Bryan Kohberger granted June hearing over guilty plea withdrawal
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Bryan Kohberger has been granted a status conference and evidentiary hearing next June as he seeks to withdraw his guilty plea for the murders of four University of Idaho students. The development could reopen the case if his post-conviction petition succeeds, potentially returning it to trial and putting the death penalty back into consideration.
Kohberger, 31, received four consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty in July 2025 to killing Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle in Moscow, Idaho, on 13 November 2022. He waived his appeal rights under the plea agreement but is pursuing a separate Idaho post-conviction process, alleging his former lawyers advised him to lie; newly appointed lawyer Gregory Richard Rauch will represent him before Judge Steven Hippler. Victims’ relatives have criticised the renewed legal action, with some saying it causes further distress.
- Kohberger will have a June hearing on withdrawing his guilty plea.
- Success could reopen the Idaho murders case.
- Families say the legal move revives their trauma.
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The killings of four University of Idaho students in November 2022 drew national attention and led to a lengthy investigation in the city of Moscow, Idaho. Bryan Kohberger, a former criminology student, was arrested weeks later and charged with murdering Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle.
In July 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty under an agreement that resulted in four life sentences without parole, to be served one after another. The deal meant he did not face a trial and included a waiver of his usual right to appeal the convictions.
He is now using a separate legal route known as post-conviction review, which allows prisoners to challenge a conviction or sentence on limited grounds, including claims about their legal representation. If a court allowed him to withdraw the plea, the case could move back towards trial, where prosecutors could again consider seeking the death penalty.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of the hearing would argue that a guilty plea must be genuinely informed, voluntary and based on competent legal advice, especially where it ends a capital case and results in life imprisonment. If Kohberger can credibly show that his lawyers improperly directed him to give false information or otherwise undermined the integrity of the plea, the courts have a duty to examine that claim through an evidentiary process. This view prioritises due process and the principle that even deeply unpopular defendants retain safeguards against wrongful or coerced convictions.
The case against
Opponents would argue that the plea agreement brought a painful, long-running case to a settled conclusion, spared families a trial and avoided further public scrutiny of the killings. Kohberger knowingly waived appeal rights and received the agreed sentence, so reopening the matter risks prolonging victims’ relatives’ distress without a strong initial showing that the plea was invalid. This view prioritises finality, accountability and limiting avoidable trauma for those most affected by the crimes.
Full account
Bryan Kohberger has been given two court dates in June 2027 as he seeks to withdraw the guilty pleas he entered over the killings of four University of Idaho students. Judge Steven Hippler scheduled a status conference for 3 June and an evidentiary hearing for 17 June in Ada County District Court, according to a court order. The hearings relate to Kohberger’s petition for post-conviction relief, rather than a conventional appeal.
Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were killed at an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. The agreement removed the possibility of a death sentence. He was subsequently given four consecutive life sentences without parole, alongside a further ten-year sentence, and waived a direct right of appeal as part of the deal.
In a handwritten filing submitted in July 2026, Kohberger asserted that he is innocent and that his former legal team induced him to make an untrue confession. He also alleged that lawyers did not properly inform him about potentially favourable material, including hair recovered at the scene which had not undergone DNA testing but had been excluded as his through physical examination. Those allegations have not been established by the court; prosecutors had sought dismissal of the petition without a hearing.
If Kohberger succeeds in overturning his pleas, the case could be reopened and potentially return to trial, where capital punishment could again become an issue. Reports also note that investigators said they had DNA evidence on a knife sheath recovered from the scene, vehicle-tracking evidence and phone-related evidence. Relatives of the victims have criticised the latest legal challenge, saying that continued proceedings prolong their distress.
Where outlets differ
Fox News provides the precise June 2027 dates, says prosecutors asked for the petition to be dismissed without a hearing, and sets out the allegations concerning untested hair alongside the prosecution evidence. The other report instead gives a broader account of the scheduled hearing, focuses more on Kohberger’s claim that his plea was based on false assurances, and gives greater prominence to the reaction of Kaylee Goncalves’s family and a Netflix documentary.
The first report says the plea was accepted shortly before trial was due to begin and describes post-conviction relief as a route available despite the appeal waiver. Fox News similarly distinguishes it from an appeal, but adds that the judge accepted the pleas in July 2025 and specifies the additional ten-year sentence.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Bryan Kohberger is granted NEW hearing in battle to withdraw guilty plea for murdering 4 Idaho students”.