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By Hannah Parry and Joshua Rhett Miller
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In a dramatic shift from his formal admission of guilt, Bryan Kohberger has publicly declared his intention to retract his guilty plea in the 2022 slayings of four University of Idaho students.
In a statement released on July 26, Kohberger asserted his "actual innocence," alleging that his guilty plea was hinged on false promises and blatant disinformation. Claiming that justice was not served and describing the prosecution's case as a "myopic narrative work of fiction," Kohberger stated he welcomes a full trial and is even prepared to face the death penalty once again.
The sudden declaration comes roughly a year after Kohberger agreed to four consecutive life sentences without parole to avoid capital punishment. However, translating a post-sentencing statement into an actual vacated conviction presents an extraordinarily steep legal hurdle under Idaho law.
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Newsweek has reached out to Kohbeger's attorney and Moscow Police Department Chief Anthony Dahlinger for comment. Latah County Prosecutor’s Office said it could not comment on pending litigation.
Kristi Goncalves, 48, the mother of victim Kaylee, told Newsweek in an exclusive interview that she believed Kohberger was playing "games."
“America has seen our family go through pain for many, many years now," she told Newsweek. "It wasn’t the news we wanted to wake up to today. It's just games, it's just judicial games. We don't think there's any merit to it at all."
Idaho Attorney General, Raúl R. Labrador, said in a statement Monday that his office was ready to do "whatever is necessary" to ensure justice was 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," he said in a statement on X. "My office stands ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure justice is fully carried out."
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What the Law Says
The legal mechanisms governing guilty pleas in Idaho depend heavily on timing.
Under Idaho Rule of Criminal Procedure 33(c), requests made prior to sentencing are evaluated under a relatively lenient standard that allows withdrawal for any fair and just reason. Once a judge has formally imposed a sentence, however, the standard shifts dramatically. Post-sentencing withdrawals are permitted only to correct a manifest injustice. Because Kohberger has already been sentenced, his legal team must convince the court that leaving his original conviction intact would result in a clear, fundamental miscarriage of justice.
Proving a manifest injustice requires meeting a high evidentiary bar. Courts typically consider a plea vulnerable only if the defendant can show that it was entered involuntarily, that defense counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance, or that prosecutorial misconduct prejudiced the outcome. While Kohberger's public statement claims he was misled by false promises and disinformation, he previously affirmed under oath during his change-of-plea hearing before Judge Steven Hippler that he understood the agreement, was acting voluntarily, and was entering the plea because he was in fact guilty. Overcoming those sworn statements in open court will require substantial, concrete evidence rather than broad assertions.
Complicating matters further is the legal framework surrounding post-conviction appeals.
As part of his original plea agreement, Kohberger formally waived his right to a direct appeal. While such waivers do not entirely bar post-conviction petitions based on severe constitutional violations or newly discovered evidence, courts view post-sentence retractions with profound skepticism. Unless his defense team can present tangible proof of coercion, fraud, or egregious errors that directly corrupted the plea process, legal observers emphasize that courts rarely overturn a settled guilty plea at this stage.
The Idaho Post-Conviction Procedure Act Explained
In Idaho, once a criminal defendant has been sentenced and exhausted or waived their direct appeal rights, the primary legal avenue to challenge a conviction is through the Uniform Post-Conviction Procedure Act (Idaho Code § 19-4901 et seq.). Unlike a direct appeal—which only reviews the existing record for legal errors made by the judge—a post-conviction petition initiates a separate, civil proceeding. This framework allows a defendant to introduce new evidence or raise constitutional claims that were not fully developed on the record during the original plea or trial proceedings.
Because a post-conviction petition is legally classified as a civil action, the burden of proof rests entirely on the petitioner to establish their claims by a preponderance of the evidence. Common grounds for relief under the Act include substantial constitutional violations, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, coerced guilty pleas, or prosecutorial misconduct, as well as newly discovered evidence that could not have been uncovered before sentencing through due diligence. However, Idaho courts enforce a strict one-year statute of limitations from the final judgment, and judges evaluate these post-conviction claims with deep skepticism when a defendant attempts to overturn a plea they previously affirmed under oath.
Kohberger's Statement in Full
In a statement, provided to the New York Times via his family, Kohberger wrote:
"Over year later it is self evident that in State v Kohberger, justice was not served; unanswered questions seem to multiply with each piece of discovery unsealed and the public demands the truth.
Unfortunately the truth shall never be derived from the State's myopic narrative work of fiction which has yet to evolve since the PCA was released nearly years ago and its faulty premises were never challenged at trial.
Circumnavigated by broken plea the trial never provided the public the clarity conducive to closure and justice shall remain abjectly miscarried unless that plea is withdrawn hereby declare my intention to enter not guilty plea and welcome the State the opportunity to prove their case at trial as well as to again file for the death penalty. My actual innocence is my truth and the plea hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation MUST be withdrawn.
Thank you for all who believe in my innocence and continue to critically analyze the case send my love to my family who have never wavered in their belief in who am their belief in my innocence."
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Expert Weighs In
Daniel S. Medwed, University Distinguished Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University School of Law, told Newsweek he believes Kohlberger "faces an uphill climb to withdraw his guilty plea given that he has already been sentenced and the 'manifest injustice' standard is in play."
"Appeal waivers are often quite difficult to override, and defendants typically must show that they did not waive their right to appeal knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently or that the court must address the underlying issue because it is so compelling," Medwed said.
"In general, after a defendant pleads guilty, the presumption shifts from a presumption of innocence to that of guilt," he explained. "That is, Kohlberger now bears the burden of proving that his plea should be withdrawn, in effect, the burden of overcoming that presumption. If he had sought to do so prior to sentencing, he would simply have to offer a "just reason" for his request. But now that he has been sentenced, the burden is much heavier; he must prove that a "manifest injustice" occurred.
"There are several justifications for instituting such a high burden--the process is complete; the victims' families and others may have achieved an element of closure that is at risk of being upended, and the various institutional players (prosecutors and judges) have all expended time and effort to consummate the deal.
When Was Bryan Kohberger Sentenced?
Kohberger was formally sentenced on July 23, 2025, in the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho. Three weeks prior, on July 2, 2025, Kohberger entered a surprise guilty plea to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary as part of a negotiated agreement to avoid the death penalty.
Hippler sentenced Kohberger to four consecutive fixed life terms in prison without the possibility of parole, alongside an additional 10-year sentence for the burglary charge. During the emotional, daylong hearing, family members of the victims delivered impact statements confronting Kohberger directly, while Kohberger declined to address the court before his sentence was imposed.
What We Know About Bryan Kohberger's Family
Kohberger grew up in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, raised by his parents, Michael and Maryann Kohberger, alongside two older sisters, Amanda and Melissa. Prior to his arrest, his family lived in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, where his father worked in maintenance and his mother worked as a educational paraprofessional. Both of his sisters pursued careers in behavioral health and psychology.
Throughout the legal proceedings, Kohberger's family has maintained a quiet presence, releasing an initial statement in early 2023 expressing empathy for the victims' families while supporting Bryan through the judicial process. Kohberger's family attended several court hearings in Idaho following his extradition, and his latest statement explicitly thanked them for their continued, unwavering belief in his innocence.
Who Were the Victims of the Idaho Murders?
The four victims were University of Idaho students who were brutally stabbed to death in their off-campus rental home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022.
- Kaylee Goncalves, 21: A senior general studies major from Rathdrum, Idaho, preparing to graduate early with plans to move to Austin, Texas, for an IT career.
- Madison Mogen, 21: A senior marketing major from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Goncalves's lifelong best friend, who managed social media for a local restaurant.
- Xana Kernodle, 20: A junior marketing major from Post Falls, Idaho, remembered for her energetic personality and active role in her sorority, Pi Beta Phi.
- Ethan Chapin, 20: A freshman sports management major from Conway, Washington, and member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, who was staying at the house as Kernodle’s boyfriend.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Gabe Whisnant and Anthony Murray.
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