Slain Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves’s parents want death penalty for Bryan Kohberger

The parents of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves have a clear message for the man accused of taking her life: they will eventually forgive him, but only after he faces the ultimate punishment.

In a heart-wrenching interview with NewsNation on Thursday, Steve and Kristi Goncalves opened up about the tragedy that has gripped the nation. They made it crystal clear that for them, true justice means the death penalty for Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old criminology doctoral student charged with murdering their daughter and three other students.

Steve Goncalves didn’t mince words when asked what justice looks like for his family. “It’s gonna look a lot like an end,” he told host Ashleigh Banfield. He explained that simply spending life behind bars, with access to books, education, and three meals a day, wouldn’t be enough.

“Justice is when you leave the planet, and the whole world is able to rejoice and be glad that you’re not there,” he added, his grief palpable.

When Banfield directly asked if the couple supports the death penalty, both parents nodded in agreement. “If you want to play god’s role, you’re gonna have to go answer to him,” Steve said, referencing the accused killer.

Kohberger appeared in a Moscow, Idaho, court Thursday for the first time. He faces four counts of first-degree murder in the November 13 stabbings that also claimed the lives of Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. He did not enter a plea.

If convicted, Kohberger could theoretically face the death penalty. But Idaho rarely carries out executions. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the state has executed only three inmates since 1976, with the last one—Richard Albert Leavitt—spending 26 years on death row before dying by lethal injection in 2012.

The Goncalves family is now left waiting, with the legal process just beginning. What would you want if it were your child?