Bryan Kohberger didn't understand what was going on in court before pleading guilty to murdering four Idaho students, according to latest filing

Bryan Kohberger’s former defense lawyers raised concerns about whether he could 'rationally understand' what was unfolding in his murder case and make major decisions about his defense, according to newly unsealed court filings. 

Kohberger, 31, a former criminology graduate student at Washington State University, pleaded guilty to killing University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin inside a home in Moscow, Idaho.

He initially maintained his innocence, but in a stunning turn of events pleaded guilty in July 2025. He is now serving four consecutive life sentences without parole.

The new revelations emerged Tuesday when Judge Steven Hippler ordered a previously sealed memorandum to be made public.

'The memo is pretty clear that there's a serious issue there that shows different reasons why that plea might not have been accepted,' Kohberger's new attorney, Greg Rauch, told Fox News Digital. 

'Those issues have to be fleshed out and explored.' 

According to the filing, Kohberger’s lawyers told the court on May 20, 2025, that he was struggling to understand adverse rulings and how they affected his case as a whole.

His former defense team led by Anne Taylor had sought additional time and expert assistance, saying they needed to investigate his ability to understand the proceedings and make 'consequential decisions' about his defense.

'Counsel advised the Court that Kohberger was having difficulty comprehending adverse rulings and discerning their effect upon the case as a whole,' the newly published memo reads. 

Bryan Kohberger (in a selfie taken hours after the murders) is now attempting to retract his guilty plea as a previously sealed memorandum was made public, which details Kohberger's lawyers concerns that Kohberger was not understanding the court proceedings right before he took the guilty plea in 2025

Kohberger pleaded guilty to killing Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen , Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle in an off-campus apartment in Moscow, Idaho , on November 13, 2022

Kohberger broke into 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho and murdered Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin

In the memo, which was filed under seal in support of a prior motion to disqualify the judge, Rauch described his goal as not to show that Kohberger was incompetent but to bolster his argument that the judge may be biased.

The concerns about Kohberger’s understanding of the charges came as the case was approaching what had been expected to be a high-profile murder trial. 

The defense had requested more time to evaluate his mental competency. But on Thursday, June 26, 2025, Judge Hippler denied the request for additional time. 

According to the newly unsealed memorandum, the court concluded Kohberger had not shown good cause for a continuance or prejudice from proceeding toward trial as scheduled.

Just six days later, on Wednesday, July 2, Kohberger abandoned the trial altogether by pleading guilty.

During his plea hearing in Boise, Judge Hippler repeatedly questioned him to establish that he understood exactly what he was doing.

'Do you feel like you are thinking clearly today?' the judge asked.

'Yes,' Kohberger replied.

Hippler then asked whether anyone had threatened him or anyone close to him to make him plead guilty.

Kohberger left this brown leather Ka-Bar knife sheath behind at the scene of the murders 

'No,' Kohberger said.

The judge asked whether anyone had promised him anything beyond the plea agreement.

Again, Kohberger answered: 'No.'

And when Hippler asked the fundamental question - 'Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?' - Kohberger answered: 'Yes.'

He then pleaded guilty to each of the four murders and the burglary charge.

The judge ultimately found that Kohberger understood the charges and the possible consequences of his plea and that his plea was given 'freely, voluntarily, and was intelligently made.'

That courtroom exchange will now become significant as Kohberger attempts to undo the conviction.

The saga had begun nearly three years earlier when Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin were killed on November 13, 2022 inside a rental home near the University of Idaho campus in Moscow.

Kohberger - now known as inmate number 163214 - has already filed a string of complaints behind bars in the prison 

Kohberger was arrested on December 30, 2022, and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.

For more than two years, he maintained his innocence while his lawyers challenged the prosecution’s evidence and fought over issues including the death penalty.

His guilty plea meant there would be no murder trial.

On July 23, 2025, Judge Hippler sentenced him to four consecutive terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 10 years for burglary.

At the time, the plea appeared to bring the case to an end but more than a year later, Kohberger began trying to undo it.

On Monday, July 27, 2026, he filed a petition for post-conviction relief seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and challenge his conviction.

Kohberger alleged that his former lawyers pressured him into accepting the plea and claimed he had been 'convinced to falsely confess.' Those are allegations made by Kohberger and have not been established by the court.

His new attorney, Greg Rauch, filed the memorandum under seal on August 27, 2026. It remained sealed until Tuesday, when Hippler ordered it released.

Bryan Kohberger previously moved to have Judge Steven Hippler disqualified from his case after Hippler termed him a 'faceless coward' as he continues to try and retract his guilty plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students

The filing does not establish that Kohberger was legally incompetent when he pleaded guilty. His original defense lawyers expressly denied that he was incompetent.

Instead, it reveals that they had concerns about whether he could fully understand the rapidly changing circumstances of his case and make rational decisions about how to proceed.

Rauch wrote that the sequence does not itself establish that the pleas were constitutionally invalid, but said it raises a factual issue for the post-conviction court: whether Kohberger’s lawyers had enough time and assistance to ensure that he understood the circumstances confronting him and could meaningfully participate in the decision to resolve the case without a trial.

For now, Tuesday’s disclosure does not change his convictions or sentences and Kohberger remains imprisoned under four consecutive life sentences without parole.

His attempt to remove Judge Hippler from the post-conviction proceedings is scheduled for a hearing on October 15, 2026, while a potential evidentiary hearing has been set for June 2027.

Whether the concerns raised by Kohberger’s former lawyers before his guilty plea are ultimately enough to affect his conviction will now be decided through those proceedings.