More than three years after Kaylee Goncalves and her three friends were murdered by Bryan Kohberger, the college student’s parents still have one question they desperately want answered.
“I would ask him, ‘Why? Please, please, please. Do you not think that our family has been through enough?’” Kaylee’s mother, Kristi Goncalves, told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Thursday, June 4. “Do you not think what you did to our daughter — when we found out that you stabbed her 38 times with a seven-inch KaBar military model knife, 24 times to her face, to her head, 11 times to her chest and neck, and three defensive wounds as she sat up in that bed, and she fought for her life? … Can you just tell me why? I’m a mother, and you have a mother, too. Can you please just tell me why?”
Kaylee’s father, Steve Goncalves, added, “That’s all you would have to do. Explain to us how that happened and what other weapon you used.”
In July 2025, Kohberger, 31, pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. The plea deal was condemned by the Goncalves family because it allowed Kohberger to avoid the death penalty and did not require him to reveal details of his murders.
As Kohberger remains behind bars, Kristi struggles not knowing what the motive was for the killer’s highly publicized crimes.
“That is something that I still deal with daily. I am constantly thinking, why?” she said. “Why our kids? Why that house?”
In honor of Kaylee’s memory, both Kristi and Steve are trying to turn their pain into purpose by launching a foundation that aims to help other families get answers in their cases.
The Kaylee Goncalves Foundation, which operates under the name Murder Has a Name, has a mission statement online stating, “We are committed to expanding access to advanced forensic DNA technology, investigative resources and critical case funding so that victims are never forgotten and families are not left without options.”
Kristi and Steve are confident their daughter would be proud to see what her parents have been working on.
“To think of her thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, I helped such and such’s case,’ there’s a meaning, a reason to this,” Kristi shared. “I know she’s rooting us on. She would give us an A for effort.”
Steve added, “She is directly playing a role in us doing this, and as long as we’re successful, as long as we keep working and keep doing what we’re doing today, then we can get these cases solved.”
As Kohberger remains behind bars at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, Kristi holds out hope that he may decide to answer burning questions about the case.
“Maybe one day he’ll choose to speak to a journalist and will spill the beans,” Kristie shared. “Maybe he’ll hold onto it forever. But there’s still a chance. … It is hard not having those answers. It’s incredibly horrible.”
At the same time, she is grateful to at least know who is responsible for taking her daughter’s life too soon.
“I have to put myself in a position to accept the fact that the most important answer we do have, and that’s who did it,” she revealed. “When I’m sitting thinking we don’t know why, I also think that some people don’t even have answers to who did it. I try to be mindful of that.”
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