Sister of Idaho murder victim says she was set to be ‘arrested’ for statement at Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing
Alivea Goncalves revealed she was bracing to be arrested as she addressed the man who fatally stabbed four University of Idaho students, including her younger sister, Kaylee Goncalves.
Bryan Kohberger, 30, was sentenced to life in prison last week after he pleaded guilty to murdering Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in their off-campus home on November 13, 2022. Judge Steven Hippler handed Kohberger four consecutive life sentences without the chance of parole and a decade for burglary.
At his sentencing, the victims’ loved ones had a chance to address the court and Kohberger. Alivea Goncalves used the opportunity to lay into her sister’s killer, demanding he “sit up straight” as she labeled him a “sociopath, psychopath, murderer” in a speech that earned applause from others in the courtroom.
“The truth is, you’re basic,” Alivea Goncalves told Kohberger. “Let me be very clear: Don’t ever try to convince yourself you matter just because someone finally said your name out loud. I see through you.”
“You want the truth? Here’s the one you’ll hate the most: If you hadn’t attacked them in their sleep, in the middle of the night, like a pedophile, Kaylee would’ve kicked your f***ing ass,” she added.
Alivea Goncalves told ABC News she was “prepared to be arrested that day.”
“I’m not joking, I think that every single one of us were,” she said in an interview that aired Monday.
“Man, was he mad,” she added. “That was obviously a big point of why I did what I did, to make him feel small.”
Kaylee Goncalves’s parents also unleashed on Kohberger. Her mother, Kristi Goncalves, told Kohberger he is “nothing,” calling him the “property of the state of Idaho” and wishing him a life of “misery.” Steve Goncalves, her father, similarly told Kohberger that “nobody cares” about him.
“From this moment, we’ll forget you,” Steve Goncalves said. “You tried to plant fear, you tried to divide us. You failed. You united everyone in their disgust for you.”
Alivea Goncalves said she researched Kohberger ahead of the speech, which she gave from memory to maintain eye contact with her sister’s killer.
“I mean, I stalked the stalker,” she told ABC News. “I found everything that I could from him online from the beginning of time to now. It fueled me to know that I got you pegged. I had one shot at it, and I was going to make the most of it.”
She also revealed she cut some remarks from her speech after realizing Kohberger’s mother and sister were in the courtroom.
“I didn’t anticipate his mother and sister being there,” Alivea Goncalves said. “And I had specific lines that were directed towards his relationship with his mother and directed towards the shame that he has caused his family, and how the ultimate move of a coward is for him to sit behind bars while the rest of his family has to bear the real weight, the shame of what he’s done.”
Judge Steven Hippler was emotional during the hearing and called the murders acts of “unspeakable evil.” Kohberger, who has rarely spoken in court, declined to give a statement at the sentencing and his motive remains unknown.
“The more we struggle to seek explanation for the unexplainable, the more power and control we give to him,” Hippler said. “In my view, the time has now come to end Mr. Kohberger’s 15 minutes of fame.”
The Goncalves family previously condemned the plea deal that prosecutors offered Kohberger, which allowed him to admit to the crimes and avoid the death penalty. The trial was set to begin in August, just over a month after he accepted the deal.
“We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho,” the family said in a June statement. “They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support.”
