Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the November 2022 stabbings of four University of Idaho students and is currently serving four consecutive life sentences without parole, has filed a petition seeking to withdraw that plea and face a jury trial.
He told The New York Times on Sunday: "My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn."
The plea deal, accepted in open court by Judge Steven Hippler on July 2, 2025, spared Kohberger the death penalty in exchange for his guilty plea to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
At the time, when Hippler asked directly, "Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?" Kohberger answered, "Yes." He waived his right to appeal as part of the agreement.
The victims, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger, then a criminology PhD student at nearby Washington State University, was arrested in Pennsylvania six weeks after the murders.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador responded: "My heart goes out to the families of Madison, Kaylee, Xana and Ethan, who have already endured unimaginable loss and now must face today's deeply painful news. My office is ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure that justice is fully carried out."