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Bryan Kohberger sentencing: Victim's father calls suspect a ‘complete joke,’ says ‘nobody cares about you’ | Watch
Idaho murders suspect Kaylee Goncalves’ father ripped suspect Bryan Kohberger, saying, "In time, you will be nothing but two initials, forgotten to the wind.”
Idaho murders suspect Kaylee Goncalves’ father ripped suspect Bryan Kohberger during his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, July 23, in a Boise courtroom. The 30-year-old former PhD student of criminology is accused of stabbing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee to death in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, at a rental home near their campus in Moscow, Idaho.
Directly addressing Kohberger, Steve Goncalves said, after moving the lectern to face him, “The world’s watching because of the kids, not because of you. Nobody cares about you. … In time, you will be nothing but two initials, forgotten to the wind.”
Steve went on to call Kohberger a “joke” and described how easy it had been to track him down. “Police officers tell us within minutes they had your DNA. Like a calling card. You were that careless. That foolish. That stupid. Master degree? You’re a joke. Complete joke,” Steve said.
CNN correspondent Jean Casarez described that “there was a shift in this courtroom” when Steve got up to give his victim impact statement. Steve stood up, “and he moves the podium to speak directly to Bryan Kohberger,” Casarez said.
“That changed a lot in that courtroom because the judge didn’t stop him,” Casarez added. “Everyone else was directing (their statements to) the court, and he started talking to him, about him, and so did the rest of his family.”
‘Yet her story was cut short by an act of evil’
Other powerful victim impact statements were delivered by family members of the victims, including Kaylee’s sister, Madison’s father and the two roommates who survived the tragedy. Xana’s sister, Jazzmin Kernodle, described her sister as “everyone’s best friend,” a person who was a “gift to each person she was able to make an impact on.”
“Yet her story was cut short by an act of evil,” Jazzmin added.
Meanwhile, Xana’s father revealed that he almost went to the house the night of the murders, but decided not to because his daughter told him not to drink and drive. Jeff Kernodle said that now he wishes he had.
“You would have had to deal with me,” Jeff told Kohberger.
Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. He faces a life sentence for each of the four counts of first-degree murder, and 10 years on a burglary charge.
