Latest news with #SteveGoncalves
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Why an Idaho Victim's Dad Is Apologizing to His Late Daughter — and Saying He Feels 'Used' by Prosecutors
Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves's father is livid over the prosecution's decision to offer Bryan Kohberger a plea deal sparing him the death penalty Kohberger's murder trial was scheduled to take place in August, but in a surprise move, he pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder on July 2 He is expected to be sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prisonSteve Goncalves apologized to his late daughter, Kaylee, for the prosecution's decision to offer now-convicted killer Bryan Kohberger a plea deal that spares him the death penalty. 'It's my mistake. I'm sorry Kaylee,' Goncalves said on Banfield on NewsNation on Wednesday, July 2. 'I'm truly sorry that I didn't get you a prosecutor who really believed what happened to you could only be fixed with life.' Hours earlier, Kohberger, 30, had pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing University of Idaho students Goncalves and her best friend, Maddie Mogen, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, at their off-campus rental house in Nov. 2022. Families of the victims gathered inside the courthouse on Wednesday to hear Kohberger plead guilty, coming face to face with the killer who viciously ended their loved ones' young lives. Related: Best Friends of University of Idaho Murder Victims Speak Out: What We Saw (Exclusive) Steve Goncalves and his family came to the courthouse, but did not go into the courtroom, NewsNation reported. 'It's a pointless exercise,' he said. During the tense plea hearing, the judge asked Kohberger, 'Did you on Nov. 13, 2022, in Latah County, Idaho, kill and murder Kaylee Goncalves, a human being?' Showing no emotion and answering in a matter of fact tone, Kohberger replied, 'Yes.' The judge then asked him, 'Did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation and malice aforethought?' Again, Kohberger answered 'Yes' in an emotionless tone, and did so when he was asked about murdering the other three victims. Related: Bryan Kohberger Pleads Guilty, Confessing to Murders of 4 University of Idaho Students to Avoid Possible Execution Kohberger's murder trial was supposed to take place in August, but in a surprise move, he asked for, was granted and agreed to plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the Nov. 2022 deaths of the four students, according to a letter sent to victims' families from prosecutors, cited by ABC News, the Idaho Statesman, and The New York Times. Steve Goncavles and his family criticized the plea deal, writing on Facebook that the prosecution 'failed us." They noted that they met with prosecutors on Friday, June 27, about "the possibility of a plea deal and it was a hard no from our family.' Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. On Tuesday, July 1, the family wrote that prosecutors "vaguely mentioned a possible plea on Friday, without seeking our input, and presented the plea on Sunday." On Wednesday, July 2, Steve Goncalves told Banfield host Ashleigh Banfield he and his family feel 'used' by the prosecution. He also said that he wished Kohberger's fate had been decided by a jury of his peers, who could have decided whether or not to give him the death penalty. Related: 'Furious' Idaho Murders Victim's Father Wanted to Face Killer in Court. Plea Deal Was a 'Hard No' from Family When Banfield asked him what he would like to say to Kohberger, he replied that he would tell him he is 'a complete loser. 'I'm ashamed that we couldn't have ended you,' he said. 'You beat me on that. My bad.' Read the original article on People
CNN
2 days ago
- CNN
Father of Idaho student killed speaks out after Bryan Kohberger admits to killings
Steve Goncalves, father of the murdered University of Idaho college student Kaylee Goncalves, spoke out after Bryan Kohberger admitted to killing the students in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
CNN
2 days ago
- CNN
Father of Idaho student killed speaks out after Bryan Kohberger admits to killings
Steve Goncalves, father of the murdered University of Idaho college student Kaylee Goncalves, spoke out after Bryan Kohberger admitted to killing the students in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Bryan Kohberger due in court today to plead guilty in Idaho college killings
Bryan Kohberger is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday to all counts in the killings of four University of Idaho students, despite the former criminology student's initial eagerness to be exonerated in the high-profile case. Kohberger -- who was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the 2022 killings of roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin -- will be spared the death penalty as a part of the plea, according to a letter sent to victims' relatives. He'll be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count, according to the agreement. Kohberger will also waive all right to appeal, the agreement said. The plea comes just weeks before Kohberger's trial was to get underway. Jury selection was set to start on Aug. 4 and opening arguments were scheduled for Aug 18. Prosecutors -- who met with victims' families last week -- called the plea a "sincere attempt to seek justice" for the families. MORE: Idaho victim's dad slams Kohberger plea deal: 'I can't pretend like I feel like this is justice' But the dad of 21-year-old victim Kaylee Goncalves is blasting the move, accusing the prosecutors of mishandling and rushing the plea deal. "At the least, justice starts with an interview of the families to ask them what justice is. And we didn't get that," Steve Goncalves told ABC News. The Goncalves family told ABC News they contacted prosecutors on Tuesday asking for the terms of Kohberger's deal be amended to include additional requirements: they asked for a full confession and for the location of the alleged murder weapon -- described by authorities as a KA-BAR-style hunting knife -- which has never been found. The family said prosecutors turned down the request, explaining that an offer already accepted by the defendant could not ethically be changed. The family said the prosecutors indicated they're asking the court to allow the prosecution to include a factual summary of the evidence against Kohberger at Wednesday's hearing, and that more information about Kohberger's actions would be presented at his sentencing hearing. MORE: Idaho college victims' friends recall moment they responded to home: 'You know something's wrong' The family of 20-year-old victim Ethan Chapin said in a brief statement that they'll be in Boise on Wednesday "in support of the plea bargain." Idaho law requires the state to afford violent crime victims or their families an opportunity to communicate with prosecutors and to be advised of any proposed plea offer before entering into an agreement, but the ultimate decision lies solely with the prosecution. Prosecutors anticipate sentencing to take place in late July, as long as Kohberger enters the guilty plea as expected on Wednesday, according to a letter prosecutors sent to victims' families. In the event Kohberger fails to enter the pleas, prosecutors indicated they are ready to proceed to trial in August, the letter said. MORE: Idaho college victim's siblings remember arriving at crime scene: 'Not on this earth anymore' Attorneys for the Kohberger family said in a statement on Tuesday, "The Kohbergers are asking members of the media for privacy, respect, and responsible judgment during this time. We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties." Prosecutors allege Kohberger fatally stabbed Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin in the students' off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Two roommates in the house survived, including one roommate who told authorities in the middle of the night she saw a man walking past her in the house, according to court documents. The roommate described the intruder as "not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows," according to the documents. Kohberger, who was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime, was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania in December 2022. Defense lawyers have said Kohberger was driving around alone on the night of the murders. ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams said Kohberger may have agreed to the plea because the defense has lost numerous arguments to the judge. MORE: Bryan Kohberger to plead guilty to all counts in Idaho college murders case "The defense had tried to get the death penalty taken off the table again and again, and they kept losing. Most recently, they tried to point the finger at other possible suspects," but the judge rejected that argument, citing a lack of evidence, Abrams told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday. With the prosecution's DNA evidence, video evidence and cellphone records, the defense was faced with "a pretty bad case in the end," Abrams said. A key piece of evidence against Kohberger is his DNA, which was found on a knife sheath left by one of the victim's bodies, prosecutors said. Kohberger's defense attorneys sought to exclude DNA evidence, but the judge denied their request. "You put it all together and it was tough to figure out exactly where the defense was gonna go with this," Abrams said.
CNN
3 days ago
- CNN
What we know about Bryan Kohberger's plea deal and whether a judge will approve it
FacebookTweetLink Steve Goncalves was stunned over the weekend when he heard that prosecutors in Moscow, Idaho, had reached a plea deal with Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the 2022 stabbing deaths of his daughter, Kaylee, and three other University of Idaho students. Just days earlier, Goncalves said he and a few of the victims' loved ones told prosecutors they did not support a plea deal. Instead, they urged prosecutors to continue pursuing the death penalty in Kohberger's upcoming quadruple murder trial, which Goncalves hoped would bring much-needed closure to their families. 'We don't want to deal. We're not interested in that. We didn't wait two and a half years for this,' the father said he told prosecutors on a Friday afternoon call. Goncalves said he walked away from the conversation with the impression that a plea deal was not a serious option in the case, leaving him blindsided when he received an email just two days later notifying him a deal had been reached. Ultimately, it was Kohberger's attorneys who broached the possibility of a plea deal as they endured a series of legal blows to their defense strategy, Goncalves told CNN's Jim Sciutto, citing conversations with prosecutors last week. The agreement would avoid a trial by allowing Kohberger to plead guilty to all four counts of murder in exchange for the government dropping the death penalty in the killings of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Goncalves and his family have slammed the deal as 'hurried' and 'secretive,' saying prosecutors should have sought input from victims' loved ones on the conditions of the deal. Jeff Kernodle, Xana's father, also expressed disappointment in the prosecutor's decision. Kernodle mourned the deal as a 'missed opportunity to set a stronger precedent in how accountability should be handled in cases like this,' he said in a statement Tuesday. 'It could have sent a message to others that these kinds of horrific crimes carry real consequences. Instead, four beautiful lives were taken, and the person responsible won't be used as an example to help prevent something like this from happening again,' Kernodle added. In contrast, families of the other two victims say they support the plea deal. Ben Mogen, father of Madison, told the Idaho Statesman he was choosing acceptance, adding the plea agreement would let his family avoid a trial and allow its wounds to keep healing. Ethan's mother, Stacy Chapin, told CNN affiliate KHQ her family would be in court Wednesday 'in support of the plea bargain.' But the deal is not set in stone, and the judge could require Kohberger to confess to details of the crime, a legal expert said. State District Judge Steven Hippler must approve the deal and will oversee a hearing in the case at 11 a.m. Wednesday, during which the plea agreement will be addressed, a letter from the prosecutor to a victim's family says, according to an Idaho Statesman report. Plea deal negotiations are often protected by a halo of privacy, so details of the closed-door conversations between prosecutors and Kohberger's attorneys are unlikely to come out unless one side steps forward, according to University of Idaho associate law professor Samuel Newton. Commonly discussed in the legal process, plea deals involve prosecutors offering a defendant incentives, such as a less severe sentence, if they accept a guilty plea, Newton said. The costs and time commitment of a death penalty case may have also played a role in both sides wanting to reach an early conclusion, Newton said. Death penalty convictions often lead to decades of painstaking appeal efforts, which he said some victims' families describe as 'torture.' 'The family is looking at … decades of legal proceedings in a death penalty case, versus if he takes life without parole, it's done and the family gets that degree of closure,' Newton said. Kohberger's legal defense team has also suffered a series of losses in recent weeks which have narrowed their strategy options, including rulings barring the defense from submitting an official alibi – as no one could confirm Kohberger's whereabouts at the time of the killings – and rejecting their attempt to present an 'alternate perpetrator' theory. During Wednesday's hearing, the judge is likely to question Kohberger thoroughly to make sure he understands that he would be forfeiting his right to a trial and sentencing appeals if he accepts the deal, Newton said. Both Goncalves and Kernodle have criticized prosecutors for not including provisions in the plea deal that would require Kohberger to confess to specific details of the crime. Those details could have been revealed at trial, which still leaves questions over motive and how the stabbings were carried out. Goncalves hopes Judge Hippler will require Kohberger to make statements in court that would shed light on the remaining mysteries of the case. He also believes such statements would provide the suspect's supporters – many of whom maintain his innocence – less ground to stand on. 'We're all going to live with the repercussion for the rest of our lives … unless Hippler steps in and says, 'You're not going to just say you're guilty. You're going to communicate some of the details so these families can actually move on and not have to be dragged through this true crime nightmare over and over and over again.' Kernodle agreed, saying in his statement, 'It's incredibly hard to accept that a trial won't be happening. I had hoped the agreement would include conditions that required the defendant to explain his actions and provide answers to the many questions that still remain, especially where evidence is missing or unclear.' Goncalves also believes the plea deal should have barred Kohberger from reaping financial gain from selling the details of his story in the future. There is a slim chance Kohberger could maintain his innocence while accepting the plea deal by entering an Alford plea, an option that stems from a 1970 Supreme Court case. 'The benefit of the Alford plea is for a defendant who feels that they're innocent but wants to take the deal,' Newton said, noting there are no substantial differences between a regular guilty plea and an Alford plea. 'It has the same result as a guilty plea. It's just the defendant themselves is not going to say that they did it.' If the defense went this route, the state may present a factual basis for Kohberger's guilty plea, including details of how the crime was carried out, and would require him to say 'guilty' after the facts were read, Newton said. Like a regular guilty plea, Kohberger would likely be waiving his right to appeal as well, he added. Newton said it seems unlikely prosecutors would have agreed to a plea deal if they didn't have assurances Kohberger would take responsibility for the killings, making the chances of an Alford plea questionable. CNN's Norma Galeana and Betul Tuncer contributed to this report.
