part of Lake County.
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About 4:48 that morning, the defendant's phone comes back on and the evidence will show that that
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phone was located south of Moscow, likely at a side road intersection with uh Highway 95. From there, the
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defendant's phone activity tracks heading back north towards Pullman, Washington, where the defendant lived.
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about 5:26, starting approximately 5:26, various surveillance cameras in Pullman,
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Washington, pick up the defendant's vehicle as he enters Pullman from the south and heads north and slightly west
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towards his apartment where he arrived at approximately 5:30 in the morning. Later that morning, this still this uh
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Sunday, the 13th of November of 2022, Mr. Cobberg's phone returned to the area of King Road. We don't know exactly what
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he did, but it returned to that area. It's about 9:00 in the morning, was there for about 10 minutes, and then
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returned to his Pullman residence about 9:30 that states evidence will show evidence
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taken from the defendant's phone that he took a selfie of himself on his phone in
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what appears to be the bathroom of his Pullman apartment with a thumbs up. So, we know there was a lot of evidence,
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but we didn't hear anything about motive, Mary. What about that? I know the big question that everybody wants to
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to understand in this case. Um, we didn't hear anything about motive. Motive is not an element of the crime.
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Uh, and I'm not so sure that the prosecution actually knows at this point even what the motive was. And sometimes
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in cases like these in particular where the murders are so gruesome and heinous uh you don't have any sort of black and
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white explanation. Uh so I think that's why we probably didn't hear anything along those lines because either they
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didn't know it or they felt that it wasn't uh it might be confusing to the factual basis because it's not
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necessary. And by the way I had a brief conversation by text message with Christy Gonzalez Kayle's mother
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yesterday. in it. She told me that the family asked the prosecutor if they were asking Coberger for more evidence,
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including the location of the murder weapon as part of the deal. And according to Christy, the prosecutor
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said no. This raises the prospect that families may never know exactly what happened. Imagine living with that for
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the rest of your life. Yeah, that's actually, you know, there are so many elements to a case that
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sometimes, you know, people will never know. So, it it's hard and I know it's um it's consuming for many of them
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because they want the picture filled in so they can fully understand what happened and hopefully put closure and
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get some closure out of the case. But that that doesn't always happen. And even if it went to trial, they wouldn't
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necessarily have had that closure as well. So unfortunately um in cases like these uh you you need to focus on the
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evidence and what the evidence is and and stick with that when it comes to the resolution. But even without a motive,
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why not take this to trial? Uh the reason why the prosecution at this late date uh I think decided to discuss a
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plea was because the defense reached out to them. I mean, after all the hearings
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and the motions and the judge finally denied the continuence, uh, the defense reached out to the to the prosecution
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and asked if there was a plea deal, and they would be remissed in not really going through that with them. And
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anything can go wrong. I mean, you can have witnesses go sideways. You can have a juror do something that could cause a
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mistrial and then restart the whole process again. So, they have to evaluate everything. and in this situation and
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here is the defendant willing to plead to everything to all the facts to everything that's included in the
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indictment and I think they took all that into consideration and decided that this was the most appropriate and just
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thing to do in the circumstances and we've seen a divide among families of the victims. Some are relieved while
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others are outraged, feeling betrayed by the prosecution for taking this deal. The Chapens said that they were
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attending the hearing in support of the plea deal and the Mogan's family attorney read a statement on their
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behalf today also supporting the plea deal. We support the plea agreement 100%. While we know there are some who do not
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support it, we ask that they respect our belief that this is the best outcome possible for the victims, their
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families, and the state of Idaho. We extend our deep gratitude to the many law enforcement officers and staff who
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work tirelessly to obtain the critical evidence that brought justice today. This is something where they want to put
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it away. And this is a guarantee. There's no more risk of all that's going to save them a lot of pain and anguish.
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On the other side, the Gonzalez family issued a statement saying they are beyond furious at the state of Idaho.
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They said the state failed us, calling it a deal with the devil. Kay's father, Steve Gonzaleves, refused to go inside
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the courtroom today, but spoke outside to the media before the hearing. He blasted prosecutor Bill Thompson for
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negotiating a plea deal. He only negotiated with the murder of our children. That was the only person that
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he negotiated with. He didn't give us the call and courtesy to negotiate with us, even pretend. He could have just
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pretended and then lied. But he didn't even pretend. He basically said, "Your guys' input isn't needed." The judge
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could hear one thought from you that he should remember. What is it? He's going to own this. He's going to
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inherit what Thompson did. And he's the only one that can fix it. He's the only one who can make it right. I know it's
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an emotional one for some of the victim's families, but it's a call that is solely within the prosecutor's
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discretion, weighing not only the victim's interest, but the states and the time, the money, and the consumption
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of this case on the court's resources. And there's another reason Kaylee Gonzalez's parents have expressed
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outrage. This deal took the death penalty off the table. They wrote on social media that the death penalty is
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merely an illusion in the criminal justice system. When available, it serves as a bargaining tool for the
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state. A new law in Idaho will go into effect on July 1st, 2026 that will make death by firing squad the state's
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primary method of execution. When I spoke to the Gonzalez family over two years ago, they had very strong
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opinions about that should he be found guilty of the murders. Oh, firing squad. Absolutely. I think lethal injection is
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way too easy. I mean, I've read about it and it's it's evidently very torturous,
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but I'm like, yeah, no, I'm not buying it. Evidently, if you feel like you're drowning and whatnot, I don't know. I
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mean, yeah, but I think that a firing squad would be pretty terrifying, but nowhere near as terrifying as what our
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girls went through. They are understandably very angry and upset and want the defendant to pay the ultimate
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price here. And I know the Gonzalez's wish that since the prosecution had all the leverage in this negotiation that
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they had that they had included a stipulation that Coberger tell every detail about how this crime was
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committed, how he planned, how he carried it out, that he would have to tell that story before he could get the
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plea deal. And that breaks their heart that that was not a part of this. Yeah. And no one can compel that. The court
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can't compel that. The prosecution can't compel that. I mean, what we do know is
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that the judge found that there was sufficient facts and evidence to accept his guilty plea to each of the five
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counts. So, after all this, what happens next? Is this case finally over? Not yet. Sentencing is scheduled for July
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23rd and we expect on that day the families will be able to have their day in court. they will be able to address
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the court and give victim what they call victim impact statements about the pain
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and the anguish and the and the torture basically that they have gone through as
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a family. Uh and I expect that that'll last the whole day and it's going to be a very emotional day. It's one that you
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hope gives some closure and some peace to the families. And it's one that I I I suspect there won't be a dry eye in the
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house. And these will be very powerful statements for people like the Gonzalez family. They finally get to say in a
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room where they know Brian Coberger can hear them what they think about all of this and they are devastated. So that
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will be that will be a compelling day and we will continue to provide updates on this case. Thanks Mary for joining
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us. Thank you Peter and thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Vans.