Bryan Kohberger — Idaho student murders

Bryan Kohberger, a former doctoral student in criminal justice, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to murdering four University of Idaho students in an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. The plea took the death penalty off the table. He was sentenced in Boise on July 23, 2025 to four consecutive life terms.

A year later he is trying to undo that plea. In a post-conviction petition he claims ineffective assistance of counsel, "unkept promises and threats," and hair evidence he says was never disclosed to him. In an interview with the New York Times he said, "My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, must be withdrawn." His family has said it supports the challenge so that the "complete and unvarnished truth" can be heard at a trial.

Prosecutors moved to dismiss the petition on August 25, calling it a fishing expedition for new grounds. Judge Steven Hippler, who took the plea, set a status conference for June 3, 2027 and an evidentiary hearing for June 17, 2027, and has not yet ruled on the motion to dismiss. The defense has also moved to disqualify Judge Hippler from the post-conviction proceedings; a hearing on that motion is set for October 15.

Kohberger stands convicted on his own plea, and the sentence is in force. The case is filed under Unspeakable on that basis. Whether the plea can be withdrawn is the only open question, and it is a long way from being answered.