The mother of one of the four murdered University of Idaho students has disclosed that her daughter was brutally attacked in the face by Bryan Kohberger as she desperately fought back.

Kristi Goncalves, the mother of Kaylee Goncalves, shared this update following Kohberger’s guilty plea to the vicious stabbings of Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Maddie Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

Kohberger’s confession was part of a plea agreement with Latah County prosecutors, enabling him to evade the death penalty, a decision that has angered several of the victims’ families, including the Goncalves.

Ahead of his sentencing later this month, Kristi shared harrowing details about her daughter’s final moments on November 13, 2022.

She also hit back at critics who have suggested the family cares more about ‘vengeance than justice’.

‘He deserved life on death row,’ Kristi wrote. ‘People say that the Goncalves don’t want justice, they want vengeance. 

‘Well let me ask you a question about that… if your 21yr old daughter was sleeping in her bed and BK [Brian Kohberger] went into her house with the intention to kill her and he did, by stabbing her MANY times, as well as beating her in the face and head while it was clear that she fought for her life… what would you want? Justice or vengeance?’ 

The Goncalves family was calling for the killer to face death by firing squad if convicted.

They have since slammed the plea deal, hitting out at lead prosecutor Bill Thompson for notifying them of the decision by letter.

However, several of the other families have expressed gratitude they will be spared a trial.

‘BK did not show Kaylee ANY mercy,’ Kristi added. ‘People tell us we should be happy with life in prison without parole as he will never get out (how is that not a win they ask) well the death penalty also means life on death row. 

‘We knew it would be decades before he ever would face the firing squad. We knew that his execution was not going to happen anytime soon, BUT his life on DEATH ROW while serving his time would have been much worse than serving his time as life in prison.’

Kohberger’s shock guilty plea was entered on Wednesday.

The deal also included a clause that Kohberger cannot ever appeal his conviction.

He will be sentenced later this month and will have the chance to speak.

But Kohberger will not be forced to address the court, meaning his true motive may never be known. 

Lead prosecutor Thompson laid out his key evidence Wednesday at Kohberger’s plea hearing.

The evidentiary summary spun a dramatic tale that included a DNA-laden Q-tip plucked from the garbage in the dead of the night, a getaway car stripped so clean of evidence that it was ‘essentially disassembled inside’ and a fateful early-morning Door Dash order that may have put one of the victims in Kohberger’s path.

These details offered new insights into how the crime unfolded and how investigators ultimately solved the case using surveillance footage, cell phone tracking and DNA matching.

But the synopsis leaves hanging key questions that could have been answered at trial – including a motive for the stabbings and why Kohberger picked that house, and those victims, all apparent strangers to him.

Kohberger, now 30, had begun a doctoral degree in criminal justice at nearby Washington State University – across the state line from Moscow, Idaho – months before the crimes.

‘The defendant has studied crime,’ Thompson told the court. ‘In fact, he did a detailed paper on crime scene processing when he was working on his PhD, and he had that knowledge skillset.’

Kohberger’s cell phone began connecting with cell towers in the area of the crime more than four months before the stabbings, Thompson said, and pinged on those towers 23 times between the hours of 10pm and 4am in that time period.

A compilation of surveillance videos from neighbors and businesses also placed Kohberger’s vehicle – known to investigators because of a routine traffic stop by police in August – in the area.

On the night of the killings, Kohberger parked behind the house and entered through a sliding door to the kitchen at the back of the house shortly after 4am.

He then moved to the third floor, where Mogen and Goncalves were sleeping and stabbed them both the death. Kohberger left a knife sheath next to Mogen’s body.

Both victims’ blood was later found on the sheath, along with DNA from a single male that ultimately helped investigators pinpoint Kohberger as the only suspect.

On the floor below, Kernodle was still awake. As Kohberger was leaving the house, he crossed paths with her and killed her with a large knife. He then killed Chapin – Kernodle’s boyfriend, who had been sleeping in her bedroom.

Two other roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, survived unharmed.

Mortensen was expected to testify at trial that sometime before 4.19am she saw an intruder there with ‘bushy eyebrows,’ wearing black clothing and a ski mask.

Roughly five minutes later, Kohbeger’s car could be seen on a neighbor’s surveillance camera speeding away so fast ‘the car almost loses control as it makes the corner,’ Thompson said.

After Kohberger fled the scene, his cover-up was elaborate. But methodical police work ultimately caught up with him, with Kohberger now one of the world’s most notorious mass-murderers.