Bryan Kohberger is making another dramatic legal move just weeks after trying to undo the guilty plea that landed him a life sentence.
The convicted Idaho killer is now challenging the judge who accepted that plea, arguing that Judge Steven Hippler should no longer handle the case after making a disparaging remark about him.
After Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty in 2025 to killing four University of Idaho students, he was sentenced to life without parole after a deal that spared him the possibility of a death sentence.
5Bryan Kohberger is now aiming at the judge overseeing the next stage of his case, arguing that the same court official who sentenced him should no longer be involved in deciding whether his guilty plea can be undone.
The dispute centers on Judge Steven Hippler, who presided over Kohberger’s 2025 sentencing after he pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students. During that hearing, Hippler referred to Kohberger as a “faceless coward,” a remark his legal team is now pointing to as a reason the judge should step aside.
Kohberger’s new attorney, Greg Rausch, has filed a motion seeking Hippler’s removal while also raising constitutional concerns connected to the former plea. The move comes as Kohberger attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and pursue a not-guilty position instead.
Legal Team Says Impartiality Is Now The Issue
5The request to remove Hippler goes beyond simply objecting to a harsh remark. Kohberger’s attorneys argue that having the same judge rule on the challenges surrounding the plea creates a potential conflict, particularly because those issues involve the circumstances that led to the guilty admission in the first place.
Attorney Jason Goldman stressed that the motion was not intended as an attack on the court or an effort to secure special treatment. Instead, he said the goal was to ensure that the constitutional questions now before the court are considered in a setting where the judge’s neutrality cannot reasonably be questioned.
Goldman also suggested that the public has only seen part of the circumstances surrounding Kohberger’s plea so far, saying some details are already part of the record while others are not. He added that the defense plans to let “the evidence, the record, and the appropriate legal proceedings speak in due course,” according to TMZ.
Bryan Kohberger’s Earlier Plea Claims Add More Context To His Latest Move
5Kohberger’s latest request to remove the judge comes after he had already begun fighting to undo the guilty plea that put him behind bars. The Blast reported that in a filing made public on July 30, he argued that the agreement was not reached freely and voluntarily, giving the court a much different account of what happened before he admitted guilt.
In that filing, Kohberger claimed his parents and two sisters were present during many of the discussions surrounding the plea deal. He said the negotiations eventually turned into what he described as a “campaign of coercion,” involving “coercion, disinformation, false promises” and pressure that left him believing he had “no other realistic option” but to accept the agreement.
He also alleged that his former defense team used the threat of the death penalty to push him toward a plea that spared him execution. The filing claimed his attorneys described an “8×8” death-row cell to him and his family, which Kohberger called a “gross misrepresentation” intended to make rejecting the deal seem too dangerous.
The Plea Reversal Has Sparked A Surprising Fan Frenzy
5Kohberger’s decision to walk back his guilty plea has not only reopened his legal battle, but also reignited a wave of online support from women who had already been closely following his case.
One true-crime content creator, who uses the name Phoenix, claimed she had spent years examining the case and said Kohberger’s latest move did not shock her. She has reportedly built a large online following around her belief that key aspects of the investigation did not add up, arguing that unresolved questions deserve another look.
The support goes beyond legal debate, however, with some female followers openly expressing intense personal fascination with Kohberger. One supporter reportedly described him as “the perfect man for her” and admitted feeling “lovesick.” At the same time, online communities dedicated to defending his innocence have continued to attract thousands of members.
Bryan Kohberger’s Plea Reversal Faces Another Major Hurdle
5Kohberger’s attempt to undo his guilty plea has already attracted serious skepticism from legal experts, particularly over the evidence he says could support his claim of innocence.
Among the arguments raised in his filing is the allegation that potentially important hair evidence was not properly considered by his defense team before he agreed to the plea deal.
That claim, however, may be one of the thinnest parts of his strategy. Idaho attorney Ryan Black described the effort as “grasping at straws,” arguing that Kohberger appears to be searching for a basis to establish that his challenge has enough merit to move forward.
The Blast reported that other legal experts similarly viewed the hair evidence as a “narrow path” for withdrawing the guilty plea, suggesting the burden facing Kohberger remains substantial.
With his defense now challenging both the plea itself and the judge overseeing the case, could Bryan Kohberger actually succeed in reopening the conviction?
