Alivea Goncalves Says Addressing Bryan Kohberger Was Like Coming ‘Face to Face With an Alien’
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Alivea Goncalves Says Addressing Bryan Kohberger Was Like Coming ‘Face to Face With an Alien’
Alivea Goncalves, the sister of one of the four University of Idaho students stabbed to death in 2022, spoke about reading her victim impact statement in front of the man convicted of their murders. “Almost from the very, very beginning, all I felt was rage,” she said. She added that she is not scared of or intimated by Bryan Kohberger, but she felt a “primal sense of alarms” when she spoke to him. She said the purpose of her statement was to take back the power from Kohberger and give it back to Kaylee and Madison. “I think that she would be really proud and really happy to know that she made a difference in empowering people to be a stronger or more confident version of themselves,” she told NewsNation. “Everything that I’ve said, that I think was accurate to who they were, I think I truly do believe that Kaylee would have kicked his ass,” she added.
Goncalves received applause from the courtroom after reading her statement on July 23. During an interview with NewsNation on July 24, she recalled what it was like to face Bryan Kohberger, the man who murdered her sister along with Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
“My speech wasn’t to Kaylee and Maddie, it was for them, and if Kaylee and Maddie had been here today, it was something that I feel like would have rung true to them,” she explained. “So I wanted to maintain that eye contact as much as I possibly could.”
She added that she is not scared of or intimated by Kohberger, but she felt a “primal sense of alarms” when she spoke to him.
Alivea Goncalves, sister of victim Kaylee Goncalves, speaks at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger on July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. Kyle Green / AP
“Like my body was telling me, ‘Run. Get out. This is a threat,'” she said. “The best description I can give you is like if I had come face to face with an alien, because back behind there, there’s no human being, there’s no humanity.”
Kohberger received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole at the hearing, which was three weeks after he pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one court of burglary. He declined to address the court before he was sentenced.
Goncalves, who spoke after her father, Steve Goncalves, said she directed most of her speech at Kohberger, but even when she turned to speak to the judge, she could feel his stare.
“Almost from the very, very beginning, all I felt was rage,” she said. “At one point in my speech, when I’m speaking more to how I’m trying to say this was an impact statement, I more so directed (it) towards the judge, and I turned my body in that direction, and I could feel that specific stare the entire time — it was unrelenting.”
Goncalves said the purpose of her statement was to take back the power from Kohberger, and give it back to Kaylee and Madison.
“I wanted to give them the hero moment that I truly feel like they deserve. Throughout this whole process, he has controlled so much of the narrative, and it’s been focused around him, his name, his actions,” she said.
“I understand it, but in my shoes, it pisses me off at times, because you see Idaho students, University of Idaho students … or just the headline of his name,” she continued. “And it’s so frustrating, because it’s like they have names — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin — say it. You take the time to say his name, say theirs. I understand it’s four. I understand it takes a second, but you owe them that.”
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21. TODAY
In Goncalves’ statement, she called Kohberger a “sociopath, psychopath, murderer” and said that if he hadn’t attacked her sister while she was sleeping, she would have “kicked your f—— ass.”
“For me, it was about taking back that control from him, best that I could, getting under his skin, as best as I psychologically could, with my limited understanding of what he is, and giving it back to the victims the best that I could,” she told NewsNation. “And it was all genuine. It was all incredibly true. Everything that I’ve said, that I did say, I think, was accurate to who he is, who they were, and I truly do believe Kaylee would have kicked his ass.”
She added that she thinks her sister would be proud of everyone who has been able to find their voice in the wake of what happened to her.
“I think that she would be really proud and really happy to know that her life made a difference in empowering people to be a stronger or more confident version of themselves,” Goncalves said.