Overview
- The court released the neuropsychological evaluation over the weekend, and the report lists four current disorders—level 1 autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADHD, and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder—and four prior conditions.
- The assessment was conducted by Rachel Lawson Orr, a psychologist hired by Kohberger’s defense, and was not prepared as an insanity plea but as clinical material that could affect sentencing or mitigation arguments.
- Orr documented specific social and behavioral signs such as a restricted facial expression, atypical speech tone, awkward social reciprocity, impulsivity, and a history of heroin use described as in sustained remission.
- Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to four counts of murder to avoid the death penalty and has filed to withdraw that plea, a move that courts are beginning to process with appointed post-conviction counsel and that victims’ families have publicly criticized.
- The report’s publication intensifies a legal fight with a high evidentiary bar for undoing a guilty plea and could influence which mental-health facts judges consider as the post-conviction review proceeds and public scrutiny grows.