Convicted serial killer Bryan Kohberger has been granted the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea in the University of Idaho slayings, with a hearing scheduled for June 2027. Kohberger, who is currently serving four consecutive life sentences without parole, claims his former legal team coerced him into pleading guilty by misrepresenting evidence and threatening him with harsh prison conditions.
In a handwritten affidavit, Kohberger alleges that “coercion, disinformation, false promises, and the withholding of exculpatory discovery” led him to enter a false guilty plea on July 2, 2025. He claims his defense attorneys misled him and his family about the evidence, including allegedly burying information about "clumps of unknown hair found in Ethan Chapin’s hands."
Kohberger, 31, was convicted of the 2022 fatal stabbings of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves. The plea deal, which he accepted on July 2, 2025, spared him from a potential death sentence but was opposed by some of the victims' families who sought a full trial for more answers. Kohberger stated at the time of the plea that he understood he was waiving his right to appeal.
His new attorney has filed a petition to withdraw the plea, asserting that Kohberger was intimidated into pleading guilty. He claims his former counsel fabricated stories about death row conditions to convince him that pleading guilty was his only recourse for better treatment. Kohberger, a former Ph.D. criminology student at nearby Washington State University, had repeatedly affirmed his guilt when questioned during the June 2025 plea hearing.
Judge Steve Hippler has scheduled a status conference and evidentiary hearing for June 2027 to address Kohberger's request. If successful, Kohberger could seek a new trial. The victims were found deceased in a Moscow, Idaho, home. Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were present in the house at the time of the murders.