Parents of Idaho murder victim drop 'devastating' accusation against Kohberger's own mom, dad and lookalike sisters... as new files reveal specific suffering he inflicted on their daughter that's unspeakably evil

Four families were torn apart on November 13, 2022, when a masked loner obsessed with serial killers went on a killing rampage in the college town of Moscow, Idaho.

A fifth family also remains inextricably linked to the tragedy - murderer Bryan Kohberger's own.

Despite his conviction for the slayings of students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, Kohberger's sisters and parents have continued to support him.

It's a reality that Kaylee's parents, Kristi and Steve Goncalves, struggle to understand.

In a candid sit-down interview with the Daily Mail, the grieving parents shared their thoughts on the Kohbergers' loyalty to their son and brother - and urged them to help stop the online harassment, doxing and threats that they and the other victims' families continue to face from the killer's bizarre legion of fans.

'We walk in two different pairs of shoes,' Kristi said of the Kohberger family.

'Their family does, and so does our family. I can't say that I have a lot of compassion for their family.'

While Kohberger can still speak to his family from behind bars, 'Kaylee can't talk to us,' Steve pointed out. 'We can't go visit her.'

While the Goncalves parents say it is hard to know what they would do in their position, they do question the Kohbergers' decision to maintain contact with the 31-year-old killer knowing all the pain he has caused.

'People say this all the time. They look at us and they say, if I were that family, I would just shut my mouth and quit talking. Or if I were that family, I would have jumped up in that courtroom, and attacked him,' Kristi said during our interview at CrimeCon last week.

'Well, you don't have a kid like our kid. You don't know how we live. You don't know until you walk in those shoes.

'So for us to sit here and say "If I were them, I would never talk to my son again if he murdered four kids." That's how we feel. That's how we think. But until you're in those shoes, you can't really comment. So, we can't really comment. But I know what we think we would do.'

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Kohberger's sister Mel Kohberger revealed that the family - her, her sister Amanda, mother Maryann and father Michael - have remained in contact with the mass killer behind bars.

Amanda and Maryann supported him at his sentencing in July 2025 while Mel - who stayed home to care for Michael - sent her brother a drawing of a heart to hold in court. On Kohberger's birthday in November, his four family members celebrated with a cake in his absence.

Newly-unsealed autopsy reports have shone further light on the sheer violence he inflicted on his victims, revealing that they all 'endured a high degree of pain and/or suffering.' New details about Kaylee's wounds were particularly shocking, revealing that she also suffered blunt-force injuries to her face, signs of asphyxia and that an 'unidentified object' appeared to have been pressed over her mouth.

Kristi and Steve believe that, if the family's roles were reversed, they would not be standing by their child.

'If my son did that to somebody else's family, it would be devastating,' Steve said.

'I'm so sorry, son. I will always love you, but I could not come out to support him.'

The Goncalves parents also believe they would have recognized Kohberger was the killer before his arrest (photos of Kohbeger's white Hyundai Elantra was all over the news at the time).

They accused the Kohbergers of 'burying their heads in the sand' 

'We would have figured it out… But we're a little bit more involved than a lot of people are. I would have been like... that car looks just like the car you brought here,' Steve said.

'We would have put it together and been like "I think it's time for you to go down to the sheriff's office with me and turn yourself in."'

He added: 'I don't think they wanted to know.'

Investigators have not indicated that any of Kohberger's family members knew he was responsible for the murders before their Poconos, Pennsylvania, home was raided on December 30, 2022, and he was taken into custody.

But Kohberger's mother Maryann and sister Mel had both separately spoken to him about the case prior to his arrest.

Mel told the Times that she feared for his safety, living 15 minutes from the crime scene, and had warned him to be careful while a killer was on the loose.

Meanwhile Maryann had sent her son a news article about the case in a text message on November 17, 2022. When the text was sent, the mother and son were on the phone to each other - suggesting they may have been discussing the case at the time, cell phone data shows.

In her first interview with police following his arrest, Maryann expressed her shock and disbelief that he could be involved, insisting that 'my son would not do this' and calling him 'my angel.'

Kristi told the Daily Mail that, if she were Kohberger's mother, she would have at least reached out to the victims' families to apologize for her son in the three-and-a-half three years since the murders.

'I feel I would be reaching out to those families as his mother, saying 'I am so incredibly sorry. I don't even have words to express to you what my son did to your family. I don't know what happened. I don't know why or what went wrong,' Kristi said. 'That's how I feel.'

As far as she and Steve are aware, no member of the Kohberger family has ever tried to contact them or the families of Maddie, Xana and Ethan.

If they did, it is a conversation Kristi is open to having.

She has often considered reaching out to them herself, she shared.

'I've even thought about reaching out to his sister [Mel following the Times article]. Not in a hateful way at all because like I said, I don't walk in those shoes.'

The way the Goncalves family sees it, Kohberger's sisters and parents might be the best hope of getting Kohberger to finally reveal the full truth about his crimes.

While Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders last July, he refused to speak at his sentencing, robbing the families of the answers they desperately seek.

His motive, who his target was, and how and why he chose his victims remain mysteries to everyone but Kohberger.

This absence of answers has left a vacuum now filled by online fans and supporters, many calling themselves 'Probergers', peddling false claims and rampant conspiracies of his innocence.

Some of these conspiracy theorists even target the victims' families.

At the very moment when Kristi was delivering her victim impact statement to the court at Kohberger's sentencing, one of his supporters sent her a death threat, Kristi and Steve revealed.

Even now, they receive threats and hate mail from his supporters, some of whom dox them and show up outside their home.

'People send us messages saying the truth isn't out there, and they know the truth,' Kristi said.

'People like to put a spin on it and put their narrative on it… He's got a huge following now. It's a very weird thing.'

Steve added: 'They post pictures online of our house. They drive down our road, take pictures of our house, to share with their followers, saying they're the boots on the ground. It's rough.'

Addressing Kohberger, Kristi said: 'You're saying you did it, because you did do it. Plain and simple. The evidence shows that.

'Let's not get it twisted. He didn't plead guilty because he was badgered into it or because he was afraid of the death penalty.'

From the get-go, the family was warned by law enforcement about the realities of the obsession with true crime.

The murders of four young students in the dead of night in a small college town instantly hit headlines across the country. Conspiracies and false accusations then ran wild as no suspect was on the radar for six long weeks.

Then, when the criminology PhD student with no criminal history was arrested, theories from amateur sleuths continued to flourish.

The Goncalves family feel that Kohberger's plea deal avoiding the death penalty and a trial handed the killer power and allowed the unanswered questions and conspiracies to gain traction even after his conviction and sentencing.

Now, they hope that Kohberger's own family can help put a stop to the conspiracy theorists and bizarre fan clubs once and for all.

'We know that there's people who have committed crimes after being part of killers' fan clubs… so if you're part of Kohberger's family, you have a duty to the community to go and say, "son, you're going to tell the truth. I don't want anybody else killing with your name behind it,"' Steve said.

'They might be the only ones who can get the truth.'

Mother to mother, Kristi implored the family of their daughter's killer: 'Listen to your heart.'

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