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Idaho Judge Grants Bryan Kohberger Hearings in Bid to Withdraw Murder Guilty Plea
Just the facts
Idaho District Judge Steven Hippler scheduled two court proceedings in June 2027 to address a petition for post-conviction relief filed by Bryan Kohberger. Kohberger previously pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the November 2022 fatal stabbings of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in Moscow, Idaho, receiving four consecutive life sentences without parole. In a handwritten petition submitted in July 2026, Kohberger asserted that his defense attorneys, Anne Taylor, Elisa Massoth, and Bicka Barlow, coerced him into entering a false confession and withheld physical evidence regarding untested hair found at the crime scene. State prosecutors had requested that the court dismiss Kohberger's petition without conducting an evidentiary hearing.
Why this is news
Idaho District Judge Steven Hippler issued a court order scheduling a June 3, 2027 status conference and a June 17, 2027 evidentiary hearing for Bryan Kohberger. The order allows Kohberger to present arguments in his post-conviction relief petition seeking to withdraw his guilty plea.
Sources
This summary is compiled strictly from the original reporting below.