Kaylee Goncalves’ sister speaks out about courtroom confrontation with Bryan Kohberger

The world came to know the feisty older sister of University of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves after she gave a ferocious victim impact statement at Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing last week. She said she memorized her speech so she wouldn’t break eye contact with him in the courtroom.

“I was prepared to be arrested that day,” Alivea Goncalves told ABC News of the fiery moment she confronted her younger sister’s killer in court.

Alivea Goncalves said to Kohberger, “You’re a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser who thought you were so much smarter than everybody else. … You aren’t special or deep, not mysterious or exceptional. … No one thinks you are important.”

Alivea Goncalves, sister of victim Kaylee Goncalves, speaks at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho.

Kyle Green/Pool/Getty Images

“I was fueled by seeing the rage on his face,” she told ABC News. “Man … was he mad. That was obviously a big point of why I did what I did — to make him feel small.”

Alivea Goncalves also asked pointed questions like, “What was second weapon you used on Kaylee?” A hypothetical question in the moment, but one that investigators have yet to figure out. Kaylee Goncalves had unique injuries described as a horizontal pattern, and it’s not clear what caused them, police confirmed to ABC News.

“I had one shot at it and I was gonna make the most of it,” Alivea Goncalves said.

Steve Goncalves, father of victim Kaylee Goncalves, hugs his daughter Alivea after speaking at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho.

Kyle Green/Pool/Getty Images

Alivea Goncalves said she did eliminate a few thoughts from her statement after realizing Kohberger’s mom and sister were in the courtroom.

“I didn’t anticipate his mother and sister being there,” she said. “And I had specific lines that were directed towards his relationship with his mother and directed towards the shame that he has caused his family, and how the ultimate move of a coward is for him to sit behind bars while the rest of his family has to bear the real weight, the shame of what he’s done.”

Bryan Kohberger, 30, appears for his sentencing hearing after he was convicted in the 2022 stabbing deaths of four Idaho college students, at the Ada County Courthouse, in Boise, Idaho, July 23, 2025.

Kyle Green/via Reuters

She concluded her statement with memorable words to Kohberger, saying that if he hadn’t attacked the students in their sleep, “Kaylee would’ve kicked your f—— ass.”

“I got up there knowing that my speech wasn’t to Kaylee and Maddie — it was for them. … I just wanted to reclaim their power,” she said.

Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen.

Courtesy of the Goncalves family

Kaylee, Kaylee’s lifelong best friend Maddie Mogen, their roommate Xana Kernodle and Xana’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death at the girls’ off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. On Wednesday, their killer was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the four first-degree murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count after pleading guilty to all charges.

Kaylee Goncalves was stabbed more than 30 times and had defensive wounds, according to a police report released for the first time last week. The 21-year-old was described as “unrecognizable as her facial structure was extremely damaged,” the report said.

“It’s gruesome and it’s graphic,” Alivea Goncalves acknowledged, but she said it’s information she wanted because she knows “Kaylee absolutely fought for her life.”

Kaylee Goncalves is seen in an undated photo.

Courtesy Kristi Goncalves

In November 2022, when news of the deaths at 1122 King Road reached Alivea Goncalves, she said she started going through her sister’s phone records to see if she had made any calls, convincing herself Kaylee wasn’t picking up her phone because she was at the police station answering questions. But Alivea Goncalves would never speak to her sister again.

Their last conversation was a six-hour FaceTime during which Alivea Goncalves guided her sister through buying her Range Rover, which the 21-year-old proudly drove to Moscow to show her friends on her last trip to their college house. Their dad drives the car now. Alivea Goncalves said many of Kaylee’s other belongings were picked up by their parents, covered in blood and in hazmat bags.

Alivea Goncalves made Kaylee Goncalves an aunt twice over before she died, and twice more after. She was pregnant with a girl when Kaylee Goncalves was murdered, and she named that baby Theo MaddieKay. Alivea Goncalves calls Kaylee and Maddie soulmates, and she describes their namesake as the perfect mixture of Kaylee and Maddie.

Source link

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Related Article

Judge denies request seeking to make Fed’s FOMC rate meeting public this week

The Federal Reserve won a legal victory Monday when a federal judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order compelling the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to open its rate deliberations to the public starting Tuesday and Wednesday. The request came as part of a lawsuit filed by money manager Azoria Capital

UK Drivers Stay Local for Summer Getaways, 95% Planning to Travel by Car

UK Drivers Stay Local for Summer Getaways, 95% Planning to Travel by Car

Monday, July 28, 2025 Almost 95 per cent of UK drivers are planning to make a journey over the next few weeks, as summer officially gets underway, according to a report by The AA. But most travelers are opting to stay nearer home planning short excursions rather than long road trips. The results,

CEO Ortberg’s turnaround plan expected to roll on

Boeing (BA) will report second quarter earnings on Tuesday as investors look to CEO Kelly Ortberg to continue his turnaround of the beleaguered jet maker. In step with Orberg’s moves and recent positive trade developments, Boeing stock is up over 30% year to date. Boeing is expected to report revenue of $21.68 billion, per Bloomberg

Bill Maher Says He Was Wrong About Trump Tariffs: ‘I Gotta Own It’

Bill Maher Says He Was Wrong About Trump Tariffs: ‘I Gotta Own It’

Bill Maher said he has been proven wrong about his belief that President Trump’s tariff plan was going to wreck the economy. The veteran comic, during the latest episode of his “Club Random” podcast on Monday, said he agreed with those who projected the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which were announced in early April, would

On The Ground

Two dead after jumping monkeys trigger stampede at Indian temple

On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch At least two people died and many were injured in a stampede after a live wire broken by a monkey caused panic among Hindu devotees outside a temple in