Bryan Kohberger's bid to oust judge and undo guilty plea moves forward with new court date set

Convicted Idaho student murderer Bryan Kohberger will return to court on Oct. 15 for a hearing on his motion to remove Judge Steven Hippler from his case as he seeks to undo his guilty plea through a process known as post-conviction relief.

Kohberger, 31, 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 petitioner's (Kohberger's) legal counsel."

The court appointed attorney Greg Rauch, of Moscow, Idaho, and private defense lawyer Jason Goldman, of New York, later joined Kohberger's new legal team.

His new lawyers are expected to file an amended petition by Nov. 13 — four years to the day after the murders.

"We think the [amended petition] and evidentiary hearing will naturally address some of the outstanding and unanswered questions," Goldman told Fox News Digital last week. "That said, the main priority right now is to scrutinize the constitutional issues surrounding Bryan's plea."

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.

Rauch filed a 22-page motion to have the judge disqualified on Aug. 27, questioning Hippler's impartiality after he declined to give Kohberger's former defense team more time when they said they were not finished with discovery as the expected trial date approached last year.

Kohberger pleaded guilty weeks before it would have taken place. Rauch also took issue with some of the language Hippler used to describe his client at sentencing: "someone in whom the Court could identify nothing remaining that was 'good or intrinsically human.'"

In the prosecution's fight against his petition for post-conviction relief, Deputy Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Keith Scholl asked for the transcripts from both hearings, in which Kohberger admitted guilt and affirmed he was entering his plea knowingly and under no duress.

In a separate order last week, Hippler gave Kohberger's lawyers until Sept. 10 to explain why the court should seal a supplemental filing attached to their motion to disqualify him from the case.

They've also been ordered to share the confidential filing with the Latah County Prosecutor's office. It has not been made public and will remain sealed at least until the deadline — likely longer after a justification is given.

The hearing on the motion to disqualify will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 1:30 p.m. MT via WebEx.

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