Bryan Kohberger is seeking to remove a judge from his case after the jurist branded him a “faceless coward,” as the convicted murderer pushes to withdraw his guilty plea in the killings of four University of Idaho students.
Kohberger, 31, has also requested that the proceedings be moved from Ada County back to Latah County, where he originally entered his guilty plea last year.
His new attorney, Greg Rauch, has zeroed in on Judge Steven Hippler, who sentenced Kohberger to life in prison without the possibility of parole in July last year.
Rauch is challenging Hippler’s remarks about Kohberger, who admitted to murdering Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin inside their Moscow, Idaho, home in 2022.
“Those statements are fundamentally different from believing Kohberger committed terrible crimes or deserved severe punishment. They are forward-looking judgments about his credibility. And credibility may now be at the center of this proceeding,” the motion said.
The defense attorney argued the bid to disqualify Hippler is not based on a single “harsh statement.” Rauch also pointed to the judge’s assignment to the post-conviction hearing after having presided over the criminal case.
“The question is not merely whether Judge Hippler has formed strong views about Kohberger. The question is whether an informed and reasonable observer could question the impartiality of having the same judge.”
Bryan Kohberger has moved to have Judge Steven Hippler disqualified from his case as he continues to try to retract his guilty plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students.
Kohberger’s new attorney Greg Rauch has focused on Hippler (pictured), who sentenced Kohberger to life in prison without parole after Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders last year and took issue with Hippler referring to his client as a ‘faceless coward’
Kohberger is demanding an ‘unquestionably neutral forum for adjudicating claims that may implicate his former counsel’s performance, his own credibility, and the constitutional validity of the proceeding that resulted in his conviction and sentences.’
Hippler set out the guidelines for how the case will proceed in a written order Wednesday morning.
The judge did not grant Kohberger a hearing on his claims that his guilty plea should be withdrawn.
Instead, Hippler scheduled in a date for next June in case he determines an evidentiary hearing is warranted.
Kohberger accepted a plea deal last July just before his trial was set to begin and escaped a potential death penalty for stabbing the University of Idaho students to death.
He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms behind bars, and as part of his agreement, waived his right to appeal.
But the twisted killer instead filed a separate petition for post-conviction relief that is allowed under Idaho law and is not the same as a standard direct appeal.
Kohberger pleaded guilty to killing Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen , Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle in an off-campus apartment in Moscow, Idaho , on November 13, 2022
‘My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,’ Kohberger said in a statement to The New York Times.
If successful, the petition could allow him to withdraw his guilty plea and send the case back to trial, potentially putting the death penalty back on the table.
In Wednesday’s order, Hippler told prosecutors and Kohberger’s attorney that they must ‘strictly adhere’ to the Idaho Rules of Court Procedure, particularly the sections detailing what evidence is admissible in court.
The judge also detailed how both sides should object to evidence that they feel is not admissible.
Anyone who doesn’t comply with the court’s order could be subject to sanctions, Hippler wrote.
Hippler said both sides should disclose any potential witnesses, including experts, by the start of February. He also set a status conference for next June.
His latest move came just days before a new three-part Netflix documentary series, The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare.
Kaylee’s mother, father and sister, Kristi, Steve and Alivea Goncalves; Xana’s father, Jeff Kernodle, and her little sister, Jazzmin Kernodle, were featured in the new show, among friends of the victims and law enforcement officials involved in the case.
Kohberger’s newly assigned attorney, Greg Rauch, argued it is unfair that Hippler presided over the criminal trial and the post-conviction hearings
Kohberger accepted a plea deal last July, just before his trial was set to begin, and in turn, escaped a potential death penalty for stabbing the students all to death at their home in Moscow, Idaho (pictured)
After hearing about Kohberger’s latest legal move, Alivea – who slammed her sister’s killer during victim impact statements last year in court – said she wants him ‘no longer breathing on this earth.’
Alivea, 29, told NBC’s Today earlier this month exactly how she feels now that Kohberger is trying to rewrite his past.
‘The fact that someone locked behind bars still has the ability to revictimize their victims, that’s something that isn’t just very easy to get over,’ she told the outlet.
‘This will never be over for us until the defendant is no longer breathing on this earth.’
The Goncalves family has remained vocal since the day they found out they lost Kaylee and her friends.
Alivea previously unleashed fury at Kohberger in the courtroom after he accepted a plea deal.
‘I won’t stand here and give you what you want. I won’t give you tears. Instead, I will call you what you are: sociopath, psychopath, murderer,’ she said in the face-to-face courtroom confrontation that was broadcast live.
‘The truth is you’re basic. You’re a textbook case of insecurity disguised as control. You spent months preparing and still all it took was my sister and a sheath,’ she added. ‘You’re as dumb as they come. Stupid, dumb, weak, dirty.’
Steve, who previously said he was frustrated that the case never went to trial, also opened up about Kohberger’s legal move.
He said he has been ‘consistent through and through’ in wanting to see a trial take place, arguing that four life sentences are ‘not a real death penalty.’
‘It’s my child and I’m going to demand the highest standard of law and that’s not dying in prison, getting vegan meals and being treated like some kind of celebrity – that’s not even close,’ he said.
Kaylee’s youngest sister, Aubrie Goncalves, who was just 16 when her sibling was killed, also spoke out for the first time.
‘When everything happened, I was a sophomore in high school. I was only 16 years old, and at the time I kind of just decided no words are going to bring back either one of my sisters, so I didn’t feel like saying anything,’ Aubrie, now 20, told Today.
‘And now that I’ve gotten older, almost four years has passed, I realized still that no words are going to bring back my sisters, but words are going to keep their memories alive,’ she added.
‘I’m not really one to put myself in a situation like this, I don’t really like to, but I know that I have to keep Maddie and Kaylee’s name alive, and that’s why I’m here today.’
The day after Kohberger’s legal filing, Aubrie took to social media to share her anger.
‘I wasn’t planning on saying anything today. But after seeing that the man who admitted in court to murdering four innocent people now wants to withdraw his guilty plea, I couldn’t stay silent,’ she wrote on her family’s joint Facebook page.
‘For him, this may be another legal filing. For me, it’s another day without my sister. Why should the person convicted of taking their voices continue to have one?
‘This isn’t a Netflix documentary. This isn’t a conspiracy theory. This isn’t entertainment. This is my life. These were real people,’ she added.
‘And every time this case is dragged back into the spotlight because of another filing, another theory, or another attempt to rewrite history, families like mine are forced to relive the worst day of our lives.’
Our News Outlet has reached out to Hippler’s office for comment.
