Bryan Kohberger Granted New Hearings as He Seeks to Withdraw Guilty Plea

Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty in July 2025 to four first-degree murders and one burglary count for the November 13 2022 killings of four University of Idaho students, has filed a petition for post-conviction relief. The petition alleges ineffective assistance of counsel and claims that exculpatory evidence was withheld. Judge Steven Hippler has scheduled a status conference for June 3 2027 and an evidentiary hearing for June 17 2027 to consider the petition.

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The November 13 2022 stabbings in Moscow, Idaho, left Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen dead. After an extensive investigation, Kohberger, a criminology student at Washington State University at the time, was arrested in 2022. He entered a guilty plea in July 2025, securing a deal that removed the death penalty and resulted in four consecutive life sentences without parole plus a ten-year burglary term. The plea required him to waive his right to appeal, though it does not bar a post-conviction petition.

Bryan Kohberger granted new hearing in bid to take back guilty plea in Idaho murders: Court filings

• Victims: Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen.

US Weekly

• Conviction: Four counts of first-degree murder, one count of burglary.

Fox News (website)

• Sentencing: Four consecutive life terms without parole; additional ten-year term for burglary.

Fox News (website)

• Judge Steven Hippler asked Kohberger at the July 23 2025 sentencing, “Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” — the exchange is recorded in the court transcript.

CNN

• Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson explained that the plea deal avoided a protracted death-penalty trial and further trauma for the victims’ families.

CNN

• “Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” — Judge Hippler

CNN

Kohberger’s petition claims his attorneys failed to disclose “clumps of unknown hair” found in Ethan Chapin’s hands, suggesting the evidence could be exculpatory. Prosecutors, however, have emphasized DNA recovered from a knife sheath and vehicle-tracking data that linked Kohberger to the crime scene. No independent forensic analysis of the hair evidence has been presented publicly, leaving a gap between the defense’s alleged undisclosed material and the prosecution’s established forensic findings.

Fox News (website)

The court will hold a status conference on June 3 2027, followed by an evidentiary hearing on June 17 2027. The outcomes of those proceedings will determine whether Kohberger’s guilty plea can be withdrawn and whether the case proceeds to a new trial.

CNN