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Koberger's Guilty Plea Reversed

32:55 recording · EN · 5 speakers

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Brief overview

Brian Koberger now claims innocence and seeks to undo his guilty plea in the Idaho student murders.

  1. Koberger wants his guilty plea thrown outHe says his attorneys pressured him into a false confession and hid evidence, and he now wants a trial.
  2. Undoing a plea after sentencing is almost unheard ofIdaho Criminal Rule 33C demands proof of manifest injustice, and a veteran Idaho defense lawyer expects tough sledding for him.
  3. A murder conviction does not end the McKay caseBrian McKay got 50 to life, and Monica's son Ryan is pursuing a wrongful death bench trial starting September 23rd.
Executive Summary AI
  • A little over a year after pleading guilty to killing four University of Idaho students, Brian Koberger filed a petition asking the court for a do-over, saying he was coerced into the plea, is innocent, and wants a trial.2:24
  • Dateline producer Shane Bishop explains that Koberger claims his defense attorneys told him elaborate lies about death row, promised contact visits, freedom of movement and employment he never got in protective custody, and hid exculpatory evidence — clumps of unknown hair found in Ethan Chapin's hands.4:25
  • Bishop notes that Idaho Criminal Rule 33C requires proof of a manifest injustice to set aside a plea after sentencing, that Judge Stephen Hippler will decide whether Koberger gets an evidentiary hearing, and that Kaylee Gonsalves' family said they would have preferred a death penalty trial.6:11
  • In Kansas, producer Keith Greenberg reports that former Marine Brian McKay was convicted of beating and drowning his estranged wife Monica McKay, a nurse turned hospital administrator, was sentenced to 50 to life, and now faces a wrongful death suit brought by her son Ryan, set for trial on September 23rd.9:18
  • In the Roundup, Sue Simpson covers the opening of Lindsay Clancy's murder trial in Massachusetts and the preliminary hearing for TikTok singer David, and Josh Mankiewicz previews season five of Missing in America, which opens with the 2017 disappearance of Ashley Loring Heavy Runner.17:19
Key Quote
“It's time that he be consigned to the ignominy and isolation of perpetual incarceration.”
— The judge at Koberger's sentencing2:11
Key Quote
“He is a hollow vessel, something less than human, a body without empathy, without remorse.”
— Speaker at Koberger's sentencing3:22
Key Quote
“they pulled out all the stops. They did everything that could have been done on Koberger's behalf.”
— Shane Bishop, quoting a veteran Idaho defense lawyer6:58