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Judge approves new lawyer for Bryan Kohberger in Idaho murder trial
A judge approved Bryan Kohberger's request for a new lawyer in his attempt to secure a new trial, despite his previous guilty plea for murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022. Legal analyst Mehek Cooke discusses the high bar for overturning a guilty plea, while the victim's family expresses the pain of reliving the tragedy.
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Bryan Kohberger, whose murder case has reportedly cost taxpayers more than $8 million, has been appointed a new taxpayer-funded attorney as he seeks to withdraw his guilty plea in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students.
Ada County District Judge Steven Hippler on Wednesday granted Kohberger's request for court-appointed counsel, directing the Idaho State Public Defender to appoint an attorney to represent him in all post-conviction proceedings.
The order comes just days after Kohberger filed a handwritten petition for post-conviction relief seeking to withdraw the guilty plea he entered last year in exchange for prosecutors dropping the death penalty.
In the petition, Kohberger claimed he was "convinced to falsely confess" and alleged his defense attorneys – Anne Taylor, Elisa Massoth and Bicka Barlow – failed to disclose what he described as "exculpatory discovery," referring to evidence discussed in the recent book "Broken Plea" that was never examined in court.
Bryan Kohberger, left, looks toward his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, right, during a hearing in Latah County District Court, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)
Kohberger previously said he was entering the plea knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily and that no one had coerced him or promised him anything beyond the terms of the agreement. His new petition directly contradicts those statements.
As Fox News Digital previously reported, the filing outraged the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves, whose mother, Kristi Goncalves, said the family is prepared to return to court if Kohberger succeeds in reopening the case.
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Hippler's order states Kohberger's motion for appointed counsel was granted under Idaho's post-conviction relief statute and directs the Idaho State Public Defender to appoint an attorney to represent him throughout the proceedings.
The judge also noted that Kohberger had filed a motion seeking to proceed on partial payment of court fees, but said filing fees do not apply to petitions for post-conviction relief.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on July 23, 2025, for sentencing in the University of Idaho murders case, where prosecutors relied heavily on cellphone location data and digital evidence. (Photo by Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
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Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the murders of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, admitting he fatally stabbed the four students inside an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. He was later sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
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An analysis by the Idaho Statesman found the investigation, prosecution and publicly funded defense have cost taxpayers more than $8 million.
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves' final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Kohberger's publicly funded defense alone accounted for nearly $5.5 million of that total, including nearly $2.8 million funded by Latah County before October 2024 and more than $2.65 million in additional defense costs after the state assumed responsibility for the case.
The remaining costs include spending by local and state law enforcement, prosecutors, the University of Idaho and the cost of housing Kohberger in custody after his arrest.
Public records reviewed by the Statesman show Kohberger's attorneys have collectively earned more than $980,000 since the transition to the statewide public defender system.
It remains unclear how much his post-conviction proceedings will add to the taxpayer tab. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Idaho State Public Defender's Office for comment.
A watchman parked outside 1122 King Road on Dec. 11, 2022, four weeks after four students were stabbed to death inside. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
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Prosecutors said Kohberger turned off his cellphone before entering the off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, where the four students were fatally stabbed in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, and turned it back on after the killings.
Court records also show he searched online for local police dispatch audio after the murders. Investigators found none of the victims' DNA inside his car after seizing it in Pennsylvania, but an FBI analyst concluded soil recovered from a shovel in the vehicle was consistent with dirt from the Moscow area.
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At his sentencing last year, Kohberger received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He showed little visible emotion as relatives of the victims and the two surviving roommates delivered emotional victim impact statements condemning him for the killings.
Greg Wehner is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering U.S. news and crime, with a focus on breaking developments, law enforcement, public safety and major stories shaping communities across the country.
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