Kohberger hearing to disqualify judge who called him ‘faceless coward’ was canceled
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Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A judge has canceled three hearings in Bryan Kohberger’s upcoming court case, pushing back Kohberger’s attempt to change his guilty plea and get a trial.
A hearing set for Thursday was intended to assess the merit of Kohberger’s request to disqualify Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler from the post-conviction proceedings. Hippler is the same judge who presided over Kohberger’s sentencing.
Hippler filed an order Tuesday evening canceling this week’s hearing at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise. The order said the hearing will be rescheduled, but did not include a new date.
Hippler also vacated Kohberger’s status hearing and evidentiary hearing set for June 2027. He instructed Kohberger to schedule new dates with the Ada County Courthouse clerk by Aug. 2, 2027.
Hearing part of Kohberger’s attempt to change plea
Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the murder of four University of Idaho students as part of a plea agreement to avoid the possible death penalty.
Kohberger was then sentenced to four consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole. He admitted to stabbing to death Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin after breaking into their off-campus home on Nov. 13, 2022.
As part of the plea agreement, Kohberger waived his right to appeal. But he found a different avenue: Kohberger filed a petition in July for post-conviction relief, asking for a trial and seeking to change his guilty plea.
In a handwritten affidavit, Kohberger alleged that he was “convinced to falsely confess” to the burglary and four murder charges by “coercion, disinformation, false promises and the withholding of exculpatory discovery,” the Idaho Statesman previously reported.
Kohberger wrote that he “was convinced that actual guilt was not an important factor” and was “advised to lie” to escape the death penalty.
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Unlike an appeal, the post-conviction process allows a petitioner to introduce new information, such as new allegations or evidence that their attorney coerced or threatened them.
In his motion to disqualify Hippler, Kohberger and his attorney questioned the judge’s ability to remain neutral. The motion pointed to Hippler’s statements at sentencing. Hippler called him a “faceless coward” and the “worst of the worst,” questioned whether Kohberger was “capable of speaking the truth” and predicted that any explanation from him would consist of “self-serving and aggrandizing untruthful bits,” the motion said.
“Those statements are fundamentally different from believing Kohberger committed terrible crimes or deserved severe punishment,” the motion said. “They are forward-looking judgments about his credibility. And credibility may now be at the center of this proceeding.”