MOSCOW, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger, the man who killed four University of Idaho students when he broke into their off-campus home and stabbed them to death, was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences with no possibility for parole or appeal.
This was part of a plea deal Kohberger entered on July 2, taking the death penalty off the table.
Per Idaho Code, anyone found guilty of first-degree murder will be “punished by death or by imprisonment for life.”
While Kohberger has avoided the death penalty, he will likely be serving his sentence at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution (IMSI) in Kuna-- the state’s only maximum security prison.
According to the Idaho Statesman, the prison has garnered criticism for its harsh treatment of inmates in solitary confinement and for its poor conditions, driving prisoners to organize a mass six-day hunger strike last year in protest of the facility, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Among the 90 inmates who participated in the strike, some complained about delays in access to medical care, long bouts of isolation and recreational “cages,” the newspaper reported.
The paper reported that the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) made changes after the strike, but a prison official also added that privileges for inmates depend on their behavior.
If Kohberger is sentenced to serve time here, he will also be behind bars with Idaho’s eight male death row inmates.
Chad Daybell, convicted for the deaths of his first wife and his second wife’s two children, was the most recent person to join death row at IMSI.
Gerald Pizzuto has been on death row in Idaho the longest- since 1986- for beating two people to death.
According to the Idaho Department of Corrections, there have been 29 executions carried out in the state since 1864- only three people have been executed since 1976.
After Kohberger’s plea was announced, there was some pushback online, with people pointing out that Kohberger had killed more people than anyone on death row in the state.
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