Bryan Kohberger, the man who has pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students, will return to the courtroom next year in an effort to see his case reopened. Court records show that Kohberger, 31, has filed a petition for post-conviction relief on Monday, according to Fox 29. Last month he recanted on his guilty plea.
He will be allowed one day in court in July 2027 to make his case, and two weeks later will have an evidentiary hearing to back his argument. Prosecutors who brought the case against Kohberger have asked the judge to dismiss the petition without holding a hearing. Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the first degree murder of four University of Idaho students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
They were stabbed to death in the early hours of November 13, 2022, in an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger also admitted a fifth charge, of felony burglary. His plea kept prosecutors from pursuing a death penalty against him.
He has now claimed in a handwritten petition that he was "convinced to falsely confess" to the murders by his defense team. Kohberger claims he was kept in the dark about "exculpatory discovery" in the form of a hair found at the crime scene that wasn't his but was never tested for DNA. His DNA was found on a knife sheath that was recovered from the crime scene, according to police.
Investigators tracked his vehicle and determined that he was in proximity of the crime scene when it occurred. Under the terms of the plea deal he took, Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 10 years, as well as more than $300,000 in fines. He also agreed to give up his right to appeal the sentencing, though that arrangement does not prohibit him from seeking post-conviction relief.
If Kohberger and his defense team can make a compelling case that exculpatory evidence was omitted from the original trial, the judge could re-open the case or call for a second trial. Kohberger claimed in his petition that his original defense team failed to disclose or review evidence that might have been useful in defending him. Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler told both the prosecutors and the defense that he plans on holding any evidence brought to light during the new hearings to a strict legal standard, according to the .
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