Bryan Kohberger Seeks to Withdraw Guilty Plea in Idaho Student Murders

Bryan Kohberger has asked an Idaho court to undo the guilty plea that sent him to prison for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, claiming nearly a year after admitting to the killings that his plea was based on false promises and incorrect information.

Kohberger filed a petition for post-conviction relief Monday in Ada County District Court and is currently representing himself, according to the court docket. He now maintains that he is innocent and wants the plea withdrawn, reversing the position he took when he admitted in court to killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

The filing challenges the agreement Kohberger reached with prosecutors in July 2025, shortly before his capital murder trial was scheduled to begin. He pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in exchange for prosecutors removing the death penalty. Kohberger later received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole and a 10-year sentence for burglary.

His new claims come against a detailed record created when he entered the plea. The written agreement states that Kohberger was not being coerced, understood the possible punishment and was satisfied with his legal representation. He also acknowledged that he had reviewed possible defenses with his attorneys and knowingly gave up his right to appeal issues in the criminal case.

District Judge Steven Hippler also questioned Kohberger before accepting the plea. Kohberger said no when asked whether anyone had threatened him or made promises outside the agreement to persuade him to plead guilty. He told the court that he was satisfied with his attorneys and answered yes when Hippler asked whether he was pleading guilty because he was guilty.

Hippler found that the plea had been made freely, voluntarily and intelligently.

Kohberger now claims a different set of circumstances surrounded that decision. According to the petition, he was persuaded to plead guilty through coercion, misinformation and false promises. The filing also accuses his former attorneys of withholding evidence he believes supported his innocence and giving him misleading information about the consequences of accepting a life sentence rather than proceeding to a death penalty trial.

Idaho's Uniform Post-Conviction Procedure Act allows someone who has been convicted or sentenced to bring a separate challenge on certain grounds, including an alleged constitutional violation, previously unpresented material evidence, an innocence claim that meets statutory requirements, or another recognized basis for attacking the conviction. Idaho treats the petition as a separate civil case rather than a continuation of the original criminal prosecution.

That process is different from a direct appeal, which Kohberger agreed to waive as part of his plea deal. The post-conviction law allows certain challenges to the validity of a conviction or sentence even after the original criminal case has ended.

Idaho Criminal Rule 11 requires the record to show that a guilty plea is voluntary and that the person understands the charges, possible punishment, rights being surrendered, and any promises connected to the agreement. The rule is meant to ensure that a plea reflects an informed decision rather than coercion or misunderstanding.

Idaho law also allows a court, after sentencing, to set aside a conviction and allow withdrawal of a guilty plea when necessary to correct what the rule calls a "manifest injustice." Idaho courts have recognized that a plea that was not entered voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently can meet that standard.

Kohberger's allegations about his former attorneys could also support an ineffective assistance of counsel claim if raised under the post-conviction law. A person challenging a guilty plea on that basis generally must show that the attorney's representation fell below the required standard and that the alleged failures affected the decision to plead guilty.

The burden remains on Kohberger to establish a legal basis for relief. His earlier statements in court, including his answers about coercion, promises, and satisfaction with counsel, are part of the record the court can consider when reviewing the new claims.

Kohberger was arrested in December 2022, more than a month after Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle and Chapin were stabbed to death inside an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. Prosecutors had planned to rely on evidence that included Kohberger's DNA on a knife sheath recovered near one of the victims before the plea agreement ended the case without a trial.

Kohberger remains incarcerated under the four consecutive life sentences imposed in July 2025 while his post-conviction challenge moves forward in Ada County District Court.