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Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students, has been granted a new hearing after claiming he was pressured into a false confession.
The evidentiary hearing has been set for June 17, 2027, according to court filings published today.
Kohberger, a criminology graduate student at neighbouring Washington State University at the time of the murders, pleaded guilty to all counts in July 2025, weeks before his trial was due to begin.
The plea deal removed the death penalty. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms for the four murders plus 10 years for burglary.
He is now trying to take that plea back.
Last month, Kohberger filed a petition for post-conviction relief. He did not offer new evidence.
He claimed he was lied to and pressured into pleading guilty.
He claimed information was withheld from his defence team that could have potentially helped his case. He described his confession as false.
The petition does not detail what information was allegedly withheld or who he says pressured him. No specifics have been made public beyond the broad claims filed in the court documents.
A judge has now agreed to hear arguments on those claims at an evidentiary hearing next June.
On November 13, 2022, four students were stabbed to death in their beds at an off-campus house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho.
The victims were Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle's boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20. Two other housemates who were in the property at the time were not harmed.
Kohberger was arrested in December 2022 at his parents' home in Pennsylvania after a weeks-long investigation that used DNA evidence and cell phone location data to link him to the scene. He was 28 at the time.
The case drew massive national attention. The house on King Road was demolished by the university in December 2023 after it became a morbid tourist attraction.
Kohberger initially pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence for over two years. His defence team signalled they would argue he was not at the scene.
Then, in July 2025, with jury selection about to begin, he reversed course and pleaded guilty to all counts. As part of the deal, prosecutors agreed to take the death penalty off the table.
He was sentenced on July 23, 2025: four consecutive life sentences without parole for the four first-degree murder convictions, plus a consecutive 10-year sentence for the burglary charge.
At sentencing, families of the victims delivered impact statements. Kohberger was given the opportunity to speak. He said three words: "I respectfully decline."
The June 2027 hearing does not mean Kohberger's conviction is in jeopardy.
It means a judge has agreed to let him present arguments for why his guilty plea should be withdrawn.
That is a high bar to clear.
Courts routinely reject attempts to withdraw guilty pleas, particularly in cases where the defendant was represented by counsel, entered the plea voluntarily, and received a significant concession in return.
Kohberger received the most significant concession available: his life.
The death penalty was on the table. It was removed because he pleaded guilty.
Arguing now that the plea was coerced while also benefiting from the deal it secured will be an exceptionally difficult case to make.
The hearing is 10 months away. Until then, Kohberger remains in the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction.
Read more of VT's coverage: Chilling activity on Kohberger's phone the night of the murders | Why Kohberger kept one roommate alive | Crime scene photos released | Eerie prison cell video sparks investigation | Fellow inmates reveal his 'annoying' prison habits | Kohberger's daily prison life revealed
