Bryan Kohberger, the criminology student convicted last year of murdering four University of Idaho students, has reportedly filed a petition to withdraw his guilty plea and have his case go to trial, The New York Times reported Monday.
“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” he told the Times in a statement on Sunday night from the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, where he’s serving multiple life sentences for the 2022 killings.
Kohberger, while reportedly repeating his innocence in a phone call with the Times but declining to offer any new evidence, said that he prepared the legal documents himself to challenge the case, though plans to request a lawyer going forward. His filing reportedly reached the court on Monday morning.
The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office and Kohberger’s former defense attorney did not immediately respond to JS’s requests for comment on Monday.
Kohberger’s guilty plea last July avoided him going to trial and facing the death penalty. While he admitted to killing each student in court, he did not offer a motive for the stabbings, which authorities said took place while the students slept in their beds in an off-campus home.
Those students were Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21.
Kohberger was ultimately linked to the murder scene through cell phone data and a surveillance video. A Ka-Bar knife sheath, containing his DNA, was also found next to one of his victims, authorities said.
Kaylee Goncalves’ family, in a statement Monday afternoon, said they’re “not surprised” by the Times’ report and criticized Kohberger receiving any more public attention and taxpayer money.
“Regardless of how this turns out, our family is 100% ready. An actual trial this time? Let’s go!” they said in a statement posted on Facebook. “We are confident he will get the death penalty that he escaped by pleading guilty the first time around. Moving on lol. Just an absolute waste of time and taxpayers money. It’s a disgrace.”
Kaylee Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, was one of many who spoke out against Kohberger’s plea agreement last summer, telling NBC’s “Today” show: “Idaho has failed. They failed me. They failed my whole family.”
The Idaho Statesman reported earlier this month that Kohberger’s legal defense has cost Idaho taxpayers nearly $5.5 million so far.