Kristi and Steve Goncalves, the parents of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves, are speaking out about what they believed happened the night their daughter was tragically killed at an off-campus apartment with three others.
“There's evidence to show that she awakened and tried to get out of that situation," Steve Goncalves says in a CBS News report announcing Saturday’s 48 Hours episode titled “The Night of the Idaho Murders,” which focuses on the case that shocked the nation.
Kaylee, 21, was stabbed to death alongside Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, in an off-campus apartment in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Two additional roommates were home during the attack but were unharmed and ruled out as suspects.
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Authorities previously said that Mogen and Kaylee were found dead in the same bedroom on the third floor of the home. According to Steve, who cites the coroner, the killer most likely targeted Mogen first and then attacked Kaylee, per CBS News.
Kaylee's mother Kristi adds that she believes her daughter tried to escape, but it was difficult due to the way the bed was arranged in the room.
“The bed was up against the wall. The headboard was touching the wall and the left side of the bed was touching the wall. And we believe that Maddie was on the outside and Kaylee was on the inside," she explains to CBS News correspondent Peter Van Sant. "The way the bed was set up … She was trapped."
Kristi theorized that the killer may have been surprised to see the girls together in the same bed, according to CBS News. Kernodle's father believes his daughter fought back as well.
“I believe so,” Jeffrey Kernodle tells Van Sant. "It's upsetting to think about."
Kernolde’s sister, who is speaking out for the first time in the 48 Hours special, adds she doesn’t know why the murders happened and wished there were answers.
“They were, all four of them were, just such great people and made such an impact on the lives around them,” Jazzmin Kernodle said, per the outlet.
On Dec. 30, 2022, nearly two months after the murders, authorities arrested 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger in Pennsylvania and identified him as a prime suspect. Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the killings.
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According to a probable cause affidavit previously reviewed by PEOPLE, DNA and cell phone pings linked Kohberger to the crime scene. A motive for the killings has not been released.
Kohberger — who was a Ph.D student at Washington State University studying criminal justice and criminology at the time of the murders — previously had a DNA sample taken that allegedly matched DNA found on the sheath of a knife that was left at the crime scene, CBS and CNN reported. A knife sheath was found at the crime scene, but the murder weapon has yet to be recovered.
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Washington State University, which is in Pullman, Wash., is roughly eight miles away from the residence in Moscow, Idaho where the four students were killed.
After being indicted by a grand jury in May, Kohberger "stood silent" in court as the judge entered his "not guilty" plea for him at the time, as previously reported by PEOPLE.
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Kohberger's family told PEOPLE months before that they had "fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions."
Kohberger has since waived his right to a speedy trial, which was initially set to begin on Oct. 2. A new date for Kohberger's trial has not been set as it has been delayed indefinitely, according to ABC News, CNN and Fox News.
Idaho Murders Suspect Bryan Kohberger Waives Rights to Speedy Trial, Delaying Case Indefinitely
Kohberger's defense attorney Anne Taylor said previously that defense needed more time to present their case, per ABC News.Kaylee’s parents, according to CBS News, believe Kohberger is guilty and are eager to face him when the trial begins, whenever that may be.
“He's going to feel all of us just staring at the back of his head," Kristi says. “And he knows… what he did to our daughter.”
48 Hours: “The Night of the Idaho Murders” airs on CBS and streams on Paramount + on Sept. 16 at 10/9c.