Like many, I’ve followed the tragic case of the four University of Idaho students murdered in their off-campus home in 2022. And like many homicide survivors, I carry a very different lens—one shaped not by curiosity or legal analysis, but by lived experience.
Two things stand out to me now that the legal proceedings surrounding Brian Kohberger have concluded. These two observations are by no means limited to the Kohberger case.
Observation One: Plea Deals
Plea bargains resolve about 97% of homicide cases in this country. Not because they provide justice, closure, or even answers—but because they’re expedient. Our criminal justice system is overloaded. There simply aren’t enough courtrooms, judges, attorneys or time to carry every murder case to trial – let alone every felony case. So we settle. And it’s crime victims who pay the price.
In the Kohberger case, his guilty plea means families may never learn the “why.” No statement was made by the defendant when offered an opportunity. No motive was shared. The question at the core of every grieving parent’s heart—Why my child?—will go unanswered. Instead, these families are left to speculate in the silence. That silence is not peaceful. It is brutal.
Plea bargains often strip survivors of the one thing they long for most: a full accounting. A moment in court to look the accused in the eye, hear the narrative, and begin to process what really happened. Without that, the crime remains shrouded in mystery. Justice is downgraded to a transaction, and we’re told to be grateful the case is closed.
But closed doesn’t mean healed. (And it certainly doesn’t mean “closure” either!)
Observation Two: The Public’s Appetite for Pain
The other thing that haunts me is what happens next.
Now that the legal proceedings have concluded, the court is releasing more detailed information about the murders—grisly, intimate details. And the public consumes it like it’s their last meal. Clicks go up. Forums light up. The algorithms do their magic. And true crime is buzzing with excitement.
But I have to ask: Why?
What purpose does this serve (other than to satisfy morbid curiosity)? The families have already lived a nightmare. Every media headline that recycles their children’s final moments is another blow to hearts already battered.
I don’t blame the media. They chase what the public demands. They are in business and, like every business, they want to satisfy their customer base to turn a profit and stay afloat. And that, I think, is the most disturbing truth of all. We’re not just failing victims in court—we’re failing them in our culture.
The demand for gruesome details says suffering has become entertainment. Society feels entitled to the worst details of someone else’s horror. And, in so doing, it dehumanizes victims by turning their tragedy into content.
We Can Do Better
We must ask deeper questions—not just about how our criminal justice system works, but about how we consume crime. The way we talk about victims matters. The way we treat their stories matters. And the silence we leave behind when a plea deal closes a case? That matters most of all.
If we want to be a society that values justice, we have to stop pretending that speed is justice. If we want to be a society that values dignity, we have to stop demanding the most graphic version of every tragedy.
And if we want to honor the dead, we must begin by honoring the living who mourn them.
