Bryan Kohberger will get two days in court next year to argue that the life sentences he received for killing four University of Idaho students should be revisited. An Idaho judge has scheduled a status conference for June 3, 2027, and an evidentiary hearing for June 17 as part of Kohberger's bid for post-conviction relief, despite prosecutors' request to throw out his petition without a hearing, Fox News reports. Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to murdering Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in a deal that took the death penalty off the table and led to four consecutive life terms plus 10 years.
Last month, he moved to pull back those pleas, claiming in a handwritten filing that his then-defense team pushed him into a false confession and did not tell him about potentially favorable evidence, including hair from the scene that was not DNA-tested but ruled out as his through physical analysis. Other evidence ties him to the scene, however, and he signed a confession stating that his "killing and murder" of the victims was "willful, unlawful, deliberate, with premeditation and with malice afterthought," People reports.
Post-conviction relief is one of the few avenues Kohberger has left to challenge his case, even though he waived appeal rights under the plea deal. Idaho's attorney general has said the state is prepared to fight the effort "to ensure justice is fully carried out." If the judge decides to grant Kohberger a new trial, prosecutors are expected to seek the death penalty. "If he wants to fight for the death penalty, that's exactly what we'll go for, and that's what he's facing," Goncalves' father said last month. "There's so much evidence against him in this case. So we're not scared of a trial, not one bit."
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