Could Bryan Kohberger face civil lawsuits?

(NewsNation) — While Bryan Kohberger has admitted guilt in the killings of four University of Idaho students, his legal battles may continue.

He agreed to the plea deal just weeks before his trial was to begin to avoid the death penalty, which prosecutors had said they intended to pursue.

Kohberger, 30, was charged with killing Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.

Kohberger told the judge he understood the terms of the plea deal, which stipulates he will serve four life sentences and won’t be able to appeal.

NBC News reports that Kohberger could face fines of up to $5,000 to each victim of the crime in the form of a civil judgment in addition to any restitution to the victims.

At the time, no civil lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the victims.

The killings grabbed headlines around the world and set off a nationwide hunt, including an elaborate effort to track down a white sedan spotted on surveillance cameras repeatedly driving by the rental home. Police said they used genetic genealogy to identify Kohberger as a possible suspect and accessed cellphone data to pinpoint his movements the night of the killings.

At the time, Kohberger was a criminal justice graduate student at nearby Washington State University who had just completed his first semester and was a teaching assistant in the criminology program.

Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania, where his parents lived, weeks later. Thompson said investigators recovered a Q-tip from the garbage at his parents’ house to match Kohberger’s DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.