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By Sophie Clark
Live News Reporter
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Bryan Kohberger could spend the rest of his life in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution (IMSI) after pleading guilty to the murder of four University of Idaho students in a plea deal ahead of trial.
IMSI—located in an isolated area of the state—was included on Security Journal Americas' 2024 list of the 15 worst U.S. prisons, citing extensive use of solitary confinement, allegations of excessive force by guards, and inadequate mental-health care.
The cells in the prison have been described by prisoners to the Idaho Statesman as very clean as they are washed by inmates, but they said the recreational cages inside the prison in 2024 had feces and urine on the walls and floor. A spokesperson for IMSI told the Statesman at the time that incarcerated workers regularly cleaned the cages.
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The Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) and Kohberger's legal team have been contacted via email for comment.
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Why It Matters
Kohberger struck this plea deal in part to avoid being given a death sentence at trial and is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Kohberger's plea deal has divided victims' families, with some angry that Kohberger will never face his day in court, and others relieved he is locked up for life, unable to commit any future crimes.
What To Know
Kohberger agreed to a plea deal on July 2, pleading guilty to the murder of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen, four students who were living off campus in Moscow, Idaho.
His deal has landed him at the infamous Idaho Maximum Security Institution, without the opportunity for parole.
Conditions in the prison were reported by the Idaho Statesman last year to include feces on some walls, delays in access to medical care, "cages" for recreation time, and an HVAC system that prisoners have used in the past to send urine down as retaliation against other inmates. Although IMSI houses some of Idaho's most violent offenders, constitutional standards still require access to recreation, fresh air and tolerable temperatures—protections inmates claim are not always met**.**
In 2024, around 90 prisoners went on hunger strike to protest their conditions, the IDOC told the Statesman. Officials told the daily paper that the protest did not meet their policy definition of a hunger strike because inmates still had access to commissary food, and they attributed many recent restrictions to a spike in contraband and violent incidents.
The strike resulted in the IDOC putting workout equipment into the recreation spaces and reintroducing access to tribal practices for Native prisoners.
It also resulted in the HVAC system getting cleaned, after prisoners alleged it had not been cleaned in decades.
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Kohberger is yet to be formally sentenced, so it is unclear at this time if he will be put in the solitary confinement section of the prison.
Although some victim families wanted Kohberger to come to trial and potentially face the death penalty, death penalty sentences can lead to endless appeal processes, elongating the legal process for everyone involved. This plea deal means Kohberger cannot go back to court to relitigate his crimes.
What People Are Saying
Madison Mogen's father, Ben Mogen, told CBS News: "We can actually put this behind us and not have these future dates and future things that we don't want to have to be at, that we shouldn't have to be at, that have to do with this terrible person."
The Goncalves family, who oppose the plea deal, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, prior to the deal being reached: "We will not stop fighting for the life that was stolen unjustly."
Idaho Maximum Security Institution Inmate Shawn Madewell told the Idaho Statesman in August last year: "All we ask is for the right to breathe clean air, to be warm in the winters and cool in the summers. Our cells are some of the cleanest places you could ever find, but what's in our HVAC system could be classified as a biohazard."
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What Happens Next
Kohberger will be formally sentenced on July 23 and will remain in custody, as he has since being arrested in 2022, until then.
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