The man who confessed to slaughtering four University of Idaho students now insists he is innocent and is fighting to erase the guilty plea that put him behind bars for the rest of his life. Bryan Kohberger, the 31-year-old former criminology Ph.D. student, filed a petition challenging his conviction and gave his first interview since his arrest, declaring in a statement provided Sunday night that he was manipulated into admitting to the killings.
Kohberger, who has been held in solitary confinement for slightly more than 12 months at the state’s high-security correctional facility located in the area near Boise, said he agreed to the plea because of “false promises and blatant disinformation.” He insisted on his “absolute claim of innocence” and said the deal must be thrown out.
The claim arrives almost 13 months after he pleaded guilty and marks a stunning reversal in a case that has drawn unprecedented attention throughout the state. Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both seniors, junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin were found fatally stabbed in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. Kohberger was a student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the killings.
What Kohberger Claims Now
On Monday, a new civil case for post-conviction relief posted to Idaho’s court records website. Kohberger’s handwritten filings included one seeking the appointment of legal counsel. When asked in one of the documents what relief he wanted, the 31-year-old wrote out “a withdrawal of a guilty plea,” according to his petition and affidavit.
In the filing, Kohberger said he was convinced during discussions with his attorneys to falsely admit to capital murder and felony burglary through coercion and misleading information, and that whether he actually committed the crimes was portrayed as irrelevant given the potential death penalty he faced.
In July 2025, Kohberger agreed to life imprisonment with no parole option and gave up his right to appeal to avoid a potential death penalty if the capital case had proceeded to trial. But like all prisoners, he retains the right to ask a court for post-conviction relief — an action that cannot be signed away — including on arguments that he received inadequate legal representation.
The Plea Hearing on the Record
Kohberger’s new position collides directly with what he said under oath. He was asked multiple times during his plea hearing in early July 2025 whether he admitted to the crimes, and he said yes each time. At the change-of-plea hearing, he told Judge Steven Hippler of the 4th judicial district that his defense team headed by Anne Taylor had represented him adequately.
Judge Hippler pressed him carefully, telling Kohberger he did not want him pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit. When the judge asked whether he was pleading guilty because he was guilty, Kohberger answered, “Yes.” Taylor told the court she consented to her client’s entry of the guilty plea. Kohberger signed multiple legal documents including a plea advisory, an agreement, and a written statement of facts relating to the arrangement.
Idaho court rules say a valid plea agreement must show the “voluntariness of the plea.” Landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, including the 1985 decision in Hill v. Lockhart, set a precedent for tossing out guilty pleas if defendants can prove they agreed because of bad advice from ineffective counsel. A 2019 ruling, Garza v. Idaho, established that defendants retain the ability to challenge their convictions on specific constitutional grounds even after waiving their appeal rights.
A Deal That Divided the Families
The agreement resulted in four consecutive life terms with no parole eligibility for Kohberger but spared him from death by firing squad had a jury convicted him. It also meant he never had to explain in court why he committed the killings or why he targeted his young victims — an outcome that split the victims’ relatives.
The families of Goncalves and Kernodle criticized prosecutors for denying them the answers a trial would have produced. Steve Goncalves, Kaylee’s father, said his relatives informed authorities they opposed any negotiated resolution, but that officials went ahead with it anyway. The families of Chapin and Mogen supported the deal, saying they wanted to avoid a wrenching trial that would have generated weeks of wall-to-wall national coverage.
Overturning the plea could hand a symbolic victory to the Goncalves and Kernodle families, who wanted their day in court. A mountain of evidence ties Kohberger to the murders, and the case is now approaching four years since the students were found dead in their Moscow home. Whether an Idaho court will entertain his bid to reverse a conviction he repeatedly affirmed under oath remains to be seen.