Bryan Kohberger seeks to withdraw guilty plea in Idaho murder case
Bryan Kohberger, accused in the quadruple murder of University of Idaho students, is attempting to withdraw his previous guilty plea. Kohberger’s post-conviction petition alleges ineffective assistance of counsel, coercion, disinformation, and false promises, seeking a new trial. Victims’ families, including Kaylee Goncalves’ mother, expressed disappointment but noted they were not surprised by this latest legal maneuver.
FIRST ON FOX – A forensic expert formerly retained by Bryan Kohberger’s defense is raising questions about hair evidence recovered from the off-campus home where four University of Idaho students were murdered, although an attorney for one victim’s family says the evidence does not exonerate the convicted killer.
Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to murdering Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without parole and an additional 10 years for burglary.
Kohberger recently filed a petition for post-conviction relief seeking to undo his guilty pleas. He alleges he was coerced into accepting the plea agreement and that his attorneys failed to communicate potentially exculpatory evidence. The petition references hair evidence recovered during the investigation.
The hairs were found under where Chapin’s right hand was photographed in Kernodle’s bed, affixed to the frame by dried blood. It’s the side of the bed that was touching the wall.
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Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse, for his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
Shortly before sentencing, defense expert Brent Turvey examined the state’s evidence and saw that it was still present on the bed frame. There is a photo.
In terms of color, the hairs are a mix of light and dark brown.
By a rough estimate, there are more than two dozen visible strands. Although there are no measurements for reference in the photo, the strands appear to be between three and four inches.
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Turvey, a forensic scientist and senior partner at Forensic Solutions LLC who has testified at more than 70 trials, found the hair when he traveled to Moscow, Idaho, to review evidence in person.
“The FBI lab said Kohberger is excluded,” Turvey told Fox News Digital. “This is not his hair.”
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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)
It remains unclear who the strands belonged to or whether all of them were tested. Fox News Digital has not independently reviewed the complete laboratory documentation underlying Turvey’s statement.
According to People, a DNA expert retained by Kohberger’s defense tested at least one hair sample found in Chapin’s hand and determined that it matched Chapin. It remains unclear whether that sample was the same hair evidence Turvey described.
The hairs were first publicly described in Christopher Whitcomb’s book “Broken Plea,” which Kohberger referenced in a new New York Times interview. Kohberger also mentioned the hairs specifically in his petition for post-conviction relief.
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Turvey said Kohberger’s latest filing raises broader questions that extend beyond the hair evidence, arguing the court should closely examine the former criminology student’s allegations that he was coerced into pleading guilty and received ineffective legal representation.
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Bryan Kohberger, charged in the murders of four University of Idaho students, appears at the Ada County Courthouse, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
“Everybody involved needs to be put under oath, starting with Anne Taylor and her legal team,” Turvey told Fox News Digital.
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“The court should want to know what evidence Bryan Kohberger has regarding these clear accusations of coercion and ineffective assistance.”
Turvey said Kohberger’s claims “need to be taken seriously and investigated by the court.”
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“This will require Anne Taylor and her co-counsel to answer some very difficult questions,” he said. “Not just why she attacked her own experts for revealing the possibility of the exculpatory material — but for failing to respond to another expert that is out there claiming he’s guilty and that he knew it from the start.”
Turvey has had a public rift with Kohberger’s former defense team. Taylor and two co-counsel previously accused him of violating a confidentiality agreement and said they were “appalled” by his public comments, while Turvey denied disclosing confidential information.
Fox News Digital reached out to Taylor for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Shanon Gray, an attorney representing the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves, disputed the significance of the evidence.
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“If he’s talking about the hairs, that’s not exculpatory evidence,” Gray told Fox News Digital.
Gray noted the defense had long been aware of the evidence.
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“The defense had that evidence. And someone was gonna testify about it,” Gray said. “The other glaring issue is that all that proves is that there could’ve been another person, not that he wasn’t present.”
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The FBI declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
Kohberger has never responded to any letters or emails from Fox News Digital.