Bryan Kohberger Sentenced for Idaho College Student Murders

Bryan Kohberger, the man who pleaded guilty to the murder of four University of Idaho students, was sentenced to life in prison.
Having already publicly expressed their anger about the plea deal, the family continued to lament that Kohberger won’t face the death penalty, and also revealed some details about the case.
During their victim impact statements, the parents of victim Kaylee Goncalves voiced their anger at the 30-year-old Kohberger. Alivea Goncalves, Kaylee’s sister, told Kohberger in court that he was a “delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser.”
The three other victims were Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Kohberger broke into an off-campus home in Moscow in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, and fatally stabbed the students.

Ada County, Idaho -- Members of the Goncalves family stood in front of the Ada County Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon shortly after Bryan Kohberger, the man who pleaded guilty to the murder of four University of Idaho students, was sentenced to life in prison.

Having already publicly expressed their anger about the plea deal, the family continued to lament that Kohberger won’t face the death penalty, and also revealed some details about the case.

During their victim impact statements, the parents of victim Kaylee Goncalves voiced their anger at the 30-year-old Kohberger. Alivea Goncalves, Kaylee’s sister, told Kohberger in court that he was a “delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser.”

The three other victims were Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Kohberger broke into an off-campus home in Moscow in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, and fatally stabbed the students.

Father Steve Goncalves told reporters that he ignored a sign on the courtroom podium saying not to move it. Instead, he swung it around to look Kohberger directly in the eyes.

“We had a stare-down,” Goncalves said outside the courthouse. “And he’s just filled with demons. He has dark pits of eyes. There’s something seriously wrong with that man.”

After 4th Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler sentenced Kohberger to four consecutive life sentences, the Goncalves family spoke again about their anger and directed some of it at prosecutors.

The Goncalveses have been clear about their unhappiness with the outcome since the July 2 deal in which prosecutors agreed to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for Kohberger’s guilty plea to four counts of first-degree murder, as well as a felony burglary charge.

Steven Goncalves, Kaylee’s brother, was called to speak in court but unexpectedly declined to do so. His mother stated after the hearing that his statement “wasn’t court-appropriate.”

Steven instead read the statement outside the courthouse in front of cameras. He railed against Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson’s decision to accept Kohberger’s plea deal and criticized Thompson for accepting plea bargains in many other murder cases.

“This wasn’t justice,” Steven Goncalves said. “It was a deal, and it was like so many others under Thompson’s watch. It prioritized expedience over accountability. Now, most predictably, we find ourselves reliving that pattern in the current case, despite the magnitude and brutality of the crime. The prosecution chose to accept a plea deal behind closed doors, without trial, without ever consulting our family in any meaningful way.”

Goncalves family receives new information

The Goncalveses have long sought specific details about their daughter’s murder, but prosecutors kept much of the particulars under wraps in anticipation of a trial. Kaylee’s father said that law enforcement recently provided them with new information. He credited President Donald Trump for putting pressure on the case through a social media statement on Monday, saying the call came shortly after that Truth Social post.

Steve Goncalves said that during a nearly three-hour call with the case’s lead detectives, he learned that his daughter was stabbed 34 times, and had “quite a bit of damage to her face.” She had striped wounds around her mouth caused by an unknown second weapon that Kohberger did not appear to use on any of the other victims, according to Goncalves.

“They said that the marks that she had were unique, just to her,” Goncalves said. “The other victims did not have that same stripey marking pattern.”

Police officials said Wednesday that only one weapon was used in the killings. They said that out of respect for the victims’ families, they would not comment on any statements.

Goncavles also said that prosecutors told him Kohberger stabbed one other victim, whose name was not disclosed, more times than Kaylee.

“We feel when people hear how atrocious this behavior is, it helps expose him,” Goncalves said. “And the more that he can be exposed, the better it is for us.”