Idaho | How Bryan Kohberger’s Guilty Plea Move Could Be His Death Sentence

If Bryan Kohberger successfully withdraws his guilty plea and goes to trial for the murders of four University of Idaho students, it could lead to him being sentenced to death, experts told Newsweek.

Kohberger, 31, filed a handwritten petition on Monday from the Idaho Maximum Security Penitentiary, where he is serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen in a rental home near the university's campus in Moscow, Idaho, in 2022.

Kohberger pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbings just over a year ago, a month before jury selection was set to start.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed they would not seek the death penalty and would instead recommend that he be sentenced to four back-to-back life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 10 years.

Kohberger Says Attorneys Misled Him

In his petition for post-conviction relief, Kohberger said his attorneys did not adequately represent him and that his guilty plea was not knowingly or voluntarily entered because it "was induced by unkept promises" and threats.

He said his attorneys had not disclosed or reviewed exculpatory evidence and had manipulated him into making the deal by promising him better prison conditions and scaring him about what life on death row would be like.

In an interview with The New York Times, Kohberger said he had an "absolute claim of innocence."

"My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn," Kohberger said in an earlier statement to the newspaper.

Experts Say Kohberger Could Again Face Death Penalty

Kohberger's team of court-appointed attorneys sought the plea deal in an effort to spare their client's life.

Over two years, they had tried several times to get the death penalty taken off the table. They challenged the legitimacy of DNA evidence, argued that Kohberger's autism diagnosis made him less culpable, and suggested there might be another unknown suspect to be found. They also argued that the death penalty violated international standards of decency. None of the arguments worked, and Kohberger's trial was a month away when he reached the plea agreement.

If he's allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial, experts say he would once again face the death penalty.

"In terms of his chances at trial, there was a good reason his lawyer worked out the plea deal," Laurie Levenson, a professor of criminal law at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor, told Newsweek.

"There was a considerable amount of evidence against him, and his lawyer was trying to save his life," she added.

Neama Rahmani, the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers and a former federal prosecutor, said Kohberger was "foolish" for seeking to withdraw his guilty plea.

"The plea agreement was a great result for the defense, and if Kohberger is tried, there is a very good chance he is convicted and sentenced to death," Rahmani told Newsweek.

Idaho Attorney General Raúl R. Labrador said in a statement on Monday that his office was ready to do "whatever is necessary" to ensure justice was carried out.

"My heart goes out to the families of Madison, Kaylee, Xana, and Ethan, who have already endured unimaginable loss and now must face today's deeply painful news," he said in a news release. "My office stands ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure justice is fully carried out."

Why Kohberger's Plea Withdrawal Is Uphill Battle

After a defendant has been sentenced, they are required to show that they experienced "manifest injustice" to withdraw a guilty plea under Idaho Rule of Criminal Procedure 33(c).

That could happen if Kohberger can convince a judge that he made the plea involuntarily or that leaving his conviction intact would result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice.

Kohberger accepted responsibility for the murders at a hearing in July 2025. He affirmed under oath before Judge Steven Hippler that he was pleading guilty "freely and voluntarily" because he was, in fact, guilty and not because he had some other incentive.

He also had to agree to waive his rights to appeal, confirm that he understood the punishments on the table for the crimes, and assure the court that he was not coerced by his attorneys or anyone else to make the plea.

Both Levenson and Rahmani agree that Kohberger will face difficulty meeting the high legal standard to now withdraw the guilty plea.

"He will have an extremely difficult time withdrawing his guilty plea given that he must show 'manifest injustice' and he waived all his rights at the time of the guilty plea," Levenson said.

"Not only did he waive his rights, but he acknowledged that his plea was freely and knowingly made. Unless he can show that everyone lied to him—and there is no evidence that occurred—the plea is likely to stick," she continued.

Rahmani said there are several ways Kohberger could get his plea withdrawn and go to trial.

But the most likely way he could succeed is if Anne Taylor, his lead defense attorney and one of Idaho's most highly regarded capital defenders, and his defense team "fall on the sword."

If Taylor and the rest of Kohberger's defense team "submit a declaration saying that they misled their client or withheld important information from him, it's possible the judge agrees to set aside the guilty plea and set the case for trial," Rahmani said.

"I think it's unlikely this happens absent Kohberger's lawyer affirmatively admitting to being ineffective. If they deny it, Kohberger's attempt will likely fail, and he won't get a trial," he added.

Victim's Mother Accuses Kohberger of Playing Games

Kristi Goncalves, the mother of Kaylee Goncalves, told Newsweek that she believed Kohberger was playing games.

"America has seen our family go through pain for many, many years now," she said. "It wasn't the news we wanted to wake up to today. It's just games; it's just judicial games. We don't think there's any merit to it at all."

Goncalves dismissed the idea that Kohberger had been coerced in any way. "So for him to now say, you know, he didn't really know what he was getting himself into with the plea deal, it's just funny," she said.

"We're very confident that this will go nowhere," Goncalves added. "We're going to remain focused and we're going to remain positive. But in the case that a judge were to accept it and give him a new trial, we're all for it."

Source: Newsweek, Khaleda Rahman, July 29, 2026

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but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
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