Day: July 26, 2025

(NewsNation) — Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, who was murdered by Bryan Kohberger along with three other University of Idaho students, tells NewsNation his family received a text threatening their lives during the sentencing hearing.

Goncalves joined “Banfield” on Friday night and revealed his wife, Kristi Goncalves, received a death threat while impact statements were underway.

“Sitting near you in court and watching you is a joke. You know that Bryan is innocent. … I am in contact with a lot of serial killers, including BTK, and I’ve been put in contact with a wannabe serial killer who is in Moscow, Idaho, and I have given him your address,” the text read. (BTK is a reference to convicted murderer Dennis Rader.)

Goncalves confirmed his lawyer and investigators were looking into the threat, noting the individual was outside of Idaho.

He described lead prosecutor Bill Thompson’s offering of a plea deal to Kohberger, which spared him from the possibility of the death penalty, as “suspicious.”

“By hiding those details of what happened to my daughter and the other victims, it gave fuel to these people. It gave them a wishful thinking that they were, like, defending a PhD grad … people don’t want to root for, like, a skinhead or a cop killer.

“I just don’t understand why Thompson would have wanted to protect him by hiding these details. And I know some of the other families have already changed their opinion of the deal, knowing all the facts that have come out, so I think it’s suspicious that he purposely never let this information out.”

Following the sentencing, Goncalves said he “felt great” and the courtroom had a “representation that was in harmony of our family.”

“For the first time, we set the tone, and we wanted to have some power in that courtroom and dictate some things to him,” he added.