Convicted killer Bryan Kohberger has a new court date scheduled for October 15, where his defense team and prosecutors will address his effort to disqualify Judge Steven Hippler from his post-conviction case. Kohberger, who pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the murders of four University of Idaho students, is seeking to overturn his plea deal.
Hippler sentenced Kohberger, 31, to four life sentences without parole for the November 2022 slayings of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves. The upcoming hearing at the Ada County Courthouse will focus on the defense's argument that Hippler made remarks during Kohberger's sentencing that indicate a lack of impartiality. Kohberger's attorneys also aim to move the case from Ada County to Latah County, contending that the intense media attention has made it difficult to secure an unbiased venue.
This legal maneuver follows Hippler's scheduling of a status conference and evidentiary hearing for Kohberger in June 2027. Kohberger himself filed a handwritten affidavit this summer, alleging that his previous legal counsel misled him and his family about crucial evidence prior to his guilty plea. According to a legal petition obtained by The New York Times, Kohberger claims he was subjected to "coercion, disinformation, false promises, and the withholding of exculpatory discovery."
Kohberger's defense has been actively seeking to disqualify Hippler and change the venue. Prosecutors have also filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing potential obstacles presented by Kohberger's own written admissions. In a factual basis document, Kohberger stated he was willing to "hereby admit responsibility" for the killings, describing them as "willful, unlawful, deliberate, with premeditation and with malice aforethought."
Kohberger entered his guilty plea as part of a deal that spared him the death penalty but stipulated he would not appeal his case, limiting his avenues for a new trial to a petition for post-conviction relief. Should he be granted a new trial and subsequently convicted, Kohberger would likely face the death penalty.