The sister of one of the victims killed by Bryan Kohberger drew courtroom applause as she emphatically berated him at his Wednesday sentencing hearing.
“The truth is you are as dumb as they come, stupid, clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak, dirty, let me be very clear. Don’t ever try to convince yourself you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud,” Alivea Goncalves, the older sister of the late Kaylee Gonclaves, said to him during the hearing as he sat stoically in an orange jumpsuit.
Her remarks came after Kohberger received four consecutive life sentences for killing four University of Idaho students and a 10-year sentence for a burglary charge on Wednesday after accepting a controversial plea deal that allowed him to dodge the death penalty.
Kaylee Gonclaves, who was 21 at the time, was one of the four victims that Kohberger confessed to killing. Kohberger also killed Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21. Alivea Goncalves also referred to Madison Mogen, who was Kaylee Gonclaves’ best friend, as her sister throughout her remarks.
Kaylee Gonclaves, Kernodle and Mogen were students rooming in an off-campus house when they were killed on Nov. 13, 2022. Chapin was dating Kernodle, but did not live in the house despite being killed there.
Two other roommates survived.
“Disappointments like you thrive on pain, on fear and on the illusion of power. I won’t feed your beast,” Alivea Goncalves said.
“Sit up straight when I talk to you,” she continued. “How was your life right before you murdered my sister? Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your apartment? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling at the time.”
“If you hadn’t attacked them in their sleep, in the middle of the night like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your fucking ass,” Alivea Goncalves concluded, before the courtroom gave her a round of applause.
The loved ones of a couple of the victims also made impact statements during Wednesday’s hearing.
“On Nov. 13, 2022, a piece of my heart was ripped away,” Kernodle’s sister, Jazzmin, said Wednesday. “There’s no way to ever fully describe the weight of losing my sister, my best friend. No sentence or punishment will ever come close to the justice Xana, Ethan, Kaylee, and Maddie deserve. Xana was everyone’s best friend.”
“I believe in a God whose justice is not bound by this courtroom. I find peace knowing that judgment ultimately belongs to Him. For your sake, I hope one day you feel the full weight of what you did. I hope you take accountability,” she added. “I hope that you truly experience the guilt, and you surrender yourself to Jesus Christ because no punishment on this earth can ever compare to the isolation and pain of eternal separation from God.”
Mogen’s dad, Ben Mogen, said she helped him fight addiction.
“Maddie... was the only great thing I ever really did and the only thing I was really ever proud of,” Mogen said.“When I didn’t want to live anymore, she is what kept me here.”
Chapin’s family did not attend, but his mother posted a family photo online after the sentencing.
“We will carry your love, light and laughter forever,” the post was captioned. “XO, Dad, Mom, Masie and Hunter.”
Kohberger “respectfully” declined to speak at his sentencing on Wednesday. And, as such, his motives remain unclear. However, authorities determined that Kohberger visited the home at least a dozen times before killing the students.
Kohberger was studying criminology at Washington State University for a Ph.D. program at the time of the crime. After a weekslong manhunt, Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30, 2022, at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.