Kaylee Goncalves’ father is open to Bryan Kohberger standing trial over the murders of his daughter and three other University of Idaho students after Kohberger announced plans to withdraw his guilty plea.
“I’d love to have the second shot at the accused murderer. I would love for us to be able to reline him up and hold him accountable to the full extent of what he’s done. … I would love it,” Steve Goncalves said during an interview on NewsNation’s Jesse Weber Live on Monday, July 27.
In July 2025, Kohberger, 31, was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty to the November 2022 murders of students Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger accepted a plea deal to avoid the death penalty and is serving his sentences at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
But in an interview with The New York Times published on Monday, Kohberger said he wanted the case to be reopened.
“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” he said in a statement to the outlet.
The New York Times reported that Kohberger declined to discuss evidence in the case but said that “the intention is for all of those questions to be investigated and answered appropriately in a trial setting.”
He added, “Why am I breaking my silence? A lot went wrong in those plea discussions. I really do want that to be heard.”
In his interview on Jesse Weber Live, Goncalves’ father admitted that while he’d like to see Kohberger on trial, “I feel for my community. This guy wasn’t even a member of our society. He wasn’t even a member of our state, and we’ve really just been totally put through the wringer having to defend this loser.”
Earlier Monday, Steve and the Goncalves family issued a statement reacting to the news that Kohberger had filed a petition to withdraw his previous plea.
“‘The mosquito you just can’t seem to swat’ — that is what Kohberger and his following have become to this family,” the family said.
The Goncalves family described Kohberger as “a guilty man once again claiming he is innocent,” writing that he previously pleaded guilty and “chose not to leave his fate — or the facts of the case — to a jury.”
“He never cried foul, never claimed he was uninformed or pressured, and never suggested there were problems with the discovery materials he and his counsel had reviewed for two years that should have been challenged,” the statement continued. “He admitted his guilt. When asked whether he was actually guilty, he answered, ‘Yes.’”
“We would have preferred a death-penalty trial; we believe fully in the evidence. Instead, BK received exactly what he asked for: a deal that spared his life. Know this — he hates that life. He wants another chance to roll the dice,” the statement said.
