He will be given four consecutive life sentences plus 10 years for burglary according to a plea deal, which allows him to avoid the death penalty. The sentencing comes nearly three years after the students were found stabbed to death in a rental house near the University of Idaho campus, shocking the quiet college town of Moscow and the nation.

After four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home, investigators were mystified, unable to answer who would want to kill the group of friends, or why.

Friends and family members have sought to commemorate the victims’ lives by raising money for scholarships and other initiatives.