Idaho student murders: Family of victim says killer a 'narcissist' over plan to withdraw guilty plea

The family of one of the victims of Bryan Kohberger has branded the convicted murderer a "narcissist", after he applied to withdraw his guilty plea.

Kohberger, 31, filed a hand-written petition from the Idaho Maximum Security Penitentiary on Monday, requesting to reverse his guilty plea, saying he was manipulated into accepting a plea deal.

The former criminal justice student is currently serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen in 2022.

The application comes just over a year after he pleaded guilty to stabbing the students to death in the town of Moscow, Idaho, which allowed him to avoid facing trial and the death penalty.

In response to the application, the family of Kaylee Goncalves said Kohberger was a "narcissist" who was changing his plea because he wanted "another day in court".

"A nice break from his solitary confinement, getting to go for a ride, maybe some different food, photos taken and the attention all back on him and his 'innocence'," they said in a statement on their Facebook page.

They criticised his claim to have been manipulated into pleading guilty and argued that Kohberger had decided "not to leave his fate - and the facts of the case - up to a jury to decide his guilt".

"He never cried wolf or claimed he was uninformed, pressured, or that there were issues with the discovery that he and his counsel had for two years that he thought should have been challenged," they said.

They added: "The real issue is that if as much energy was put into honouring the victims in this case as trying to set a guilty man free there would be [statues] of the victims on every corner."

In his request, Kohberger said his legal team didn't adequately represent him and his guilty plea wasn't knowingly or voluntarily agreed to.

He claimed they failed to disclose or review evidence that might have helped his case during plea discussions, like an "unknown hair in Chapin's hand".

Kohberger also wrote that his lawyers insisted that his plea "need not be truthful, despite petitioner's vehement denial of actual guilt."

He said he had been promised life in prison would come with "immediate contact visits, freedom of movement, employment" and told "elaborate lies of DR (death row) life".

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These claims are in contradiction to a declaration Kohberger made in July 2025 that he was pleading guilty "freely and voluntarily".

As part of that process, he also agreed to waive his rights to appeal, confirm that he understood the potential punishments and assure the court that he wasn't coerced into entering the plea.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed they would not seek the death penalty, and instead would recommend that he be sentenced to four back-to-back life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 10 years.

On the prospect of a trail, the Goncalves family said: "An actual trial this time? Let's go! We are confident he will get the death penalty that he escaped by pleading guilty the first time around."

Kohberger's legal team argued during two years of hearings that capital punishment should be off the table.

The trial was just a month away when the plea agreement was reached.

Once a defendant has been sentenced, Idaho law requires them to show that they experienced "manifest injustice" to withdraw a guilty plea.

(c) Sky News 2026: Idaho student murders: Family of victim says killer a 'narcissist' over plan to withdraw gui