Bryan Kohberger’s family said they completely support his bid to withdraw his guilty plea in the 2022 Idaho college murders after he previously admitted to killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
“Our full support of Bryan’s decision to pursue post-conviction relief does not come from a place of disregard,” attorney Martin E. Souto Diaz said on behalf of the Kohberger family on Thursday, September 17, according to ABC News.
“We have no wish to compound the unimaginable grief the families have borne so courageously,” the statement continued. “Rather, it comes from our family’s need to see that the complete and unvarnished truth is told. Like everyone, we seek answers to all the questions that have been raised, which can only be addressed through a proper trial, as opposed to an improper plea.”
His family added that they hope there is a resolution in the case. “As a family, we continue to carry the victims, their families, and the entire Moscow community in our hearts and daily prayer. We continue to love and support Bryan and we continue to respect the memory of those lost. We seek to find justice and a conclusive resolution through the legal process.”
Kohberger, 31, pleaded guilty to all charges in the deaths of Mogen, 21, Goncalves, 21, Kernodle, 20, and Chapin, 20, in July 2025 as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. He was then sentenced to four consecutive life sentences in prison.
One year after he entered his plea, Kohberger filed a handwritten petition to withdraw his guilty plea. He asked that the case go to trial, claiming that he was pressured into falsely confessing by his attorneys at the time.
“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” he told The New York Times while announcing his bid to withdraw the plea.
The decision was met with backlash from the victims’ families, including Goncalves’ loved ones who issued a statement slamming Kohberger as “mosquito you just can’t seem to swat.”
Judge Steven Hippler has scheduled the first status conference and evidentiary hearing to take place in June 2027. While Kohberger is working with a new defense team, the prosecution has filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the defendant’s request for post-conviction relief.
As he prepares to go back to trial, Kohberger also asked that Hippler be removed from presiding over the case after he sentenced him. A hearing regarding the request is scheduled to take place on October 15.
Kohberger’s new attorney, Jason Goldman, recently spoke about the case in August, telling People that he would “simply caution against assuming that everything the public believes it knows about this case tells the complete story.”
Goldman went on to say that there are still “serious questions about how this case reached its present posture and a hearing will provide an appropriate forum to address those issues.”
