Bryan Kohberger challenges conviction in Idaho murders - CBS News

What the report says

CBS News reports that Bryan Kohberger, who is serving four life sentences without parole for the killings of four University of Idaho students, has filed a petition for post-conviction relief. Court records show the petition was filed Monday, and CBS said it has requested a copy. Kohberger, a former doctoral student in criminal justice, is representing himself in the challenge.

According to CBS, Kohberger disclosed the filing in an interview with The New York Times, which reported that he now claims he was misled into confessing. Kohberger pleaded guilty last July to the 2022 stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho. His plea agreement removed the possibility of a death sentence.

CBS noted that at a July 2025 hearing, Judge Steven Hippler asked Kohberger whether he killed the four students and whether he was pleading guilty because he was guilty; Kohberger answered yes to both. Prosecutors had said their trial evidence would have included DNA tied to a knife sheath found at the scene, along with surveillance video and cellphone records allegedly placing him near the area. The knife used in the killings has not been found, and CBS reported that a motive remains unknown.

The Goncalves family criticized the new challenge in a statement cited by CBS, saying Kohberger had accepted a deal that spared his life and had not previously claimed he was uninformed or pressured. The case drew national attention after the November 2022 killings and Kohberger’s arrest weeks later in Pennsylvania.