Idaho killings: Victim’s father reacts to DNA evidence challenge

  • Four University of Idaho college students were killed Nov. 13, 2022
  • Bryan Kohberger was arrested in connection to the deaths a month later
  • Kaylee Goncalves' father says defense's effort is 'a sign of desperation'

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(NewsNation) — The father of one of the victims in the 2022 University of Idaho student killings called suspect Bryan Kohberger’s latest effort to get his case thrown out “a sign of desperation.”

Steve Goncalves, whose daughter Kaylee was one of four killed in her shared off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, reacted to the latest developments in the yearslong saga on NewsNation’s “Banfield” on Thursday night.

Kohberger’s attorneys asked a judge to dismiss most of the evidence in the case, alleging the way police tracked him down was flawed, the investigation’s DNA tracing was an invasion of privacy and the items police subsequently found should be thrown out.

“They’re definitely throwing everything out and trying to get some chance,” Goncalves said. “That is (his lawyer’s) job. She has to do everything. She has to exhaust every avenue that she possibly has, so we don’t take it personal.”

He said he thinks Thursday’s hearing was favorable for the prosecution.

“We try to work with the prosecution to make sure that we’re all on the same page. And yeah, I think they have a strong case,” Goncalves said.

Arguments resume Friday, as Kohberger faces a trial set to begin in August. He is accused of killing Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20 on Nov. 13, 2022.

Crime

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