正在爱达荷州最高安全监狱服刑的布莱恩·科伯格于周一提交了一份手写申请书，要求撤回他在2022年爱达荷大学四名学生被杀案件中的认罪协议。[1]科伯格现年31岁，因刺杀凯莉·冈萨尔维斯、伊森·查平、克萨娜·克诺德尔和麦迪森·莫根四人而被判四个连续终身监禁。[1]他于2025年7月2日认罪。[1]
科伯格在申请中声称其法院指定律师操纵他接受认罪协议，通过承诺改善监狱待遇和威胁他将面临死刑的恶劣条件来实现目的。[1]他声称律师未能披露关键证据，包括在查平手中发现的"未知毛发"。[1]科伯格称律师曾向他承诺"立即接见权、行动自由、就业机会"，并向他讲述了"关于死刑生活的精心谎言"。[1]
然而，在认罪协议过程中，科伯格曾确认他是"自由和自愿地"认罪，因为他有罪。[1]在一份表格上，他在"是否有其他承诺影响了你认罪决定"的问题旁打了"否"。[1]根据爱达荷州法律，被告必须证明存在"明显的不公正"才能撤回认罪协议。[1]
作为认罪协议的交换，检控方同意不寻求死刑，并建议判处四个连续终身监禁且不得假释，另加10年监禁。[1]科伯格的首席辩护律师安妮·泰勒拥有近三十年的死刑辩护经验。[1]
Bryan Kohberger, serving four consecutive life sentences for the 2022 stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, filed a handwritten petition on Monday from Idaho Maximum Security Penitentiary requesting to withdraw his guilty plea and proceed to trial instead.[1] Kohberger pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025, just over one year ago to the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen.[1]
In his petition, the 31-year-old defendant claims his court-appointed attorneys manipulated him into accepting the plea deal through false promises and deception.[1] He alleges that attorneys promised him "immediate contact visits, freedom of movement, employment" and threatened him with what he characterizes as fabricated accounts of death row conditions, describing them as "elaborate lies of DR (death row) life."[1] Kohberger also contends that his legal team failed to disclose evidence, specifically citing an "unknown hair in Chapin's hand" that he claims was withheld from him.[1]
The withdrawal request presents a significant legal hurdle, as Idaho law requires defendants to demonstrate "manifest injustice" to overturn a guilty plea.[1] During the original plea agreement process, Kohberger confirmed under questioning that he was pleading guilty "freely and voluntarily" because he was guilty, and he checked "no" to the question of whether any other promises had been made to influence his decision.[1] Under the plea agreement accepted by the court, prosecutors agreed to forgo seeking the death penalty in exchange for Kohberger's guilty plea and recommended four consecutive life sentences without parole plus an additional 10 years.[1]