Parents of Bryan Kohberger victim Kaylee Goncalves have 'unwavering' confidence after guilty plea appeal

The parents of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four students who tragically lost their lives in the November 2022 Idaho murders, have spoken out after it was alleged Bryan Kohberger would be changing his plea deal.

Criminology student Bryan Kohberger was convicted of stabbing to death Kaylee, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 in November 2022. He was sentenced to to four consecutive terms of life in prison last year, after he pled guilty.

However, the convict recently told the New York Times that he had filed a petition, and is now seeking to abandon his guilty plea.

“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” Kohberger told the outlet. He claims he was 'misled' into confessing.

In the wake of the news, Tracie Brocco, executive director of Murder Has a Name, the foundation set up by Kaylee’s parents, told UNILAD: “Regarding Kohberger’s appeal, Kristi and Steve have publicly addressed their position. They remain confident in the outcome of this case and are prepared for whatever comes next in the legal process.

The Goncalves family spoke out in the new documentary The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare (Netflix)

"As they stated publicly, they believe Kohberger knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently admitted to the murders in open court after consulting with counsel and choosing to plead guilty rather than proceed to trial.

"While they recognize he is entitled to pursue the appellate process, they remain unwavering in their belief that justice was served and continue to focus on honoring Kaylee, Maddie, Xana, and Ethan rather than giving additional attention to the defendant.”

In their public statement, the Goncalves family said: "He chose not to leave his fate - or the facts of the case - to a jury. He never cried foul, never claimed he was uninformed or pressured, and never suggested there were problems with the discovery materials he and his counsel had reviewed for two years that should have been challenged."

Concluding, they stressed that the 'real tragedy' was that Kohberg was now receiving widespread attention.

Recently, a new Netflix documentary, The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare was released, shedding light on the horrific murders.

Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were murdered in their Idaho home (Netflix)

In this, Goncalves' family also spoke out, in which Kaylee’s mother, Kristi, said she hoped he got the death penalty: “What I want, is I want for him to die."

She then stated that she 'would not say his name,' adding: "Justice would only be if the kids came back and that doesn’t work that way. The kids are gone, they are never coming back, but I want him to die.”

The three-part documentary also delves deeper into the killer's background, from his internet searches, to accounts from former friends.

A timeline of the Idaho murders

November 12 2022

Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, attend a party at Chapin’s fraternity Sigma Chi. Meanwhile, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, go to sports bar the Corner Club.

November 13 2022

1.45am - Kernodle and Chapin return home to their house on King Road

1.56am - Goncalves and Mogen arrive home

2.44am - Kohberger’s Hyundai sedan is spotted by a CCTV camera at Washington State University. Shortly afterwards, the car is seen again heading towards a road that connects Pullman, Washington, to Moscow, Idaho, where the victims live.

4am - Bryan Kohberger is believed to have entered the property

4.17am - A security camera reveals the sound of a barking dog, voices and what sounds like a thud. At some point around this time, their housemate Dylan Mortensen is awoken and hears a male voice say: “It's OK, Kaylee, I'm here for you.” She later hears crying and sees a masked man in the property.

4.19am - Mortensen attempts to call Kernodle, Goncalves and Mogen, but all calls go unanswered. She started texting Bethany Funke, saying she’s ‘freaking out’ after seeing a man in a ‘ski mask’. Mortensen joins Funke in her room and they lock themselves in.

11.58am - After Mortensen calls her friend Emily Alandt, she and her boyfriend Hunter Johnson come over to the King Road property. Johnson discovers Chapin and Kernodle's bodies and calls 911.

November 17 2022

Preliminary autopsy results show all four victims were attacked with a large knife

December 7 2022

Police say they are looking to speak to any occupants of a white Hyundai Elantra from 2011-13.

December 30 2022

Kohberger is arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. Police later reveal they used DNA on a knife sheath to link him to the crime scene, and tracked his car and phone across the area.

May 22 2023

Kohberger remains silent when asked to enter a plea during his arraignment. The judge enters a not guilty plea on his behalf.

June 26 2023

Prosecutors announce they will seek the death penalty.

December 28 2023

The King Road property where the murders took place is demolished to allow the community to heal.

April 17 2024

Kohberger’s defence team claims in court documents that phone mast data shows Kohberger was miles away from Moscow, Idaho at the time of the murders.

March 4 2025

Kohberger’s defence team say he exhibits traits of autism spectrum disorder, and putting him to death would be unconstitutional.

July 2 2025

Weeks before the trial is set to begin, Kohberger pleads guilty to burglary and four counts of first-degree murder.

July 23 2025

Kohberger is sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years for the burglary charge.

He comes face to face with the families of his victims for the first time, who read out impact statements.

Goncalves' sister Alivea tells him that if her sister hadn’t been sleeping when he attacked, ‘Kaylee would've kicked your f**king a**’.

Meanwhile, Mortensen says she’s suffered from debilitating panic attacks since the night of the murders, telling Kohberger he has taken away her ‘ability to trust the world’.

July 27 2026

Kohberger announces he is seeking to take back his guilty plea and overturn his conviction.

He tells the New York Times: “My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn.”