She didn’t use a literal megaphone, but Alivea Goncalves didn’t need to. Her victim statement to the man who took her sister’s life was pointed, direct, and has been gaining a lot of attention.
During the sentencing trial of Bryan Kohberger, who is convicted of taking the lives of four University of Idaho students, Goncalves gave a powerful and heartfelt statement.
Now, Goncalves is speaking out about what she felt while saying those words, and what she put into the now infamous statement.
Alivea Goncalves’ impassioned victim statement is getting national media attention
Goncalves is the big sister of Kaylee Goncalves, who, along with three other Idaho University students, was fatally stabbed by Bryan Kohberger in November of 2022.
At Kohberger’s sentencing trial, family and friends of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Xana’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, were able to give “victim impact statements” to detail how the case had affected them.
Goncalves’ statement was one of the most memorable.
“You’re a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser who thought you were so much smarter than everybody else,” she said in a portion of her statement.
In a recent interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, Goncalves spoke about how she delivered and wrote her statement.
“Man, was he mad”: Alivea Goncalves talks about how she felt giving the statement
“I was prepared to be arrested that day,” Alivea Goncalves said, meaning she thought her words could land her with a contempt ruling.
General rules apply when victims make statements in court.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a person can be found in contempt for their victim statement if they are disruptive by yelling or refusing to stop speaking, or for using obscene or threatening language.
But none of that was in play for Alivea.
During the interview with ABC, Alivea said she was “fueled by seeing the rage on his face. Man … was he mad. That was obviously a big point of why I did what I did — to make him feel small.”
Alivea’s statement included hypothetical questions about why Kohberger chose Kaylee as a target.
“I had one shot at it and I was gonna make the most of it,” Alivea Goncalves said of her statement.
She said that she did alter her speech slightly when learning that Kohberger’s mother and sister were in the courtroom.
“I didn’t anticipate his mother and sister being there,” she told ABC.
“And I had specific lines that were directed towards his relationship with his mother and directed towards the shame that he has caused his family, and how the ultimate move of a coward is for him to sit behind bars while the rest of his family has to bear the real weight, the shame of what he’s done.”
“I stalked the stalker”: Alivea Goncaleves said she researched Kohberger before drafting her statement
Still, Alivea said, she was determined to speak her truth.
Alivea had years to prepare her statement as investigators searched for a suspect.
Eventually, DNA on a knife sheath left at the scene drew police to Kohberger, who avoided capital punishment with a plea deal for four consecutive life sentences.
In her statement, Alivea mentioned things about Kohberger that were not publicly known, like the fact that he dabbled in trying to become a rap artist.
She told ABC that she spent time and effort digging up facts about Kohberger so she could use it in her statement.
“I mean, I stalked the stalker. I found everything that I could online from the beginning of time to now. It fueled me to know that I got you pegged,” she explained in the ABC interview.
And during her final, memorable sentence of her victim statement, Alivea admonished Kohberger for brutally attacking people as they slept, saying that her sister would have “kicked your f*cking a**”.
“I got up there knowing that my speech wasn’t to Kaylee and Maddie — it was for them. … I just wanted to reclaim their power,” she said to ABC.
Netizens support Alivea’s victim statement and say should could have even gone further
