Goncalves parents say they wanted Bryan Kohberger to ‘say the victims’ names’

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – The parents of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four University of Idaho students stabbed to death in a Moscow home, spoke out about their frustrations over the lack of information on how their daughter died and the plea deal offered to Bryan Kohberger, who admitted to four counts of first-degree murder in exchange for no longer facing the possibility of the death penalty at trial.

Steve and Kristi Goncalves, who have been vocal about their support for capital punishment for Kohberger, and their attorney appeared on the “Today” show Friday and said they hoped to see the case go to trial. They had also hoped to get more answers on what happened to their daughter that night, they said.

The Goncalves said they have been pressing for more information from the Idaho State Police, Moscow police and FBI about their daughter’s murder and her last few moments to write an accurate victims’ impact statement.The family’s attorney, Shannon Gray, told “Today” he spoke with the prosecuting attorneys to try to get more information from the discovery case as soon as possible.

The Goncalveses received limited information from the coroner about how Kaylee died that night — she had several stab wounds, a broken nose, signs of asphyxiation and defense wounds on her arms, Kristi told the “Today” show.

Steve Goncalves said he wants to know more details about that night, such as how many times his daughter was stabbed, and that he wants to find out through the investigators, not from the media or from Kohberger himself.

“I think we’re going to find out secrets through his sick twisted mind,” he said. “He’s going to write about it, he’s going to have exclusive interviews with his family members. … That’s how we are going to hear about it.”

Kohberger, 30, was a Washington State University graduate student in Pullman, across the Washington-Idaho state line, at the time of the murders in November 2022. He answered “yes” to the presiding judge’s question on whether he had “willfully, unlawfully, deliberately with premeditation and with malice aforethought” fatally stabbed to death the U of I students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

The Goncalveses were prepared for a monthslong trial for their daughter’s murder, and her father said they wanted to see Kohberger face “accountability of the highest that there is.”

Now, Kaylee’s father said the family is grappling with the change and trying to move on.

When the couple heard Kohberger admit to the killing of their daughter, it was hard to hear, and wished Kohberger would have had to “say the victims’ names,” Kristi Goncalves told the “Today” show.

“It shows a little bit more accountability and owning up to what he did, to have to say the victims’ names, our daughter’s name, not just ‘yes, yes, yes,’” she said. “I just feel like that was a really easy way to admit his guilt.”

Some families supported the plea deal to avoid a lengthy trial while ensuring punishment for Kohberger. In a statement to the Statesman, the family of Madison Mogen said this it will allow those who knew the four young adults time to grieve “without the anxiety of the long and gruesome trial” and potential appeals.

“It was very surreal, it was very emotional to hear it,” Kristi Goncalves said, recalling Kohberger’s guilty plea. “Something that, you know, I don’t think we were ever really prepared to hear or think that we would hear.”

Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler lifted the gag order that prevented investigators, law enforcement and attorneys from speaking publicly about the case after two dozen media outlets and organizations — including the Idaho Statesman — filed a motion to rescind the order.

Kohberger’s sentencing is scheduled for July 23.