MOSCOW, Idaho (NewsNation) — The father of one of the murdered University of Idaho students says new evidence shows that his daughter fought back against her attacker, according to multiple reports.
Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves told CBS News “There’s evidence to show that she awakened and tried to get out of that situation, but she was assaulted and stabbed.”
Kristi Goncalves, Kaylee’s mother, told CBS she believes her daughter wasn’t able to escape because the body of Madison Mogen, her best friend, was blocking the exit.
Goncalves, 21, Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, were all killed in an off-campus house on Nov. 13, 2022.
Washington State University criminology student Bryan Kohberger, 28, was charged last December with four counts of first-degree murder and a felony burglary charge in connection with the killings. He was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania before being extradited to Latah County, Idaho.
Last week, an Idaho judge heard arguments about whether cameras should be allowed to remain in the courtroom for proceedings in Kohberger’s trial.
The hearing at the Latah County Courthouse came after both the defense and prosecution teams asked Judge John Judge to disallow cameras in the courtroom. Witness safety and fears a jury would focus more on the media presence than the case were among the concerns raised.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Kohberger’s defense team said even though the media is doing its job, people on social media still take the images and manipulate them. They’ve argued in previous court filings that media outlets have violated stipulations that camera operators do not focus solely on Kohberger.
“A defendant on trial for a specific crime is entitled to his day in court, not a stadium, or a city or a nationwide arena. … Similarly, Kohberger is entitled to defend himself against capital criminal charges without cameras focused on his fly,” his lawyers wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.