Childhood friends of Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in November 2022, have tracked his murder case from afar and said they felt shocked the former Pennsylvania resident suddenly agreed to a plea deal to spare his life.

Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students, accepting a plea deal that exchanges the death penalty for four consecutive life sentences

Bryan Kohberger admitted to the murders in Idaho and entered a formal guilty plea in a deal with prosecutors that will allow him to avoid the death penalty.