Prosecution ‘Set The Grounds’ For Kohberger’s Bid To Withdraw Guilty Plea—Here’s How: Howard Blum

Before dawn on November 13, 2022, four students at the University of Idaho—Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle—were brutally murdered in an off-campus home. Over a month after the murders, Bryan Kohberger, who was studying for his PhD in criminology at the nearby Washington State University, was charged. After years of maintaining his innocence, in July 2025, one month before his case was set to go to trial, he reversed course and accepted a plea deal. In exchange for pleading guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary, the death penalty was taken off the table. Instead, he was given four life sentences plus ten years. Kohberger is now saying he’s innocent and filed a petition for post-conviction relief in an attempt to abandon his guilty plea. In a statement to the New York Times, he said, “My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, must be withdrawn.” Howard Blum, author of “When the Night Comes Falling: A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders,” joined “Forbes True Crime” to discuss the development.

Watch the full interview above.