Idaho: Victim’s father wants to face the killer in court

• People gave police 19,000 tips that they said helped them find Kohberger.
• Doctoral student at nearby Washington State University who was arrested.
• The Kohberger family said that they are helping the police, but they are also standing by the suspect.

MOSCOW, Idaho—The father of one of the four dead University of Idaho students said Monday that he and the other parents will be there when the Pennsylvania man accused of killing them finally shows up in court.

Steve Goncalves said in an interview, “I want him to be sick of seeing us and sick of knowing that these people won’t let it go.” “It’s a battle of wills, and we’ll see who wins,” she said.

Kaylee Goncalves, who was 21 years old, was one of the victims. Goncalves spoke out as police were getting ready to send Bryan Christopher Kohberger, who was arrested Friday in Pennsylvania for four murders, back to Idaho.

He said he had never heard of Kohberger, a doctoral student at nearby Washington State University who was arrested on Friday. Kohberger is 28 years old.

When Goncalves’s lawyer, Shannon Gray, was asked if Kohberger knew any of the victims, she said, “We’re getting as much information as we can that might help the investigation.”

Goncalves said, “There are a lot of clues that have yet to be found.”

Seven weeks after the four students were stabbed to death in their beds on Nov. 13, Pennsylvania State Police arrested Kohberger, who is working on a Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology.

Kaylee Goncalves, from Rathdrum, Idaho, and three other students were killed in the attack. Ethan Chapin, 20, from Conway, Washington, Madison Mogen, 21, from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Xana Kernodle, 20, from Avondale, Arizona, were the other three students who died.

So far, no reason has been given for why the massacre might have happened. Kohberger’s lawyer, Jason A. LaBar, the chief public defender of Monroe County, Pennsylvania, has released a statement of condolence on behalf of Kohberger’s parents, Michael and Marianne Kohberger, and his sisters, Amanda and Melissa.

The Kohberger family said that they are helping the police, but they are also standing by the suspect.

“Let the legal process play out, and we will love and support our son and brother as a family,” part of the statement said.

When Kohberger goes back to Idaho this week, he will be charged with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of burglary. Tuesday is the day of the extradition hearing, and his public defender said that he would probably be sent back to Idaho Tuesday evening.

Two law enforcement sources who knew about the investigation said that DNA evidence was a big part of how Kohberger was linked to the killings. The probable cause affidavit, which says why he should be arrested, will stay sealed until he gets to Idaho and is given the papers in court, authorities said.

It wasn’t clear right away who would speak for Kohberger in Idaho. LaBar is only in charge of the hearing for his extradition.

Police have said that Goncalves, Mogen, and Kernodle, three of the people who died, lived together in the house where they did. Kernodle’s boyfriend, Chapin, was staying the night.

Detectives say that two other roommates who were home at the time of the stabbings were sleeping. When they woke up in the morning, they called 911 on one of their phones.

The massacre in the small college town was all over the news, and people gave police 19,000 tips that they said helped them find Kohberger.

Because the Moscow Police Department didn’t want to share information early on in the investigation, there was a lack of information, which made people worried and scared.

Later, Police Chief James Fry said that he was sorry he hadn’t been more open.

“I took the blame from the start for not going to the press and talking about it,” Fry said in an emotional interview on New Year’s Eve. “I would change that in the future. It’s a lesson I’ve learned.”

When the news came out that Kohberger had been arrested, Kernodle’s mother, Cara Northington, said that a big weight had been lifted and that she didn’t know the suspect.

“It made me sad that I didn’t know who did it and that the person who did it is still out there,” she said. “So, yeah, this definitely takes a lot of the stress off of us that we were feeling.”

Many people still don’t know much about Kohberger. The owner of a Pennsylvania brewery said Saturday that he was a doctoral student who was known to make “creepy” and inappropriate comments to female employees and customers.

Goncalves said that the arrest is the beginning of the “second chapter” of what has already been a painful story for his family and the families of the other victims.

He said, “Now we’re going to make sure we have the right person, and we’re all going to focus on knowing what’s coming.”

Gray, the lawyer, said, “We’re hoping that everything will work out, and they have a strong case against this guy, so we’ll get a conviction in the future.”

Gadi Schwartz and Deon J. Hampton sent reports from Moscow, Idaho. Minyvonne Burke and Corky Siemaszko sent reports from Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and New York City, respectively.

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