Bombshell development, Brian Coburger appearing set to accept a plea deal just five weeks before his quadruple murder trial was set to start.

Brian Coburger was simply out of options and out of time.

Why did the prosecution take this? They were holding all the cards.

He essentially gets to live rent-free,

no expenses for the rest of his life, and we call that justice. It's insane.

This is The Idaho Massacre, a production of KT Studios and IHeart Radio.

Season 3, Episode 1, The Pleadiel.

I'm Courtney Armstrong, a producer at KT Studios with Stephanie Leidegger and Gabriel Castillo.

Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?

Yes.

After nearly three years of silence,

962 days of unanswered questions and national headlines,

the moment finally came.

In a Boise courtroom, under harsh fluorescent lights, 30-year-old Brian Coburger, a former PhD

student at Washington State University, stood before a judge and admitted to the brutal murders

of Madison Mogan,

Kaylee Gonzalez, Zana Kernodal, and Ethan Chapin.

He showed no emotion, no hesitation, and offered no explanation.

In exchange for avoiding the death penalty, he accepted four life sentences without parole.

There was no apology, no remorse, just a chilling end to a case that shattered a community and gripped the nation.

As to count two, murder in the first degree as it relates to the murder of Madison, Mogan.

How do you plead guilty or not guilty?

...