NEED TO KNOW
Steve Goncalves, the father of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves, is speaking out against the potential release of graphic case information
He said during an appearance on News Nation's Banfield on Aug. 6 that wants to keep the autopsy reports "close to the chest"
The discussion over what case documents should remain under seal has intensified since Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison last month after pleading guilty to the November 2022 murders
Steve Goncalves, the father of one of the University of Idaho murder victims, is speaking out against the potential release of graphic crime scene photos and autopsy reports, saying some details should remain private out of respect for the victims and their families.
During an appearance on News Nation’s Banfield on Wednesday, Aug. 6, Goncalves said the families have been asked about which records they are comfortable having made public and that some go too far.
“No, they asked us about the toxicology report after we got that, we said we didn’t care,” he said. “The autopsies of some, others wanted to keep that, and I understand that has, you know, it has, like, a injury-by-injury write-ups, so it’s pretty gruesome. So that, those are the ones that we were, I think that’ll be the last one that we really will try to keep close to the chest.”
Goncalves emphasized that while some documents may be acceptable to release, others, like crime scene photos, should remain sealed. “Yeah, I believe all families have let that be known to the prosecuting team, that’s not anything that we we're interested in, and we’ve been worried that we would see those leaked at any time when you had, like, certain stories and certain things been leaked since the very beginning," he said.
"We’re afraid that we’d wake up one morning and that may be on, you know, might be on TV," Goncalves added.
Goncalves made it clear how deeply personal the issue is for him and the other families. “You don’t get that those are our children, and we’re not settling for that type of thing. I hope that we can give these kids some dignity, and we don’t have to go there.”
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, was one of four college friends — along with Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 — who were brutally stabbed to death in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
The discussion over what case documents should remain under seal has intensified since 30-year-old Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders last month, avoiding a trial and the death penalty. Instead, Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole on July 23. The former criminology student declined to provide insight into his motive.
At the sentencing, the Goncalves family were among several others who delivered victim impact statements. They had previously expressed frustration with Kohberger not facing the death penalty, and the family never getting an explanation for why he killed their daughter.
Judge Steven Hippler dubbed Kohberger “the worst of the worst” without any redeeming qualities, calling his actions that night an “unfathomable, senseless act of evil” and “the greatest tragedy that can be inflicted upon a person," PEOPLE previously reported.
Read the original article on People
Comments