Bryan Kohberger has asked an Idaho court to let him withdraw his guilty plea to the murders of four University of Idaho students. He now claims he is innocent and says his lawyers pressured him into accepting the plea agreement.
Kohberger pleaded guilty on 2 July 2025 to murdering Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He is serving four consecutive life sentences without parole, followed by another ten years for burglary. The new petition does not cancel those convictions or automatically give him a trial.
Bryan Kohberger challenges guilty plea
Kohberger filed the handwritten petition from Idaho Maximum Security Institution on 27 July 2026. He is seeking post-conviction relief, a legal process that allows a prisoner to challenge a conviction after the normal criminal proceedings have ended.
In the petition, he argues that his plea was not made knowingly or voluntarily. He alleges that his lawyers used threats, unfulfilled promises and misleading descriptions of life on death row to persuade him to admit guilt. He also claims they told him a guilty plea did not need to be truthful. These are allegations made by Kohberger and have not been accepted by the court.
Kohberger also says his defence team failed to explain or properly investigate evidence that he believes could have helped his case. His filing refers to material found in Ethan Chapin’s hand and describes it as unidentified hair.
However, documents reviewed by People indicate that a defence expert examined one hair from Chapin’s hand. The expert found it was consistent with Chapin’s own reference hair. It is unclear whether Kohberger is referring to that sample or claims that other material was not examined.
Claims conflict with his court statements
Kohberger’s new position conflicts with the statements he made when entering his plea.
In the signed guilty plea advisory, he confirmed that no undisclosed promises had influenced his decision. He also accepted the terms of the written plea agreement, which included giving up his right to appeal the convictions and sentences.
Kohberger also signed a written factual basis accepting responsibility for all five charges. During the court hearing, Judge Steven Hippler asked whether he was pleading guilty because he was guilty. Kohberger answered yes.
The agreement removed the possibility of a death sentence. In return, Kohberger accepted four consecutive life terms without parole and an additional ten-year sentence for burglary.
The court’s judgment of conviction was issued on 23 July 2025. The sentence also included fines and financial penalties.
Court must find a serious injustice
Giving up the right to appeal does not necessarily prevent every form of post-conviction challenge. A prisoner may still argue that a plea was involuntary or that serious failures by legal counsel violated constitutional rights.
However, Idaho law sets a high standard after sentencing. Kohberger must show that allowing his guilty plea to remain would cause a “manifest injustice”. This may require convincing the judge that the plea was not voluntary or that his legal representation failed so seriously that it affected the result.
His former defence team included four court-appointed lawyers. Lead lawyer Anne Taylor has nearly three decades of experience and is qualified to represent defendants in death penalty cases.
Before the plea agreement, the defence challenged several major parts of the prosecution’s case. Its lawyers disputed DNA evidence, tried to remove the death penalty and sought permission to present evidence suggesting other possible perpetrators.
The new petition therefore begins a legal review rather than a new trial. A judge may reject it, request a response from the state, appoint legal representation or hold further proceedings before making a decision.
Victims’ families criticise new petition
Several relatives of the four students have criticised Kohberger’s attempt to reopen the case.
Alivea Goncalves, Kaylee Goncalves’s sister, told Vanity Fair that the filing initially felt like “a gut punch”. After reading it, she said she believed the ineffective-assistance argument contradicted Kohberger’s earlier statements about his defence team.
She also said the continuing legal proceedings were causing further distress to the families. Goncalves urged people following the case to remember Madison, Kaylee, Xana and Ethan rather than treating their deaths only as entertainment.
The four students were killed during the early hours of 13 November 2022 in a rented house near the University of Idaho campus in Moscow.
Kohberger was studying criminology at nearby Washington State University when the killings happened. He was arrested in Pennsylvania in December 2022 and later returned to Idaho.
A motive was never established in court because the plea agreement prevented the planned trial from taking place. Kohberger did not explain his actions during sentencing.
Idaho authorities will oppose challenge
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador confirmed that the post-conviction petition had been filed.
In an official statement, Labrador expressed sympathy for the four families and said his office was ready to take the steps needed to ensure the sentence was enforced.
The state has not accepted Kohberger’s account of the plea negotiations. His former lawyers had not issued a detailed public response to the allegations by 31 July.
No court decision granting him permission to withdraw his plea had been reported. Unless a judge rules otherwise, his convictions and four life sentences remain in force.
