Prosecutors are requesting that Judge Boise prolong an order preventing Brian Coberger from reaching out to the families of his victims for an additional 99 years. This follows his guilty plea regarding the murders of four University of Idaho students.
According to attorney Bill Thompson, the request hinges on the fact that Coberger has pleaded guilty to all charges and is set to be sentenced on July 23, 2025. The existing no-contact order is currently set to expire on January 5, 2027, and the state is urging for an extension of nearly a century.
Coberger pleaded guilty on July 2 to the murders of Madison Morgen, Kaylee Goncalves, Zana Carnordal, and Ethan Chapin. Notably, he left behind a knife sheath that contained DNA evidence.
At the time of the killings, Coberger was a PhD student in criminology at Washington State University, which is just a short drive from where the murders occurred.
By the time he was arrested on December 30, 2022, at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, he had apparently cleaned his apartment, and his campus office was empty. The details regarding the evidence collected from his belongings, including items confiscated from his car and home, remain unclear. Just weeks before a trial was slated to begin, he opted to enter a guilty plea, possibly to evade facing the death penalty.
Ultimately, he is expected to receive a total of four consecutive life sentences along with an additional 10 years without parole during his upcoming sentencing. While he isn’t allowed to contact the victims’ families, they will have a chance to confront him in court by providing victim impact statements.
