MOSCOW, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger is seeking to reverse his guilty plea in the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, arguing in a new court petition that his lawyers withheld potentially exculpatory evidence — specifically “clumps of unknown hair” found in the hands of one of the victims.

Kohberger, 31, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the death penalty. He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

In a petition for post-conviction relief filed in Ada County District Court around July 27, 2026, Kohberger claims his plea was not knowing or voluntary. He alleges his defense team used “coercion, disinformation, false promises, and withholding [of] exculpatory discovery.” Among the evidence he cites are “clumps of unknown hair found in Ethan Chapin’s hands,” which he says his lawyers failed to fully investigate or inform him about before he accepted the deal.

Court records and reporting indicate hair was recovered from Chapin’s hand during the investigation. Descriptions note strands approximately six inches long that were dark blonde to light brown with a reddish tint — characteristics that did not match Kohberger’s. Some of the hair was found in blood on the bed frame near Chapin’s hand and was not subjected to DNA testing. Kohberger’s filing suggests this could point to another perpetrator, though investigators and legal observers have noted alternative explanations, such as the hair belonging to one of the other victims amid the violent struggle.

Legal experts have widely described the effort as a long shot with little chance of success. Idaho attorney Ryan Black called it “grasping at straws,” while former prosecutor Neama Rahmani predicted the petition will be denied. Experts note that to withdraw a guilty plea after sentencing, a defendant must typically demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel or that the plea was involuntary due to material misrepresentations, and show a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different. Kohberger’s previous defense team was highly experienced, and much of the case’s strongest evidence — including DNA on a knife sheath left at the scene that matched Kohberger — remains unchallenged by the new claims.

In a statement from prison, Kohberger has proclaimed his “actual innocence” and said the plea hinged on false promises. Victims’ family members have previously expressed frustration with ongoing legal maneuvers, with some urging the focus to remain on the four students who were killed.

The petition is still in its early stages. A judge will determine whether it has sufficient merit to proceed to a hearing. Kohberger is currently serving his sentences in an Idaho prison.

Sources

• New York Post