The former criminology student convicted last year of killing four University of Idaho students inside their home is attempting to withdraw his guilty plea and secure a trial, arguing that he is innocent and was deceived into admitting responsibility for the widely publicised murders.
In an interview with The New York Times, Bryan Kohberger, who is serving four consecutive life sentences, said he had submitted a petition contesting his conviction, raising concerns over the circumstances surrounding his plea agreement, Caliber.Az reports.
“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” Kohberger said in a statement provided to The Times.
During a phone interview from an Idaho prison, he also maintained that he had an “absolute claim of innocence.”
Before speaking with The New York Times, Kohberger had neither given interviews nor made public statements. He declined to elaborate on the evidence supporting his innocence claim or provide details about the issues he believes affected the plea process. Challenges to convictions after sentencing are rarely successful.
The family of victim Kaylee Goncalves described Kohberger in a statement as being like a “mosquito you just can’t seem to swat.”
“The real tragedy is this: If even a fraction of the energy spent trying to free a guilty man were directed toward honoring the victims, there would be statues of them on every corner, parks bearing their names, and days set aside to remember the lives they lost at the hands of a narcissist,” the statement read.
The case stems from the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students on November 13, 2022. The victims—Madison Mogen (21), Kaylee Goncalves (21), Xana Kernodle (20), and Ethan Chapin (20)—were fatally stabbed in the early morning hours at an off-campus rental house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, while two other roommates in the home were unharmed.
The killer entered the residence around 4 a.m., moving between bedrooms and attacking the victims, who had returned home earlier that night after typical Saturday activities near campus; the murder weapon was never recovered, though a knife sheath left at the scene later proved key.
Bryan Kohberger, then a 28-year-old PhD student in criminology at nearby Washington State University in Pullman (about 8–10 miles away), was arrested on December 30, 2022, at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania after investigators linked DNA from the sheath (via genetic genealogy and trash samples from the family home) to him, along with cellphone data and surveillance footage of his white Hyundai Elantra near the scene.
By Jeyhun Aghazada
