Family of Kaylee Gonclaves furious at Idaho prosecutor’s plea deal for Bryan Kohberger: ‘This wasn’t justice’
The family of slain Idaho college student Kaylee Goncalves unleashed their fury at the prosecution in the case over the plea deal with Bryan Kohberger as the killer was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Kohberger will die behind bars after his fate was sealed Wednesday by a judge at the sentencing hearing in Boise, Idaho.
But his sentence “wasn’t justice,” said Steve Goncalves and his family, as the grieving father slammed Kohberger as a “coward” after the hearing.
Nearly three years on from carrying out the “senseless slaughter” of Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in the small town of Moscow on Nov. 13, 2022, Kohberger was forced to listen to their families’ gutwrenching impact statements at an emotional three-hour hearing.
The Goncalves family wanted Kohberger to face the death penalty and had hoped a trial would unearth answers about the killer’s motive. Kohberger declined to speak at Wednesday’s hearing.
After the prosecution suddenly struck a plea deal agreement with Kohberger on July 2, the Goncalves family said they were blindsided and “beyond furious” by the move.
Kaylee’s brother, Steven Goncalves, tore into Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson outside Ada County courthouse following Kohberger’s sentencing, accusing the prosecutor of a “clear and troubling pattern.”
Steven Goncalves cited several cases prosecuted by Thompson where the perpetrators avoided the death penalty.
“Nearly every murder case prosecuted by Bill Thompson, including the killing of University of Idaho football player Eric McMillan, there is a clear and troubling pattern,” Steven Goncalves said.
“Families are left feeling unheard. Justice is negotiated down through plea deals, and the public is left without unanswered questions.”
He accused Thompson of repeating a number of “failures” in the cases he prosecutes. “Plea bargains avoiding capital punishment, charge reductions,” he listed. “Sentences that misaligned with the gravity of the crime…lack of trial due to plea bargains.”
The Independent has contacted Thompson and the Latah County Prosecuting Office for comment.
Other members of the Goncalves family ripped into Kohberger during the hearing as he listened to the testimony of his victims’ shattered relatives one by one.
Steve Goncalves turned to face Kohberger head-on to deliver his powerful impact statement.
“Nobody cares about you,” he told the killer. “From this moment, we’ll forget you. You tried to plant fear, you tried to divide us. You failed. You united everyone in their disgust for you,” he said.
Kaylee’s sister, Alivea Goncalves, unleashed on Kohberger, delivering a blistering statement that drew applause for the way she laid into the killer.
“The truth is, you’re basic,” she said, directly speaking to 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,” she said.
“Sit up straight when I talk to you,” Goncalves demanded of the slouching murderer.
“Disappointments like you thrive on pain. I won’t feed your beast,” she said. “Instead, I will call you what you are. Sociopath. Psychopath. Murderer.
“You want the 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,” Alivea Goncalves raged at Kohberger.
