The timing of Bryan Kohberger’s bid to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial for the murder of four University of Idaho students is “no coincidence,” the producer of a recently released Netflix docuseries about the case told Newsweek. Joe Berlinger, the executive producer of The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, said he believes Kohberger was prompted to file the application after the first trailer for the docuseries was released in mid-July, even though his deadline to file a petition for post-conviction relief is not until September. Prosecutors have yet to respond to the filing.
He had pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the fatal stabbings at a rental home in Moscow, Idaho. But in his petition for post-conviction relief, he said his attorneys didn’t adequately represent him and that his guilty plea wasn’t knowingly or voluntarily entered because it “was induced by unkept promises” and threats. Idaho Attorney General Raúl R.
Labrador responded to Kohberger's petition, saying his office was ready to do "whatever is necessary" to ensure justice was carried out. Berlinger suggested Kohberger timed the move in a bid for significance and attention. This is a way of gaining significance and being talked about,” he said.
Newsweek has contacted Kohberger's attorney for comment via an email sent outside regular business hours on Tuesday. Berlinger said he made a decision very early on that the docuseries would be focused on the victims rather than Kohberger. Berlinger added: "The goal here was to really celebrate the lives of these people and instead of focusing on the killer, we want viewers to recognize just how tragic the robbing of these lives were, and to celebrate who they were in life, not just in death." Berlinger sent a crew to Moscow shortly after the murders took place in November 2022.
That decision was unusual, he noted, since his production company doesn’t typically follow breaking news. But he said the tragedy had struck a “deep chord” with him since he has two daughters, who had both recently graduated college at the time. College is supposed to be a place of safety, particularly in that part of the world.
And this just brutal, vicious, senseless crime. I just felt compelled to like see where it would go.” He also stressed his commitment to provide a “complete and accurate” overview of the case rather than rush to release it before other documentaries. If it takes five years, if it takes whatever it takes, we wanna tell the complete and accurate story,” he said.
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