More than two years after the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students shocked the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, the former criminal justice doctoral student charged in the murders is expected in court Wednesday to plead guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty.

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,

Bryan Kohberger, 30, is charged in the murders of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.