Bryan Kohberger struggled with key case decisions, new filings show
New court documents reveal Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger struggled to comprehend legal rulings and make decisions about his defense. Attorney Katie Zacharia analyzes the implications of these filings on his upcoming trial. The defense team highlights Kohberger’s difficulty in assessing the case rationally as prosecutors continue to pursue the death penalty for the quadruple homicide.
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Convicted University of Idaho student murderer Bryan Kohberger is trying to remove the judge who called him a “faceless coward” and said he could find nothing “good or intrinsically human” about him at sentencing — but prosecutors say those remarks don’t prove bias as the former criminology student fights to undo his guilty plea.
Judge Steven Hippler said Kohberger, 31, “slithered” into the victims’ home before committing a crime that made him “the worst of the worst” after the killer admitted guilt last year. He also addressed the lack of a requirement that he explain himself as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
“Even if I could force him to speak, which legally I cannot, how could anyone ever be assured that what he speaks is the truth?” Hippler asked during sentencing. “Do we really believe, after all of this, he is capable of speaking the truth, or of giving up something of himself to help the very people whose lives he destroyed? Rather, I suspect the so-called reason would be dished out in enticing self-serving and aggrandizing untruthful bits, leaving people wanting more information, more insight, and thus enhancing even further the power he seeks to hold.”
BRYAN KOHBERGER’S BID TO OUST JUDGE AND UNDO GUILTY PLEA MOVES FORWARD WITH NEW COURT DATE SET
Judge Steven Hippler speaks at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death nearly three years ago. (Kyle Green/AP Photo, Pool)
The judge was also seen wiping tears from his eyes after hearing emotional victim impact statements.
Kohberger’s new legal team filed a motion seeking Hippler’s removal on Aug. 27, arguing he had made biased statements during the convicted killer’s sentencing and had rushed the case toward trial when their client’s former defense team wasn’t ready.
Prosecutors wrote that in order for a judge to be removed, “the motion must show that ‘the judge is biased,'” italicizing for emphasis.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse, for his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death nearly three years earlier. (Kyle Green/AP Photo, Pool)
“None of petitioner’s allegations against this Court — taken alone or together — have me that ‘extremely high’ bar,” reads a filing signed by outgoing Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson, who announced his retirement earlier this week, and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Keith Scholl.
Scholl had previously asked the court for the transcripts from Kohberger’s change of plea and sentencing hearings, in which the former criminology Ph.D. student admitted guilt and affirmed he was entering his plea knowingly and under no duress.
BRYAN KOHBERGER’S 2027 HEARING IS NOT GUARANTEED AS IDAHO SEEKS QUICK DISMISSAL
The opposition filing argues that Hippler’s statements about Kohberger after he’d admitted to killing four innocent students were not unusual or out of line.
University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed in a November 2022 attack at an off-campus house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho. (Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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“In our case, the sentencing remarks are not enough to show bias, and the required showing of perceived bias cannot be tied to this Court’s capacity to fairly adjudicate any [post-conviction relief] claims alleged in this case but rather puts this Court in the best position to adjudicate them as the legislature and the Idaho Supreme Court’s rules intend,” prosecutors wrote.
Read the prosecution filing:
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Hippler has scheduled a virtual hearing on the motion for Oct. 15.
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Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
BRYAN KOHBERGER WAIVED HIS APPEAL RIGHTS BUT PLANS ON PURSUING POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
Kohberger filed a handwritten petition in July, telling the court he had ineffective counsel, that his guilty plea was “not knowingly or voluntarily entered because it was induced by unkept promises” and that it was “not voluntarily entered because of threats asserted by [his] legal counsel.”
BRYAN KOHBERGER’S NEW LAWYER SAYS KEY QUESTIONS MAY SOON GET ANSWERS IN COURT
The court appointed attorney Greg Rauch, of Moscow, Idaho, to take over his case. His family has also retained a private New York lawyer, Jason Goldman.
Bryan Kohberger is seen in the Ada County Courthouse after his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death nearly three years ago. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
BRYAN KOHBERGER CLAIMS FAMILY JOINED PLEA TALKS AS HE SEEKS TO WITHDRAW GUILTY PLEA: COURT DOCS
Hippler gave Rauch until Nov. 13 — four years to the day after the murders — to file an amended petition on Kohberger’s behalf.
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Kohberger pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025, to four counts of first-degree murder and a burglary charge for the stabbing deaths of 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves as well as 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
On July 23, 2025, Hippler sentenced him to four consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus another 10 years, as part of a plea deal in which Kohberger avoided the death penalty.
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The change of plea came days after Hippler refused to grant Kohberger’s former defense team more time for discovery ahead of trial.
Fox News’ Lee Ross contributed to this report.
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