Idaho prosecutors have dropped their support for the ongoing gag order in the Bryan Kohberger quadruple murder case.
The attorney from Latah County officially informed the court about the situation in a document submitted on Monday, which became available on Wednesday. This was just ahead of Thursday’s hearing regarding a request submitted by a group of media organizations, FOX News among them, to retract the order following Kohberger’s guilty admissions to all accusations.
The order was initially intended to safeguard Kohberger’s right to an unbiased trial, as mentioned in the legal documents. With his confession to the murders of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, media attorneys are now stating that maintaining the gag order serves no purpose.
Madison Mogen, pictured top left, is seen smiling while perched on the shoulders of her closest friend, Kaylee Goncalves. They are pictured with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two additional housemates in the last Instagram post shared by Goncalves, posted a day before the tragic stabbing of the four students. (@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.
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.
