The Idaho student killings and the case against Bryan Kohberger

A grand jury indicted Kohberger in May 2023, and when he stood silent at his arraignment a judge entered not guilty pleas for him.^[13][14] Prosecutors announced that they would seek the death penalty.^[15] His lawyers said he had been on a long drive by himself that night and planned to offer an expert to say his phone was outside Moscow.^[16][17] Because of concerns that the community was prejudiced against him, the trial was moved to Boise, about 300 miles away.^[18][19] The university demolished the house in December 2023.^[20] Before trial the defense pointed to unknown DNA under one victim's fingernails and planned to argue that the knife sheath could have been planted,^[21][22] and a judge ruled that an autism diagnosis would not shield him from a death sentence.^[23]

Kohberger agreed to a plea deal at the end of June 2025, and the victims' families reacted in a range of ways.^[2][24] With a series of "yes" replies to the judge, he pleaded guilty in exchange for life in prison, leaving his motive untold.^[3] At his sentencing in late July, the families addressed him directly, from Goncalves's family calling him a "joke" to others saying they had forgiven him,^[25] and investigators described his unusual behavior after the killings.^[26] He was moved to solitary confinement at Idaho's maximum security prison.^[27]

A year later Kohberger petitioned to withdraw his plea, saying his attorneys had manipulated him with promises of better prison conditions.^[4] An unsealed memo from his former lawyers said he had struggled to rationally understand the proceedings before he pleaded guilty,^[28] and his family said the truth could only come out at a proper trial.^[5] In October 2026, hearings on his petition were vacated amid efforts to disqualify the judge.^[29] In November, one of the four victims' roommates said in a court filing that she had endured years of harassment and threats.^[30]