Court6 min read

Murders in Moscow: The Kohberger Plea and the Fight to Undo It

September 29, 2026 · Updated October 5, 2026 · Cory

On July 2, 2025, in a courtroom in Boise, Judge Steven Hippler asked Bryan Kohberger, "Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?" Kohberger said yes. On July 27, 2026, in a handwritten petition, he asked to take that plea back, writing that he is innocent and was talked into a false confession. This post follows the legal case from his arrest to that petition and where it stands now.

The background, briefly. Four University of Idaho students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death in a rented house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022. Kohberger, then a 28-year-old criminology doctoral student at Washington State University, was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania on December 30, 2022. How investigators reached him, through a white Elantra, phone records and DNA on a knife sheath, is covered in our post How Investigators Tied Bryan Kohberger to the Moscow Murders.

A Capital Case

Kohberger waived extradition and was flown to Idaho on January 4, 2023, where he was held without bail in the Latah County jail in Moscow. On May 17, 2023, a Latah County grand jury indicted him on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. The indictment replaced a preliminary hearing that had been set for late June. At his arraignment on May 22, he stood silent, and the judge entered not-guilty pleas for him.

On June 26, 2023, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson filed notice that the state would seek the death penalty.

Pretrial Fights and the Move to Boise

Kohberger's defense team, led by public defender Anne Taylor, challenged the case on several fronts. A central target was the DNA. The defense argued that the FBI's use of investigative genetic genealogy, which built a family tree from the DNA on the knife sheath, violated his rights. In October 2023, Latah County District Judge John Judge agreed to review the genealogy records privately and decide what the defense could see. In February 2025, Judge Hippler refused to suppress the DNA and data from Kohberger's online accounts, writing that "suppression is not warranted on any of these issues."

The defense also argued he could not get a fair trial in Latah County because of the coverage. On September 9, 2024, Judge Judge granted a change of venue, calling it the most difficult decision of his career, and left the choice of a new location to the Idaho Supreme Court. On September 12, the Supreme Court sent the case to Ada County, more than 300 miles south in Boise, and assigned it to Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler. Kohberger was booked into the Ada County jail on Sunday, September 15.

Hippler later moved the trial from June to August 2025. In his final schedule, jury selection was to begin August 4 and opening statements August 18.

The Plea Agreement

The trial never started. On June 30, 2025, it became public that Kohberger had agreed to plead guilty to all five counts in exchange for prosecutors dropping the death penalty. The deal called for four consecutive life sentences without parole and required him to give up his right to appeal.

The families split over it. The Goncalves family said on Facebook that they were "beyond furious at the State of Idaho." The Mogen family, through attorney Leander James, said it supported the agreement "100%."

At the July 2 hearing, Kohberger admitted to the four killings for the first time. On the courthouse steps afterward, James read a statement for the Mogen family about turning from tragedy and the uncertainty of the legal process toward the future. "We have closure," it said.

Sentencing

Sentencing took most of the day on July 23, 2025. Relatives and friends of the victims gave impact statements. When Hippler offered Kohberger the chance to speak, he said, "I respectfully decline." Hippler imposed four consecutive fixed life terms without parole for the murders and 10 years for the burglary, and called Kohberger a "faceless coward."

Hippler also fined him $50,000 on each of the five counts, $250,000 in all, and ordered a $5,000 civil penalty payable to each of the four families. Restitution was left open for 60 days. On November 13, 2025, the third anniversary of the killings, Hippler ruled on Kohberger's objection to part of it and ordered him to pay for urns for Goncalves and Mogen. Within a week of sentencing, Kohberger had been moved to the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna.

The Petition

Because the plea deal waived his right to appeal, a petition for post-conviction relief is the only route left to challenge the conviction. Kohberger filed one in Ada County District Court on July 27, 2026. He wrote that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his plea was not knowing or voluntary because it was induced by unkept promises and by threats from his legal team. According to CNN, he also claimed his lawyers did not disclose or review exculpatory evidence with him and gave him a "gross misrepresentation" of what a life sentence and death row in Idaho would mean.

In a statement to The New York Times, he wrote: "My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn." The office of Anne Taylor declined to comment. The Latah County Prosecutor's Office also declined, citing "pending litigation." Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said his office "stands ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure justice is fully carried out."

The Goncalves family answered the same day on Facebook, calling Kohberger "the mosquito you just can't seem to swat." They pointed out that he had never before claimed to be uninformed or pressured, that he had told the judge he was guilty, and that they were confident he would get the death penalty if the case went to trial. On September 17, Kohberger's own family said it supports his petition because it wants "the complete and unvarnished truth" told.

Where It Stands

In August, Deputy Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Keith Scholl asked the court to dismiss the petition quickly, arguing that it "fails to raise a genuine issue of material fact." Hippler set a schedule anyway. Kohberger's new lawyers, court-appointed attorney Greg Rauch of Moscow and New York lawyer Jason Goldman, have until November 13, 2026, to file an amended petition. Hippler wrote that "if an evidentiary hearing is granted, it shall be set to commence on June 17, 2027," with a status conference on June 3.

On August 27, 2026, Rauch filed a motion to disqualify Hippler. It argues that the judge's earlier rulings and his comments at sentencing, including that he could find nothing "good or intrinsically human" in Kohberger, could create the appearance that he has already made up his mind. Kohberger has also asked to move the post-conviction case out of Ada County. Separately, court documents unsealed in September show that shortly before the plea, his trial lawyers told Hippler they were having difficulty making sure he could rationally understand his situation, and asked for more time and an expert evaluation. Hippler denied that request.

A hearing on the disqualification motion is set for October 15, 2026. As of October 5, the court has not ruled on whether Hippler stays on the case or whether Kohberger can withdraw his plea. He remains in prison serving four life sentences. If he did win a trial, the death penalty could be back on the table.

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