Bryan Kohberger’s Family Supporting Him in Quest to Take Back Guilty Plea in Idaho College Murders

Bryan Kohberger, the man who admitted to brutally murdering four University of Idaho students in November 2022, has his family’s support after filing a petition to withdraw his guilty plea.

Jason Goldman, Kohberger’s family attorney, told TMZ in an article published Wednesday, September 9, that several family members — including his parents and sisters, with whom he’s been in contact — are behind him.

In the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were brutally stabbed to death in their off-campus Moscow apartment by Kohberger.

However, Kohberger, 31, told the New York Times in a written statement on July 26 that he is innocent.

“Justice was not served,” Kohberger said in the statement provided via his family, adding that “unanswered questions seem to multiply with each piece of discovery unsealed, and the public demands the truth.”

Kohberger has claimed his former defense team coerced him into accepting the plea deal and gave him false promises.

Sources familiar with the matter told TMZ that Kohberger’s lawyers at the time allegedly told him that he’d be better off in prison than potentially being on death row.

Kohberger quickly realized, per TMZ’s sources, that as a prisoner with a life sentence, he is allegedly able to do the same things as inmates on death row.

According to the outlet, Kohberger is cautiously optimistic about the future as his next court hearing, which has been scheduled for next month, approaches.

Per NBC affiliate KTVB, Kohberger is requesting to disqualify Judge Steven Hippler, who sentenced him in July 2025, and is seeking a change of venue.

Kohberger, who previously pleaded guilty to the murders in order to avoid the death penalty, is currently serving four life sentences without parole.