Bryan Kohberger, the man who pleaded guilty last July to the murders of four University of Idaho college students in 2022, has made a blockbuster revelation: he wants to retract that guilty plea, now claiming that he was misled into confessing to the murders that took place at an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger made the stunning remarks in a Sunday night phone interview from prison with The New York Times. In it, he claimed that his plea "must be withdrawn" because it was made on "false promises and blatant disinformation."
“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” Mr. Kohberger said in a statement provided to The Times on Sunday night. He reiterated in a phone call from prison in Idaho that he had an “absolute claim of innocence.”
He also revealed that he had filed a petition seeking to overturn his guilty plea and is now requesting a new trial.
It's been about a year since we last covered Bryan Kohberger here on the pages of RedState. As we reported on July 23, 2025, Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life terms for the November 13, 2022 murders of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20; he was also slapped with ten additional years for burglary.
BREAKING: Bryan Kohberger is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea over the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students and is asking for a new trial.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 27, 2026
He claims his plea was based on false promises, misinformation, and ineffective legal counsel, while maintaining his… pic.twitter.com/UEK6BNFQFd
The brutal slayings gripped the nation back in late 2022. Four all-American young people enjoying life and all that their college years had to offer them were attacked and killed in their own beds as most of them slept after a night out. All were stabbed to death with a military-style K-bar knife, and some of the victims showed signs of defensive wounds, meaning they fought back hard against their attacker.
Attention by websleuths and true crime fans initially focused on the two housemates who, thankfully, were unharmed that night. One actually came face-to-face with the killer, while the other, whose room was on the bottom floor of the house, was left wondering what was happening upstairs. Neither had any part in the murders.
Kohberger was arrested in late December of 2022 at the Pennsylvania home of his parents after a trail of evidence led to him and his white 2015 Hyundai Elantra, which was caught on home security cameras leaving the scene of the crime. He eventually accepted a plea deal that took the death penalty off the table and led to the life sentences.
The case was so high profile that even the White House weighed in after Kohberger's sentencing.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt offered some words of comfort for the families at her Wednesday afternoon briefing.
"We are so sorry for the grief and the pain that you have experienced at the hands of such a vicious and evil killer. Our nation grieves with you and we will never forget the precious souls who were lost in this horrific act of evil," she said."If it were up to the president, he would have forced this monster publicly explain why he chose to steal these innocent souls," she said.
"May God bless everyone affected by this unimaginable tragedy. Especially the parents who lost their children."
Now, it seems, Kohberger is questioning the advice he accepted from his defense team, saying “unanswered questions seem to multiply with each piece of discovery unsealed.” He also maintained he was unafraid of the death penalty if a new trial was to be offered him.
“Why am I breaking my silence?” Kohberger remarked from the Idaho Maximum Security Institution. “A lot went wrong in those plea discussions. I really do want that to be heard.”
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