The father of one of the four University of Idaho students brutally murdered in 2022 says the state has "failed" his family, following reports that the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, is expected to accept a plea deal that would spare him the death penalty.
"Idaho has failed. They failed me. They failed my whole family," Steve Goncalves said during an interview on NBC’s TODAY show, aired Tuesday morning.
Kohberger had been scheduled to stand trial in just five weeks for the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves — Steve Goncalves' daughter. The four students were found slain in a rental home near the University of Idaho campus in Moscow.
The case took an unexpected turn Monday, when the Goncalves family and their attorney revealed that it appeared a plea agreement had been offered and accepted.
“It’s my daughter. It’s our children,” Steve Goncalves said. “How can you call it justice when we haven’t even been asked what justice means to us?”
Despite their objections, the family said they received an email just two days later containing a letter that appeared to move the deal forward.
According to The Idaho Statesman, the letter indicated that the plea agreement would guarantee Bryan Kohberger’s conviction and result in a life sentence. NBC News has not independently reviewed the letter, and prosecutors have yet to confirm the existence of a plea deal.
“They told us it’s not really about us—it’s about their process. Basically, ‘Just be quiet, accept it, and move on.’ That’s what they told us,” Steve Goncalves said during his appearance on NBC’s TODAY show, recounting a follow-up meeting with prosecutors.
On Facebook, Kaylee Goncalves’ sister, Aubrie Goncalves, called the timing of the reported plea deal—just weeks before the scheduled trial—“shocking and cruel.” She added that even if Bryan Kohberger spends the rest of his life behind bars, he will still have the ability to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world. “Meanwhile,” she wrote, “our loved ones have been silenced forever.”
Kim Kernodle, aunt of Xana Kernodle, told TMZ that it was the defense team—not the prosecution—that initiated the proposed plea deal. She said prosecutors claimed they wanted to “spare the families” the trauma of a trial, particularly the emotional toll of viewing graphic crime scene evidence.
But Kernodle pushed back on that reasoning. “We know how graphic the evidence is. They weren’t trying to spare us,” she said, emphasizing that at least two of the victims' families—hers and the Goncalveses—wanted Bryan Kohberger to stand trial before a jury.
Both families confirmed that a court hearing is set for Wednesday. Kernodle told TMZ she plans to urge the judge to delay any decision related to the plea deal.
Bryan Kohberger was charged in the University of Idaho murder case after investigators said DNA found on a knife sheath left next to one of the victims matched his. Prosecutors also cited cellphone data and surveillance footage placing Kohberger near the crime scene around the time of the murders. His defense team has maintained his innocence, arguing he was driving alone during the time of the killings.
NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos explained that the decision to accept a plea deal ultimately rests with the defendant.
“Along the way, attorneys may have warned him that going to trial means facing substantial evidence and the possibility of a death sentence. But in the end, it was Kohberger’s decision,” Cevallos said Tuesday on TODAY.
He also noted that while victims and their families have a right to be heard in criminal proceedings, they don’t have the power to determine the outcome.
“In recent years, many states—including Idaho—have enacted laws and constitutional provisions that ensure victims are given a voice. But being heard is not the same as being obeyed,” Cevallos said. “The final decision lies with the state, with the prosecutors. And it’s not uncommon for victims’ families to be deeply upset by those decisions.”
—Marlene Lenthang