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Idaho prosecutors have dropped their support for the ongoing gag order in the Bryan Kohberger quadruple murder case.
Latah County Prosecuting Attorney notified the court in a filing dated Monday. It was made public Wednesday, hours before Thursday’s hearing on a motion from a coalition of media outlets, including FOX News, seeking to have the order lifted in the wake of Kohberger’s guilty pleas to all charges.
The intent of the order was to ensure Kohberger’s right to a fair trial, according to court filings. Now that he has admitted to the slayings of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, 20, attorneys for the media argued that the gag is pointless.
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Bryan Kohberger arrives at Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania in advance of highly anticipated extradition hearing. He’s charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
Prosecutors had requested the order remain in place until after Kohberger’s sentencing is made official next week, but they reversed course “upon further reflection,” according to their latest filing.
“Now that the Defendant has pleaded guilty as charged to all five (5) counts of the Indictment, his right to a fair trial on the issue of guilt is no longer at issue,” Thompson wrote. “Nevertheless, out of respect for the integrity of the judicial process and the privacy of the victims and their families as they consider their rights to provide victim impact statements at sentencing, the prosecution team does not intend to make any public statements about this case until after sentencing has concluded.”
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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)
A hearing on the motion is scheduled in Boise, Idaho, for 12:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. MT.
His sentencing is set for July 23. He is expected to receive the maximum penalty under the terms of the plea deal, four consecutive terms of life in prison without parole, plus another 10 years.
He also waived his right to appeal and to seek a sentence reduction.
Bryan Kohberger, charged in the murders of four University of Idaho students, pleads guilty to all charges at the Ada County Courthouse, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
Kohberger snuck into an off-campus house at 1122 King Road around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, and killed all four students with a Ka-Bar knife, according to prosecutors. He started in an upstairs bedroom, where he killed Mogen and Goncalves. Kernodle was awake on the main floor, and he killed her on the way out. Then he turned the knife on Chapin, who was asleep in her bedroom.
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He walked within three feet of another roommate, whom he did not attack, and then left.
Separately, a lawyer for the media coalition filed a motion asking the court to unseal nearly 250 documents in the case.