Bryan Kohberger plea deal means he won’t have to explain why he ‘slaughtered 4 Idaho college students in their sleep’

The families of the University Idaho co-eds who were hacked to death in their sleep are raging against a plea deal for Bryan Kogberger that means the world may never know why he allegedly targeted the four roommates in November 2022. 

Kohberger reached a shocking deal with prosecutors Tuesday –- just weeks ahead of the highly anticipated quadruple homicide trial.

The plea will spare him from the possibility of death by firing squad, but will see him spend the rest of his life in prison — with no chance of prole.

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“Idaho has failed. They failed me. They failed my whole family,” Steve Goncalves, father of victim Kaylee Goncalves, told NBC’s “Today” Show.

Kohberger’s plea hearing has been scheduled in his case for 11 a.m. Wednesday in a Boise, Idaho court.

The Goncalves family said in a statement that when prosecutors floated the idea, they told prosecutors a plea deal was a “HARD NO from our family.”

Just days later, though, the Latah County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office moved forward with the deal, telling the Goncalves, “it’s not really about us, it’s about their process,” the stunned Goncalves dad told the network.

At the plea hearing, the former Ph.D. criminology student will have to admit to his crimes, but likely won’t explain his motive, Idaho defense attorney Edwina Elcox told The Post.

He will have to establish the elements of the crime like the dates and locations, and acknowledge that he committed the killings.

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But “he wouldn’t have to say why he did it — just that he did it,” Elcox explained.

She added: “There is no requirement that he says why for a plea.”

Two and a half years after the Nov. 13, 2022, murders in Moscow, Idaho, there is still no clear explanation for why the four students were hacked to death with a military-style Ka-Bar knife.

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Here’s the latest coverage on Bryan Kohberger:

• Bryan Kohberger’s classmates made 13 formal complaints about the killer for ‘being a d–k,’ making offensive comments: report
• Bryan Kohberger’s creepy remark on night of Idaho murders revealed by surviving roommate
• Eerie leaked videos of Bryan Kohberger with red hands inside cell being probed by Idaho prison
• Bryan Kohberger’s phone records unveil similarities to Norman Bates: ‘Just super eerie’

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A trial — with troves of evidence introduced and argued over — may have brought the families closer to understanding the reason behind the murders of Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Ethan Chapin, 20 and Madison Mogen, 21.

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Kohberger had been attending Washington State University in Pullman, Washington roughly 10 miles  from the victims’ school. A knife sheath with Kohberger’s DNA allegedly on it was found near Mogen’s body.

The Goncalves’ family said they “are beyond furious at the State of Idaho” for agreeing to the deal. “They have failed us.”

Elcox said prosecutors wouldn’t have made the deal lightly, knowing the impact it would have on the victims’ families.

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Still, she explained there are other benefits of Kohberger taking a plea deal, such as ensuring a conviction, since “you never know what will happen at trial.”

Since Kohberger agreed not to appeal the conviction and sentencing, “then it’s done. It gives everyone a sense of finality,” the lawyer said.

On the other hand, with a trial, there are usually “decades of appeals and rehashing everything,” Elcox said. “It gets to a resolution that ensures that he will never be out in the community again.”

Kernodle’s aunt, Kim Kernodle, told TMZ prosecutors said they wanted to “spare the families” the torment of enduring the gruesome details that would have come out at trial.

“We know the graphics. They were not trying to spare us,” a skeptical Kernodle said, noting the prosecutors said they had enough evidence to convict Kohberger at trial.

Chapin’s family has said they support the deal prosecutors struck. But the other families are planning to ask the judge to postpone his decision on whether to accept the deal, Kim Kernodle said.

“It’s my daughter. It’s our children. How can you say it’s just when you haven’t even talked to us to see what justice looks like for us?” Steve Goncalves said.

Kaylee’s sister, Aubrie, 18, ripped the deal in a post online, saying: “The system has failed these four innocent victims and their families.”

The hearing Wednesday could go on for about an hour, since the judge will likely want to ensure that everything is done correctly.

Sentencing likely won’t take place for weeks, Elcox said.