RedHanded - UPDATE: Will Bryan Kohberger Actually Get A Trial?

Episode Date: July 31, 2026

Bryan Kohberger is now claiming his innocence in the Idaho Student Murders. And he wants a trial to prove it. A year after admitting to the horrific murders of University of Idaho students Kaylee Gonçalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin back in November 2019, Bryan Kohberger has done yet another U-turn by seeking to withdraw his guilty plea. In a petition claiming his lawyers failed to disclose “exculpatory evidence” and pushed him to make a false confession, Kohberger stated that “actual innocence is my truth”...But does Kohberger have a valid argument? Or is he just playing another sick game?Hannah and Suruthi break down the latest bizarre twist in the case in this mini-episode. And for our full coverage of the Idaho Murders case, make sure to listen to Episode 280 in our RedHanded catalogue. --Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesYouTube - Full-length Video EpisodesTikTok / Instagram

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There's no shortcut for saving time. saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellairdirect.com. Okay, let's talk about Brian Coburger. Because almost exactly a year ago, back in July 2025, he pleaded guilty to the Idaho student murders, which were of course the 22 killings of Kaley Gonzalez, Ethan Chapin, Zana Connoodle and Madison Mogan. Coburger took this plea deal to avoid the death penalty

and instead he received life without parole. Now at the time, if you remember Hannah, a lot of people, including some of the victims' families, were not happy that this plea deal was offered to him. They wanted a trial, they wanted, you know, all of the evidence out there, they wanted their day in court, which obviously was a feeling that we understood why they felt that way. But also, we did also think that the state made the right decision

to get this plea deal and shot this thing down, like, just get him in prison, like, let's get this over with. And he took the plea deal. He took the plea deal. I still stand by the fact that I do think it was the right thing. Why would you drag four families through a trial if the defendant is willing to take a plea deal? But the downside of a plea deal does mean that, you know,

all of the evidence wasn't put under the microscope publicly because there wasn't a trial. So there's always going to be that lingering thing. And there's been a lot of chatter. on the internet about people being like they don't really think Brian Coburg is a killer. Obviously, that's just the day and age that we live in and people want to see conspiracy theories everywhere. Obviously not all conspiracy theories. We owe that man an apology.

Yes, yes. It's very much like, you know, did Casey Anthony really do it? Even though she had a fucking trial. That's always the danger when you don't have a trial. And people feel like it's this backroom deal that was done. And also there's obviously the danger that the person who took the plea deal might later on turn around and say, there were all these other reasons that this actually happened and, you know, scream, victim. Now, obviously, we know that when Brian Koberger took this plea deal, he also waived his

right to any appeals. So we thought, this is it. This is it. He cannot say anything in the future. It's deal done. But Brian Koberger, a year on from taking that plea deal, has changed his mind. And he is claiming now that he was tricked. And he wants to take it all back. I was reading about this the other day. I think, I think, I think. I think he's just bored. Yeah. I'm looking life down the barrel here. I might as well think of something to do.

Some of us learn to crochet, Brian. The reality of just sitting in a cell every single day for an entire year and realizing that he's only in his 30s and this could be a very long road ahead for him is maybe starting to hit home a little bit. I hear you scream, dear listeners, he pleaded guilty on all counts and, like we said, he waived his right to appeal. Who on earth cares if he changed his mind or is saying, or this stuff, does any of this matter?

The thing is, Brian Coburger is seeking what's known as post-conviction relief. And this is a process that allows individuals to challenge a criminal conviction or sentence outside of regular direct appeals. And people can use it, even those people who have waived their right to appeal. So he is well within his legal rights to try and use this remedy, quote-unquote remedy. And it basically, a post-conviction relief petition, seeks to address constitutional violations, lack of court jurisdiction, or new evidence.

But the thing to make very clear about this is that the standard, as you can imagine, the bar is very, very, very high to win via this route. In Idaho, Brian Coburg, I would actually have to show that there was a constitutional violation or a manifest injustice in order to be able to make this a success, which will not be easy. So let's take a little look at the,

two-page handwritten sworn affidavit that Koberger has released, in which he outlines his three key issues with what happened to him. So basically he's like everything you guys saw with me, you know, confessing to it at that plea hearing, etc. You don't know what went down behind the scenes and this is what went down. So number one, he says that his counsel failed to inform him about clumps of unknown hair found in Ethan Chapin's hands. He says, no one told me. My defense attorneys did not tell me that they found unknown hair in Ethan Chapin's hands. That is potentially exculpatory evidence and I did not know about it. But the thing is, the defense don't have to tell Brian Coburger. That's not the standard in a legal sense.

his lawyers knew about the clumps of hair that were found in Ethan Chapin's hands, and they even hired an expert to analyze them. And I think that the hairs didn't have, like, the follicles attached to it, so they couldn't do DNA testing. But what this expert did was analyze the hairs, compare it to Ethan Chapin's own hair, compare it to Brian Coburgers' hair, and basically the report that his defense counsel got six months before the plea deal

shows that this person said that the hair looked like it was a match for Ethan Chapin's own hair. So it's kind of a dead end. They can't test it against anything. And this is the point is that Brian Coburger in his letter is saying, they didn't tell me. That's not the standard. The only concern for the court would be, was the defense counsel effective? And he could have said they were ineffective if they hadn't had had the hair analyzed or tested.

But they did six months before the plea deal. So they did their jobs just because they weren't telling them. Brian Koberger everything, allegedly, according to him. Second point that Brian Koberger makes is he claims that he was convinced that actual guilt was not an important part of accepting the guilty plea. What? Yes, he says that he was advised by his defense attorneys to enter a false plea of guilty to gain the legal victory of being taken off death row.

Do you know about no contest, Brian? He's basically saying, my lawyers knew that I was not guilty. And they told me, they told me to lie. They told me to enter a false plea. They told me to lie to the court. Because obviously, obviously a defence counsel, what they're going to do is they're going to look at all of the evidence that the state has against their client. They're going to look at it and they're going to be like,

okay, this is where we can poke some holes in it. We're going to run our own investigation. This is where we think we could win. You know, 50, 50, maybe, but like you're all stronger, whatever. Don't tell me if you're guilty or innocent. I don't care. This is what I'm dealing with. At most, what they might say, and of course this happens, is they going to look all the evidence

and be like, look, look, look, look, look, but I've got to tell you this doesn't look good for you. We are not going to win in court. We're not. There's too much evidence that makes you look really fucking guilty. So if I were you, I'd take the plea deal because this is, there's no way. There's no way. he's saying that's not what they said.

He's saying, we know you're innocent, but you should take this plea deal anyway because it's a legal victory for you if you do. And the problem with this is, it's a lie? It's a lie and it directly contradicts what was said by Brian Koberger himself as well as what was said by his lawyers in front of him

at the plea hearing when he pleaded guilty. Mr. Kohlberger. I need to ask you some questions this afternoon. I do this so that I am assured that you understand the nature of the charges to which I understand you're going to plead guilty as well as the possible consequences to you of your guilty pleas. I want to make sure your plea is given voluntarily, and I want to make sure that you actually committed the crimes to which you're pleading guilty because I don't want you to plead guilty to a crime you didn't commit. if you attempt to plead guilty today, but for some reason I don't accept your plea, then it is possible that your statements today could be used against you later at trial. Do you understand that?

Yes. Have you consumed any alcohol, drug, or other intoxicating substance that would impair your ability to understand or exercise reasonable judgment? No. You feel like you are thinking clearly today? Yes. You've heard the plea agreement that I talked about today. Do you agree with that plea agreement?

Yes. And do you understand the nature of the charges that you've been charged with that I understand you're going to plead guilty today too? Yes. Has anyone promised you that I would be lenient or easy on you if you pled guilty? No. Has anyone threatened you or anyone close to you to get you to plead guilty? No.

Has anyone other than the state's agreements with respect to the play agreement, has anyone promised you anything in exchange for your plea agreement? No. Has anyone told you to be untruthful in answering my questions? today? No. Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Yes. Have you had enough time to decide whether or not to plead guilty? Yes. Are you pleading guilty freely and voluntarily? Yes. Given your choices, do you believe it's in your best interest to plead guilty? Yes. Have you discussed fully the matter of pleading guilty with your attorney and are you satisfied with the advice you've received?

Yes. Is your attorney advised you to your satisfaction about what your rights are, what your defenses may be in what the possible consequences to you of your guilty plea are? Yes. Is your attorney done everything you've asked them to do? Yes. Are you satisfied with their representation of you? Yes. Let me ask you, did you on November 13th, 2022,

enter the residence at 112 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder? Yes. Did you, on November 13, 2022, in Latae County, state of Idaho, kill and murder, Madison Mogan, a human being? Yes. And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, and with premeditation, and malice of forethought? Yes.

Did you honor about that same date in Moscow, Idaho, kill and murder, Kaylee Gonzalez, a human being? Yes. And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, and with premeditation and malice of forethought? Yes. And did you on that same date in Moscow, Idaho? Kill and murder, Zana Kurnodal, pardon me, a human being? Yes. And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately with premeditation and malice of forethought?

Yes. And then on or about November 13th, 2022, again in Latak County, Idaho. Did you kill and murder Ethan Chapin, a human being? Yes. Did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately with premeditation and malice of forethought? Yes. Yes. He very specifically admit to all of the murders.

And the judge makes it very, very clear. Is anybody coercing you? Have you been made any promises? Is anything nefarious? And he's like, nope, no, no ambiguity. There's no ambiguity. And I'm sorry, Brian Goberger can't stand here and also invoke something like, I don't know, a diminished mental capacity or anything.

I think he was studying criminal justice or something or yes. Criminal psychologist. I can't even remember. Something that made everybody think he was a genius. And I'm like, really? Okay. There's no way he didn't understand what was being presented to him. Then we come on to number three. A gross misrepresentation of what a life sentence would afford Brian Coburger

and an elaborate and fabricated story of what life on death row would be like. So basically, just to clarify, he is saying that his lawyers lied to him about what taking the plea deal of life without parole would mean for him and what his life would look like in prison versus what life on death row would look like. And he said that they elaborated it, they fabricated how bad death row was going to be to try and force him to take life without parole.

He's basically saying that his lawyers tricked and threatened and fabricated all these stories to manipulate him into taking this plea deal. And again, it's not entirely clear exactly what he's saying by an elaborate and fabricated story, but it seems like this is what he's implying, is that his lawyers filled his head with nightmarish visions of what life on death row would look like,

and they lied to him, forcing him to take the plea deal. Now, it's not clear what they apparently lied to him about. It's likely that his lawyers told him, look, we're not going to win this case. The state has too much evidence, and if you go to death row, the conditions are much worse there

than being in a regular prison. And that's true. The cells are smaller. your conditions are worse. You might not even get outside yard time. You might be in solitary confinement a lot of the time. The conditions are objectively worse on death road than in a general prison that he would have been held in if he took life of that parole. His lawyers, absolutely, that is their job to explain those things to him. It is. And let's be honest, I know as Idaho, they may not have got around to executing him for decades. They may never have even executed him. So then really, isn't it your lawyer's

job to tell you if we go to trial, you are most likely going to be found guilty because the evidence that we have seen that the state have against you. And if you do, they have death on the table and you will spend most likely the rest of your life behind bars on death row where the circumstances of your life will be much worse. You may as well take the plea deal and spend the rest of your life without parole in a general prison in which your conditions will be better. That is their job to tell him that. But he's saying They scared me, they manipulated me, they told me all these horror stories about death row, and that's why I took the plea deal.

I just looked it up. He was doing a PhD in criminology when he was arrested. So you can't tell me you didn't know about death row conditions, Brian. And also, you can't tell me you didn't understand what you were pleading guilty to. The judge is like, are you pleading guilty to the murders of? And then he goes through each victim's name. And he's like, yep, yep, like, this is bonkers. what's going to happen next?

We don't know. Let's wait and see. Maybe, maybe there will be an evidentiary hearing in which the judge will allow Brian Kobach to testify as to these three points that he's raised. We'll probably hear from his lawyers defending themselves against some of these claims that he's made. But like I said, for him to win,

the plea has to be proven to be constitutionally biased or the judge would have to believe that had these issues not existed in Brian Coburger's pre-plea life with his attorneys, then he would have rejected the plea and gone on to a trial in the first instance. They would have to prove that these things directly led to him taking the plea. But again, I just think it's highly unlikely that he will win. But let's wait and see.

And if you want to hear our original episode on the Idaho student murders, then head on over to Red-Hounded episode 280. There's no shortcut for saving time. But saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellair direct.com. There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save.

Get a quote at bellairdirect.com.