Idaho college killer Bryan Kohberger claims he was duped into pleading guilty and now wants a trial

Bryan Kohberger, the 31-year-old man who pleaded guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students, said in a statement Monday that he wants to abandon his confession and go to trial, citing concerns he had with the plea deal process.

Kohberger, a former criminology student convicted of murdering the four students in their home in 2022, said he was innocent and that the plea deal “hinged on false promises and blatant disinformation,” in a statement to the New York Times.

“Over a year later, it is self-evident that, in State v. Kohberger, justice was not served,” Kohberger wrote. “Unanswered questions seem to multiply with each piece of discovery unsealed, and the public demands the truth.”

“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn.”

Kohberger did not explain what specific concerns he had with the plea deal, though he mentioned evidence, the probable cause affidavit and a “broken plea.”

“Why am I breaking my silence?” Kohberger told the New York Times by phone on Sunday. “A lot went wrong in those plea discussions. I really do want that to be heard.”

He declined to discuss specific evidence in a phone interview with the New York Times. Still, he said that “the intention is for all of those questions to be investigated and answered appropriately in a trial setting.”

Kohberger is currently serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, which he confessed to in July 2025 just weeks before a trial was set to take place.

As part of the plea deal, the death penalty was taken off the table in exchange for Kohberger’s admission. He also waived his right to any appeal or the chance of parole in accepting the deal.

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