The father of one of the four University of Idaho students brutally stabbed to death in 2022 believes the state has "failed" amid the bombshell news that the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, appears set to accept a guilty plea deal and evade the death penalty.
"Idaho has failed. They failed me. They failed my whole family," Steve Goncalves said in an interview aired Tuesday morning on NBC's "TODAY" show.
Kohberger’s quadruple murder trial was set to take place in five weeks, where he faced charges in connection with the murders of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves, who were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
A twist in the case came Monday, when the Goncalves family and their attorney said it appeared a plea deal was offered and accepted.
"It’s my daughter. It’s our children. How can you say it’s just when you haven’t even talked to us to see what justice looks like for us?" Steve Goncalves said.
The Goncalves family said in a statement that prosecutors vaguely mentioned a possible plea Friday "without seeking our input." In a follow-up statement on Facebook, the family said it told prosecutors in response to the possibility of a plea deal, "it was a HARD NO from our family." Two days later, the family received an email with a letter that appeared to move forward with the deal.
The Idaho Statesman reported that the letter said the plea deal would ensure Kohberger’s conviction and secure his life sentence. NBC News has not seen the letter, and prosecutors haven’t confirmed the plea deal.
"They told us it’s not really about us, it’s about their process. Just shut up and get on board and deal with it, that’s really what they told us," Steve Goncalves said on "TODAY," describing a later meeting with prosecutors.
Kaylee Goncalves’ sister, Aubrie Goncalves, on Facebook called the timing weeks before the trial "shocking and cruel." She noted that even if Kohberger was jailed for life, he "would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world. Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever."
Kim Kernodle, Xana Kernodle’s aunt, told TMZ the defense approached prosecutors with a plea deal, and the prosecution wanted to "spare the families" the pain of going to trial and seeing crime scene photos.
"We know the graphics. They were not trying to spare us," Kernodle said, noting at least two victim families — hers and the Goncalves family — wanted Kohberger to face a jury.
Goncalves and Kernodle said a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Kernodle told TMZ she wants the judge to delay making a decision.
Kohberger was charged in the case as investigators said DNA left on a knife sheath next to one of the victims was a match with his. Prosecutors also said cellphone records and surveillance video placed Kohberger near the scene of the murders. His lawyers have maintained his innocence and claimed he was out driving alone at the time of the murders.
NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos said the decision to accept a plea deal was ultimately Kohberger’s.
"The attorneys may have along the way, warned him that if you go to trial, this is a lot of evidence, and you could be convicted and the death penalty may result. But ultimately it was Kohberger's decision," Cevallos said Tuesday morning on "TODAY."
He noted that victims and their families don’t have the final say in criminal cases; it’s up to the prosecution.
"In the last decade or so, many states have enacted laws, and Idaho has both a constitutional amendment and a separate act of the legislature, a law, that requires victims to be heard — but being heard is not the same as being obeyed," Cevallos said. "So victims may have the opportunity to be heard on an issue, but ultimately, it is the state, it is the prosecutors who make this final decision, and it is very common for victims and their families to be very upset with the decision that the prosecutors make.”
