Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen.Photo: instagram(2)
Kristi and Steve Goncalves, the parents of slain University of Idaho studentKaylee Goncalves, are speaking out about what they believed happened the night their daughter was tragically killed at an off-campus apartment with three others.
“There’s evidence to show that she awakened and tried to get out of that situation," Steve Goncalves says in aCBS News reportannouncing Saturday’s48 Hoursepisode titled “The Night of the Idaho Murders,” which focuses on the case that shocked the nation.
Kaylee, 21, was stabbed to death alongside Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, in an off-campus apartment in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Twoadditional roommateswere home during the attack but were unharmed and ruled out as suspects.
Kaylee’s mother Kristi adds that she believes her daughter tried to escape, but it was difficult due to the way the bed was arranged in the room.
“The bed was up against the wall. The headboard was touching the wall and the left side of the bed was touching the wall. And we believe that Maddie was on the outside and Kaylee was on the inside," she explains to CBS News correspondent Peter Van Sant. “The way the bed was set up … She was trapped.”
Kristi theorized that the killer may have been surprised to see the girls together in the same bed, according to CBS News. Kernodle’s father believes his daughter fought back as well.
Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle.
“I believe so,” Jeffrey Kernodle tells Van Sant. “It’s upsetting to think about.”
Kernolde’s sister, who is speaking out for the first time in the48 Hoursspecial, adds she doesn’t know why the murders happened and wished there were answers.
“They were, all four of them were, just such great people and made such an impact on the lives around them,” Jazzmin Kernodle said, per the outlet.
On Dec. 30, 2022, nearly two months after the murders, authorities arrested 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger in Pennsylvania and identified him as a prime suspect. Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the killings.
Bryan Kohberger.Zach Wilkinson-Pool/Getty
Zach Wilkinson-Pool/Getty
Kohberger — who was a Ph.D student at Washington State University studying criminal justice and criminology at the time of the murders — previously had aDNA sampletaken that allegedly matched DNA found on the sheath of a knife that was left at the crime scene,CBSandCNNreported. A knife sheath was found at the crime scene, but the murder weapon has yet to be recovered.
Washington State University, which is in Pullman, Wash., is roughly eight miles away from the residence in Moscow, Idaho where the four students were killed.
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Kohberger’s familytold PEOPLE months before that they had “fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions.”
The Moscow, Idaho home where the murders occurred on Nov. 13, 2022.Angela Palermo/Idaho Statesman via ZUMA Press
Kohberger has since waived his right to a speedy trial, which was initially set to begin on Oct. 2. A new date for Kohberger’s trial has not been set as it has been delayed indefinitely, according toABC News,CNNandFox News.
Kohberger’s defense attorney Anne Taylor said previously that defense needed more time to present their case, per ABC News. Kaylee’s parents, according to CBS News, believe Kohberger is guilty and are eager to face him when the trial begins, whenever that may be.
“He’s going to feel all of us just staring at the back of his head," Kristi says. “And he knows… what he did to our daughter.”
48 Hours: “The Night of the Idaho Murders” airs on CBS and streams on Paramount + on Sept. 16 at 10/9c.
source: people.com
