As a judge is poised to decide whether Bryan Kohberger can accept a plea deal that would allow him to avoid the death penalty in the 2022 killings of four Idaho college students, one victim’s father says he views the deal as a relief from the pain and spectacle of a trial,

After two and a half years of legal wrangling, prosecutors and lawyers for the defendant, Bryan Kohberger, reached a deal just weeks before his trial was set to begin.