Killer Who Murdered Idaho College Students Makes Stunning New Court Request

Bryan Kohberger, the man who admitted to stabbing four college students in Idaho nearly four years ago, says he wants to take back his guilty plea.

In an interview from his jail cell — where he is serving four life sentences at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, Idaho — he told The New York Times that he wants the plea vacated because “he is innocent and was misled into confessing to the high-profile killings.”

“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” Kohberger told The Times on Sunday night. He doubled down in the phone call saying he had an “absolute claim of innocence,” the outlet reported.

When pressed about what went wrong during the process, he declined to discuss any evidence or other specific details related to his innocence claim — and also declined to outline any specific concerns he had about the plea process — The Times noted.

Per Bryan Kohberger’s Affidavit of Facts In Support Of Post-Conviction Petition — obtained by The Times after it was filed July 22, 2026 — Kohberger said his counsel failed to tell him about exculpatory discovery received during the plea discussions. Kohberger specifically references “clumps of unknown hair” found in the hands of Ethan Chapin, one of the four victims.

Kohberger further explained in that document that he was convinced that “actual guilt” was not an important factor in considering plea acceptance and that death row would be “imminent” if he failed to accept the deal as presented.

The Daily Wire has reached out to Latah County for comment on the new filing.

To put this new push for freedom into perspective, it is rare for a defendant to win a post-conviction challenge according to former prosecutor David Gelman. Gelman told The Daily Wire “you have a better chance of winning the PowerBall than getting post-conviction relief.”

Kohberger, who was studying criminology at Washington State, admitting to killing four college students during the night at a house in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. The manhunt that ensued after the gruesome stabbings captivated the nation until Kohberger was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania in late December of that year. The victims were Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. A motive was never identified.

The mountain of evidence against the now 30 year old included his DNA found on a KA-BAR knife sheath that was left next to two of the victims, Amazon records showing the purchase of the knife sheath found at the scene and a KA-BAR knife. Other evidence showed Kohberger’s phone pinging that night around the town, with his phone turned off at the time of the murders, and his white Elantra matched the description of the car investigators said was at the crime scene on surveillance footage.

Kohberger did not talk about the evidence laid out against him in his call with The Times. He said instead, “The intention is for all of those questions to be investigated and answered appropriately in a trial setting.”

Court-appointed lawyers were Kohberger’s counsel throughout the case until his guilty plea was entered weeks before his trial was scheduled to start last July. But Kohberger told The Times his conviction challenge was prepared on his own without his counsel, and he will look for a lawyer to represent him moving forward.

Kohberger signed a plea agreement where he said he “knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waives all rights to appeal any and all issues in this case.” He is not legally barred from making other claims about the legal process through post-conviction relief.