Bryan Kohberger has been assigned a new court date as he seeks to withdraw his guilty plea for the murders of four University of Idaho students. The 31-year-old is scheduled to appear in Ada County Courthouse on October 15.
During the hearing, Kohberger's defense team plans to challenge Judge Steven Hippler's involvement in his post-conviction relief request. Judge Hippler previously handed down four life sentences to Kohberger for the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, and Madison Mogen, whose bodies were discovered in their off-campus home on November 13, 2022.
The court had previously scheduled the first status conference and evidentiary hearing in the case for June 2027.
Kohberger accepted a plea deal in July, which allowed him to avoid a trial and a potential death penalty sentence. However, he later filed a petition for post-conviction relief, a process permitted under Idaho law that is distinct from a direct appeal.
In a statement to The New York Times, Kohberger asserted his "actual innocence" and claimed his plea was "hinged on false promises and blatant disinformation" that "MUST be withdrawn." He also alleged "ineffective assistance of counsel," stating he was "advised to lie" by his legal team.
Prosecutors have filed a motion to dismiss Kohberger's case. However, his position may be complicated by a written factual basis document he signed, in which he admitted responsibility for the slayings. In that document, Kohberger confessed that the "killing and murder" of the victims was "willful, unlawful, deliberate, with premeditation and with malice aforethought."
Following the filing of that court document, Kohberger pleaded guilty and accepted the plea deal. In addition to the four life sentences, he received a consecutive 10-year sentence for a burglary charge and owes $270,000 in civil penalties and fines.