A 31-year-old convict serving life behind bars for four Idaho student slayings has the complete support of his family to withdraw his guilty plea, his family’s attorney said.
Bryan Kohberger, 31, is serving four consecutive life sentences in prison, records show.
Kohberger previously admitted to killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in the 2022 college murders, court documents state.
In July 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty to all charges in the deaths of Mogen, 21, Goncalves, 21, Kernodle, 20, and Chapin, 20, as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, according to court documents. He was then sentenced to four consecutive life sentences in prison, records show.
One year after entering the plea, the defendant filed a handwritten petition seeking to withdraw it, court records show.
He asked that the case go to trial, claiming that he was pressured into falsely confessing by his attorneys at the time, according to court documents.
“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” Kohberger told The New York Times while announcing his bid to withdraw the plea.
On Thursday, September 17, attorney Martin E. Souto Diaz issued a statement on behalf of the Kohberger family, ABC News reported.
Souto Diaz stated that the family completely supports Kohberger’s bid to withdraw his guilty plea, according to the report.
“Our full support of Bryan’s decision to pursue post-conviction relief does not come from a place of disregard,” Souto Diaz said on behalf of the family.
“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.”
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“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,” Souto Diaz said.
His family added that they hope there is a resolution in the case, according to the statement.
“As a family, we continue to carry the victims, their families, and the entire Moscow community in our hearts and daily prayer,” the statement said.
“We continue to love and support Bryan and we continue to respect the memory of those lost,” the family continued. “We seek to find justice and a conclusive resolution through the legal process.”
The decision was met with backlash from the victims’ families, reports show. Loved ones of Goncalves issued a statement slamming Kohberger as a “mosquito you just can’t seem to swat.”
Kohberger is working with a new defense team as he prepares to go back to trial, records show. But the prosecution has filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the defendant’s request for post-conviction relief, according to court documents.
Kohberger’s new attorney, Jason Goldman, spoke about the case in August, People reported.
Goldman told the outlet 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.”
Kohberger also asked that Judge Steven Hippler be removed from presiding over the case after he sentenced him, according to court documents. A hearing regarding the request is scheduled to take place on October 15, records show.
Judge Hippler has scheduled the first status conference and evidentiary hearing to take place in June 2027, according to court documents.
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