Judge keeps death penalty a possibility for man charged in killings of 4 Idaho students

November 20, 2024 at 9:55 pm EST

(Ted S. Warren/AP)

BOISE, Idaho — (AP) — The death penalty will remain a possibility for a man charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Steven Hippler was not swayed by legal arguments made by Bryan Kohberger's defense team to remove it as an option if he is convicted in the case, KBOI-TV reported.

Kohberger’s attorneys had argued in part that the death penalty does not fit today’s standards of decency, that it is cruel to make condemned inmates sit for decades awaiting execution and that it violates an international treaty prohibiting the torture of prisoners.

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