MOSCOW, Idaho (Michigan News Source) – Nearly four years after Kaylee Goncalves was murdered with three other University of Idaho students, her parents say the people prosecuting her killer often treated them less like a victim’s family and more like a problem to be managed.
In a new Courtroom Confidential interview released at the end of September, Steve and Kristi Goncalves described a prosecution they say increasingly shut them out, withheld information and ultimately negotiated Bryan Kohberger’s plea deal while they were largely in the dark.
“It Was Just Crickets”
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Kaylee’s mother Kristi said communication was initially good, but after a gag order was imposed, “it was just crickets” with the family sometimes learning developments from journalists rather than prosecutors.
The Goncalveses said prosecutors even used the gag order to limit meetings with them. Most stunningly, they said they did not learn the full details of how Kaylee was killed until just two days before sentencing.
They also accused officials of keeping victims’ families separated, including placing families in different rooms at court. Then came the plea deal.
The family said it received an email on a Sunday evening saying a plea had been offered. When they objected the following day and asked for concessions and answers, they were told the deal was already done. Kohberger had signed it before a scheduled Zoom meeting with the family.
Turning Anger Into Answers
Now the family is trying to make sure other families have something they often felt they lacked: resources and a voice.
Kaylee’s parents Steve and Kristi helped create the Kaylee Goncalves Foundation, doing business as Murder Has a Name, to help families access investigative resources and technology that could provide answers in unsolved cases.
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The foundation plans to pay for advanced forensic DNA testing in cold cases where law enforcement has exhausted traditional avenues. The Goncalveses said they have relationships with seven accredited laboratories and hope initially to fund at least two or more cases annually.
The idea is simple: law enforcement keeps control of the evidence and investigation. The foundation helps pick up the expensive laboratory bill.
Michigan Already Knows What DNA Can Do
Michigan offers a striking example of how DNA can help solve cold cases. The 2003 murder of Jeanette Wilton in Saginaw remained unsolved for two decades until advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy helped identify Jason Cabello. Michigan State Police reopened the case, used grant money for advanced testing and ultimately matched Cabello to DNA collected in 2003. He pleaded no contest in 2026.
Advanced DNA and genealogy have also given names back to previously unidentified Detroit victims, including Robert Booker Jr., Jerry Tate and Darylnn Washington.
Some Familiar Michigan Names
The Goncalves foundation’s board includes Steve and Kristi Goncalves and co-founder/executive director Tracie Brocco, a 16-year law enforcement veteran; investigative journalist Chris Hansen; and former prosecutor and victims’ rights advocate Nancy Grace.
Two members of the team have particularly strong Michigan ties. Chris Hansen graduated from Michigan State University and worked at WXYZ and WDIV in Detroit before launching his national career as a Dateline NBC correpondent. The foundation’s legendary advisor, former FBI profiler John E. Douglas – considered one of the pioneers of modern criminal profiling – also has Michigan ties, having begun his FBI career in Detroit.
Turning Their Pain Into a Mission
For the Goncalves family, the mission grew directly from what they say was missing during their own ordeal: information, resources and a meaningful voice in the process. They can’t change how Kaylee’s case was handled, but through Murder Has a Name, they hope to give other families something they desperately wanted themselves – a better chance at answers, and fewer years spent waiting for them.
