Idaho Murder Victim Kaylee Goncalves' Dad Reacts to 'Psychopath' Bryan Kohberger Filing to Withdraw Guilty Plea

The father of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves had a harsh reaction after Bryan Kohberger began attempting to withdraw his guilty plea more than a year after admitting to the murders.

"I’d love to have the second shot at the accused murderer," Steve Goncalves said in an interview with NewsNation on Monday, July 27, as the possibility of a second trial looms. "I would love for us to be able to reline him up and hold him accountable to the full extent of what he’s done."

In July 2025, Kohberger, 31, was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without parole for the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in November 2022. He received an additional 10 years for burglary after unlawfully entering the victims' residence.

The move followed a plea deal earlier that month that successfully avoided the death penalty.

Nearly one year later, Bryan made headlines on July 27 after filing a handwritten petition arguing that he was "convinced to falsely confess" to the killings and asked that his guilty plea be withdrawn.

If granted, his conviction and life sentence would be vacated, allowing the case to proceed to a full criminal trial, where prosecutors could seek to reinstate the death penalty.

"I would love it. We’re getting to the point where capital cases, 90 percent of the time, are settled out of court," Steve said about Bryan's latest legal move. "We do need case law. We do need state law. Idaho could, I think it could benefit greatly from this."

Steve felt Bryan's initial plea deal was "rushed," saying it would've been more "advantageous" to the prosecution to try and seek more information.

"Hey, where’s the murder weapon? What was the second weapon used? He could have clarified this, and he made it sound like that was an expectation that was ridiculous in where we are," the father explained. "This guy wasn’t even a member of our society. He wasn’t even a member of our state. We’ve really just been totally put through the ringer having to defend this loser."

When asked his opinion on why Bryan was seeking to withdraw the guilty plea, Steve replied, "Because he’s an egomaniac psychopath."

"If you go look back at what he’s done throughout his career, even in high school and college, he’s always wanted to control the room," Steve told the outlet. "He’s always wanted to dominate the people around him. That was part of the reason why we pushed back because we’d studied this guy. I still think he has some tricks up his sleeve."

Steve claimed that Bryan was "more intelligent" than he comes off, adding, "He has a plan and Idaho’s got to deal with it."