‘Psychopath': Victim's sister tears into killer Bryan Kohberger at sentencing

Global News

2 days ago

In an emotionally charged courtroom Wednesday, as onlookers gathered for the sentencing of University of Idaho student killer Bryan Kohberger, one of the victim's sisters delivered a victim impact statement so angry and profound that it brought applause from the gallery.
Alivea Goncalves, one of the sisters of victim Kaylee Goncalves, launched into a fiery and unflinching criticism of the killer, challenging his self-image and ego, as well as exposing his desperate quest for notoriety.
She first spoke of the deep bond between Kaylee and Maddie Mogen, one of the other victims, saying they always knew her love and would never expect her to expose her pain to someone like Kohberger.
'I won't offer you tears, I won't offer you trembling,' she said. 'Disappointments like you feed on fear.'
'Sit up straight when I talk to you,' she demanded of Kohberger. 'You are not profound, you're pathetic.'
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'You spent months preparing and still all it took was my sister and a sheath,' she said, mocking the killer for leaving DNA on a knife sheath, which eventually helped investigators link him to the crimes of Nov. 13, 2022. 'The truth is, you're as dumb as they come. Stupid, clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak, dirty.'
'If you were really smart, do you think you'd be here right now? What's it like needing this much attention just to feel real?' she said.
Kohberger remained expressionless as Alivea Goncalves insulted him, at points calling him a 'sociopath' and 'psychopath,' and challenging his intelligence, actions and motivations.
'Dumb as they come. Stupid, clumsy, weak, dirty.' #AliveaGoncalves, sister of murder victim #KayleeGoncalves, delivered a fiery impact statement and received applause from the courtroom afterwards.#CourtTV What do YOU think? pic.twitter.com/8Dl2urVvGb
— Court TV (@CourtTV) July 23, 2025
'You didn't win, you just exposed yourself as the coward you are. You're a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser,' she said.
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The courtroom applauded after she delivered her final line, saying that if Kohberger hadn't attacked the victims in the middle of the night, Kaylee Goncalves would have 'would have kicked his f****** a**.'
Alivea Goncalves wasn't the only member of her family to deliver harsh words to the man who took the life of Kaylee.
Steve Goncalves, their father, took aim at Kohberger's education and intelligence.
'Today we are here to finish what you started,' he said.
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Kohberger nodded subtly in response.
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Steve Goncalves, father of victim Kaylee Goncalves, hugs his daughter Alinea after speaking at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho. Kohberger pleaded guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty for the stabbing of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago. Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images
'You tried to break our community apart, you tried to plant fear, you tried to divide us. You failed,' he said sharply.
'You were that careless, that foolish, that stupid,' he said, noting investigators had his DNA right away.
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He taunted Kohberger and referenced Kohberger's degree in criminal justice.
'Master's degree? You're a joke — a complete joke.'
He said Kohberger would die nameless, while the world would remember the legacy of the four victims.
'You picked the wrong family, and we're laughing at you on your way to the pen,' he said.
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Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse, for his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death nearly three years ago. Kyle Green/Pool via AP
Mom Kristi Goncalves also continued her family's polemic against the killer.
'You're not that good. In fact you're not that good at anything. You couldn't secure a job, you couldn't get along well with others,' she said.
She said was disappointed that Kohberger wouldn't be executed by firing squad and reveled in how he would suffer in prison.
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'You will always be remembered as a loser, an absolute failure,' she said.
'Hell will be waiting,' she warned.
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Parents of victim Kaylee Goncalves, Steve Goncalves consoles Kristi Goncalves as she speaks at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho. Kohberger pleaded guilty in exchange for being spared the death penalty for the stabbing of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago. Kyle Green/Pool via Getty Images
In all, victim impact statements lasted for more than two hours on Wednesday.
Randy Davis, victim Xana Kernodle's stepfather, said Kohberger had also ruined the lives of the Kohberger family.
'He has contaminated, tainted their family name, and pretty much made a horrible miserable thing to ever be related to him,' he said.
Then he turned to Kohberger.
'I don't know what my limits are here. I am struggling, man,' Davis said. He said he wished he had five minutes with Kohberger in the woods to teach him about loss and pain.
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'You are going to suffer, man. I'm shaking because I want to reach out to you but I hope you feel my energy,' he said, banging on his chest. 'Go to hell.'
Xana Kernodle's aunt, Kim Kernodle, was the first to forgive Kobherger in her testimony
'You know, this is probably gonna bother everybody, but Bryan, I'm here today to tell you that I have forgiven you because I could no longer live with that hate in your heart,' she said, turning to face Kohberger directly.
'Any time you want to talk and tell me what happened, get my number, no judgment because I do have questions about what happened,' Kim Kernodle said.
6:25
Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to murder of 4 Idaho university students
Xana Kernodle's mother, Cara Northington, said Jesus allowed her to forgive Kohberger, even though he never expressed remorse.
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'Nothing man can do to you can ever compare to the wrath of God,' she said.
Towards the end of her testimony, she read from the Bible, taking multiple breaks to wipe her tears away and catch her breath.
Northington said she wouldn't share good memories of her daughter because she didn't want Kohberger to know them.
'You don't deserve our good memories that we have,' she said.
In his guilty plea, Kohberger admitted to the murders of Mogen, 21; Goncalves, 21; Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, who were found stabbed to death in their Moscow, Idaho, rental home near the University of Idaho campus in November of 2022.
He was formally sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison, but declined to make a statement in court that might have addressed the mystery of his motive for the killings.
Kohberger, 30, received four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole or appeal under a deal with prosecutors that spared him the death penalty in return for his guilty plea to four counts of first-degree murder.
Judge Steven Hippler gave Kohberger, dressed in orange jail garb, an opportunity to make a statement before sentence was pronounced.
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The defendant, who sat expressionless beside his lawyers throughout the hearing, answered: 'I respectfully decline,' the only words he uttered during the proceedings.
— with files from Reuters and The Associated Press