BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho judge lifted a sweeping gag order Thursday in Bryan Kohberger’s quadruple murder case.
Bryan Kohberger avoided a potential death sentence by pleading guilty earlier this month to the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students at a rental home near campus in 2022.
A coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press had asked the court to lift the gag order since a trial is no longer planned. They renewed their request after Kohberger pleaded guilty.
During a hearing Thursday morning, 4th District Judge Steven Hippler agreed that lifting the gag order would protect the First Amendment rights of the public and press.
“The primary purpose of the non-dissemination order, which is to ensure that we can seat an impartial jury, is no longer at play,” Hippler said. He said he couldn’t not justify continuing the gag order because the public has the right to receive information about the case, and those rights are “paramount.”
A different judge in Moscow, Idaho, originally issued the gag order early in the case, saying additional publicity could harm Kohberger’s right to a fair trial.
Kohberger admitted to breaking into the rental home through a sliding door and killing the four friends, who had no connection with him.
Prosecutors said he spent months carefully planning the attack, and that his studies as a criminal justice graduate student at Washington State University helped him take steps to cover up his tracks.