Bryan Kohberger Beat Kaylee Goncalves in the Face as She Fought for Her Life Before Stabbing Her to Death, Her Mom Says

Bryan Kohberger targeted Kaylee Goncalves when he broke into her off-campus home at the University of Idaho and murdered her and three others on Nov. 13, 2022, according to her mother.

Kristi and Steve Goncalves have been publicly expressing their anger and frustration with the fact that their daughter’s killer will not stand trial and cannot be sentenced to death after he struck a deal with prosecutors earlier this week.

This has led some to publicly chastise the grieving parents for seeking vengeance over justice, a criticism that Kristi addressed in a Facebook post on Thursday, July 3.

“[I]f your 21yr old daughter was sleeping in her bed and BK 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?” she wrote.

That post shared a number of new details about Goncalves’ death while also giving critics of her parents an idea of the couple’s mindset as they continue to grapple with the loss of a child.

It is the first time there has been any mention of Kohberger beating his victims, while confirming the fact that he had targeted some of the four students he confessed to murdering in court on Wednesday, July 2.

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Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said in court that after breaking into the victims’ home through a second-floor door, Kohberger walked up to the third floor and murdered Goncalves and her best friend, Madison Mogen, 21, rather than target any of the three people sleeping in the two bedrooms on the second floor.

Kohberger did later kill two of those individuals – Xana Kernodle and boyfriend Ethan Chapin, both 20, after one of the two had the misfortune of crossing his path as he tried to exit the residence, Thompson said in court this week.

He then spared the life of the other roommate on the second floor, who told police she stood just a few feet away as the man who murdered her best friends walked out of their Moscow home in the early morning hours after killing four.

The plea deal means that Kohberger’s motive for these murders will remain a mystery.

Thompson also admitted in court that after an investigation that has lasted close to three years and involved prosecutors, local law enforcement and the FBI, there was still one large hole in the murder case.

Prosecutors could place Kohberger in the area of his victims’ home in the months before the murders, Thompson said; however, they had no proof or evidence he ever once met or interacted with his victims.

“We do not have evidence that he had direct contact with 1122,” Thompson said in court.

The Goncalves family previously expressed frustration with Kohberger not facing death row, and the family never getting an explanation as to why he killed their daughter.

“BK literally is too afraid to die, but he wasn’t afraid to kill. BK wanted a plea deal and he was given one. Kaylee wasn’t offered a plea deal,” Kristi wrote on Facebook Thursday.

She added, “The state is showing BK mercy by removing the death penalty. BK did not show Kaylee ANY mercy. ”

Kohberger will instead serve four consecutive life sentences as well as another 10 years on a burglary charge, waive his right to appeal and be ineligible for parole should Judge Steven Hippler accept the terms of the plea deal between prosecutors and the defense.

That sentencing hearing is set for July 23 in Boise, Idaho.