Reaction to Bryan Kohberger accepting a plea deal

ADA COUNTY, Idaho (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - According to multiple sources close to the case, there is a plea hearing on Wednesday for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in 2022.

"One reason is, if you're not convinced you can get a conviction," said Timothy Bradshaw, a retired judge.

Bradshaw said even if jurors were to find Kohberger guilty and render a death penalty decision if it gets appealed, it'll be drawn out for years.

"That's difficult on the families as well," Bradshaw expressed.

Seattle U law professor Deirdre Bowen says the prosecutor likely felt the risks outweigh the reward.

"The fact of the matter is, is that there are appealable issues here," Bowen explained.

Appealable issues such as the handling of the DNA evidence.

"What if it goes on appeal and the Appellate Court says, 'You're right...There was judicial error...We just throw the conviction out, Done,'" Bowen shared.

It also could be money related, with Bradshaw saying, "prosecutors have budgets that they have to live with."

Still, the news of the plea deal surprised Bowen.

"We know that there's at least one Family that objects to this plea, and it is highly, highly rare that a prosecutor for such an egregious case would agree to a plea deal," Bowen remarked.

Because of its rarity, she suspects the prosecutor thinks they can negotiate some kind of payoff for the families, and say something like, "We want to know what you can actually offer us in terms of telling us what your motive was."

But she says this is far from over: "This is not resolved at all. He could go to that hearing and say, 'Actually, I don't plead guilty.'"

Legal experts also acknowledge how tough this likely is on the victims' families.

"The first thing that I think of is how heart-wrenching this is for the victims' families," Bradshaw further expressed.