The sister of Kaylee Goncalves, who was murdered by Bryan Kohberger, has recounted the chilling moment she came eye-to-eye with her sibling’s killer.
Alivea Goncalves made a passionate and resolute victim impact statement during Kohberger’s sentencing in Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday, directly addressing the convicted killer and instructing him to ‘sit up straight when I talk to you.’
In an interview released on Friday with NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin, Alivea recounted the moments leading up to her impactful courtroom appearance, given in the chilling presence of her sister’s murderer.
She articulated that no language could fully capture the feeling of standing just a few feet away from him, stating simply: ‘He is not human.’
‘When I tell you… there is not a human there,’ she said during the interview.
‘I’m not scared of this individual, I’m not intimidated by him – truly I’m not,’ she added.
‘But when I tell you there is… a primal sense of alarms. My body was telling me, “Run. Get out. This is a threat. This is not a human capacity.”‘
Alivea has since been widely praised on social media for her powerful victim impact statement, where she spoke with unwavering confidence – directly confronting Kohberger and boldly calling out his failures.
Alivea Goncalves (pictured), the sister of Kaylee Goncalves – who was murdered by Bryan Kohberger – described her sibling’s killer as ‘not human’ after coming eye-to-eye with him in the courtroom on Wednesday
Alivea delivered a fiery victim impact statement during Kohberger’s (pictured) sentencing in Boise, Idaho, directly confronting the quadruple murderer and commanding him to ‘sit up straight when I talk to you’
Alivea explained that she was nervous until her father, Steve Goncalves (both pictured), boldly turned the podium toward the defendant – despite warnings not to – that the atmosphere in the courtroom ‘shifted’
While speaking with Entin, she explained that although she initially felt confident in her words, once inside the courtroom, the overwhelming emotions made her fear that her statement might not fully do justice to the victims and their families.
It wasn’t until her father, Steve Goncalves – known for his outspoken presence since the murders – boldly turned the podium toward the defendant, despite warnings not to, that the atmosphere in the courtroom ‘shifted.’
As she sat in the pews, making last-minute tweaks and notes to her statement while listening to others deliver their emotional speeches, she steeled herself to deliver hers – determined to say everything she had been planning.
‘My speech wasn’t to Kaylee and Maddie – it was for them,’ she said during the interview.
‘If Kaylee and Maddie had been here today, it would have been something that I feel like would have rung true to them.’
Her goal, she explained, was to hold eye contact with him for as long as she could – but as she stared into his eyes, every instinct in her told her she wasn’t looking at a human being.
‘The best description I can give you is, like, if I had come face-to-face with an alien,’ she described.
‘Because, back behind there, there’s no human being – there’s no humanity.’
Alivea’s (pictured) goal, she explained, was to hold eye contact with Kohberger for as long as she could – but as she stared into his eyes, every instinct in her told her she wasn’t looking at a human being
Alivea has since been widely praised on social media for her powerful victim impact statement, where she spoke with unwavering confidence – directly confronting Kohberger and boldly calling out his failures (pictured: victims)
In the closing moments of her interview, filmed less than 24 hours after the sentencing, Alivea told Entin with conviction, ‘I truly believe Kaylee would’ve kicked his ass’ (pictured: crime scene)
Alivea recalled seeing ‘raw anger’ and ‘raw rage’ in Kohberger’s eyes as she confronted him, but despite the intensity, her focus remained steadfast – seeking justice for her sister Kaylee and Madison.
‘I could feel that specific stare the entire time. It was unrelenting,’ she explained.
‘All I remember feeling is, “This guy’s pissed,”‘ she added. ‘This is anger I’ve never experienced firsthand before.’
‘I was ready to stand on business. There was nothing that was going to make me back down from that moment. All I felt was rage, almost from the very beginning.’
During Alivea’s blistering impact statement on Wednesday, she said: ‘I wont stand her and give you what you want. I wont give you tears instead. I will call you what you are: sociopath, psychopath, murderer.’
‘The truth is you’re basic. You’re a textbook case as insecurity disguised as control. You spent months preparing and still all it took was my sister and a sheath,’ she added.
‘You’re as dumb as they come. Stupid, dumb, weak, dirty’, Alivea continued, before she then hit him with the very same questions that Kohberger posed in a survey on Reddit as part of his criminology degree at DeSales University.
She went on to blast Kohberger’s past and all his failings, including unanswered questions in the Idaho murder case.
Alivea recalled seeing ‘raw anger’ and ‘raw rage’ in Kohberger’s eyes as she confronted him, but despite the intensity, her focus remained steadfast – seeking justice for her sister Kaylee and Kaylee’s childhood best friend, Madison Mogen (both pictured)
Alivea told Kohberger he was a ‘delusional, pathetic, hypochondriadic loser’ who ‘thought you were so much better than everyone else.’
In a damning conclusion, she added: ‘If you hadn’t attacked them in your sleep like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your f****** ass.’
The courtroom erupted in clapping at the end of Alivea’s statement. Koberger remained emotionless throughout.
‘My whole purpose of that speech was taking back this power and giving it back to Kaylee and Maddie. Xana and Ethan as well. I wanted to give them the hero moment that I truly feel like they deserve,’ she told Entin regarding her statement.
‘For me, it was about taking back that control from him… getting under his skin, as best as I psychologically could with my limited understanding of what he is,’ she added.
‘It was all genuine. It was all incredibly true. Everything I did say was accurate to who he is and who they were.’
In the closing moments of her interview, filmed less than 24 hours after the sentencing, Alivea told Entin with conviction, ‘I truly believe Kaylee would’ve kicked his ass.’
Kohberger, a 30-year-old PhD candidate, declined to speak at the hearing as he was told he would spend the remainder of his life behind bars without parole.
