Kohberger says he wants to withdraw plea and face trial for murder of Idaho college students

By Cindy Von Quednow, CNN

(CNN) — Bryan Kohberger, the man convicted of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is seeking to take back his guilty plea, according to court documents filed Monday.

Kohberger filed a petition to reopen the case and blamed his plea on “threats,” “false promises” and wrong information.

A post-conviction relief form was filed Monday in Idaho, court filings show.

The New York Times first reported the petition after interviewing Kohberger in prison.

Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, were fatally stabbed in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho, authorities said.

Kohberger was convicted last July after entering a guilty plea, during which he publicly admitted to the four killings for the first time.

In a stunning hearing a year ago, Kohberger admitted to killing the students.

“Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” Judge Steven Hippler asked at the time.

“Yes,” Kohberger replied.

He was then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

As part of his plea, Kohberger waived the right to appeal, but that does not preclude him from filing a new case challenging the validity of his plea agreement.

“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” Kohberger said in a statement provided to The New York Times.

The office of Anne Taylor, one of Kohberger’s attorneys, declined to comment.

The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office is also not commenting citing “pending litigation.”

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said in a statement to CNN that his office is “ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure justice is fully carried out.”

“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,” the statement read.

CNN has reached out to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office.

On Monday, after learning of the court filing, the family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of four students killed, called Kohberger “the mosquito you just can’t seem to swat.”

“He did this after deciding not to leave his fate and the facts of the case up to a jury to decide his guilt,” the family said in a statement on Facebook, noting Kohberger “never cried wolf or claimed he was uninformed, pressured, or that there were issues with the discovery.”

“He admitted to guilt and asked whether he actually was guilty he said ‘yes,’” the family said.

The family said they welcome a trial. “We are confident he will get the death penalty that he escaped by pleading guilty the first time around,” they said.

“Regardless of how this turns out, our family is 100% ready,” the statement read.

Kohberger, a PhD student of criminology at nearby Washington State University, was charged with killing the four students in January 2023.

He was arrested in Pennsylvania more than a month after the stabbings in the small college town shocked the nation. Forensic DNA testing from trash collected outside his family’s home gave Idaho law enforcement the probable cause to take him into custody.

Prosecutors had submitted a variety of evidence they say tied Kohberger to the crimes, including DNA found on a knife sheath on a bed close to Mogen. The single source profile was determined to be male and detectives matched it to Kohberger through investigative genetic genealogy.

As they prepared for trial, Kohberger’s defense attorneys said he was out driving alone on the night of the killings.

The case was delayed numerous times, including by a change of venue, frustrating the victims’ families. After previously pleading not guilty, Kohberger agreed to enter a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Linh Tran, Jack Hannah and Jean Casarez contributed to this report.

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