The father of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four University of Idaho students who were fatally stabbed in their off-campus home in 2022, explained why he moved the podium to face the man convicted of his daughter's murder, during his sentencing hearing on July 23.

Steve Goncalves read his victim impact statement directly to Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty to four charges of first-degree murder earlier this month, at the hearing, in which Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

"He’s a coward, he’s been protected by the court since day one," Goncalves told NBC affiliate KTVB of Boise, Idaho, after the hearing ended. "I wanted to let him know that I was directing everything toward him and his days of being protected are coming to an end."

When asked if Goncalves planned to move the podium, he replied: “I remember reading it saying, ‘Do not move,’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m moving it.’”

"I wanted to make it as difficult as possible, I knew my daughter was going to do the speech … and I was like, he’s going to hate this, he’s going to hate this next set of people that are going to come forward and rip into him and expose him for the trash that he really was," he added.

Goncalves' daughter, along with her childhood best friend Madison Mogen, and couple Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found dead with multiple stab wounds on Nov. 13, 2022.

Following a six-week manhunt for the killer, Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30, 2022. Kohberger maintained his innocence for more than two years, and on July 2, 2025, he pleaded guilty to all of the charges against him to avoid the death penalty.

Goncalves was the first of his family members to read a statement during the hearing.

"Today, we are here to finish what you started," Goncalves said. "Today, we are here to prove to the world that you picked the wrong families, wrong state, the wrong police officers, the wrong community."

Goncalves called Kohberger "foolish," "careless" and "stupid."

"You’re a joke, complete joke," Goncalves said.

"The world’s watching because of the kids, not because of you. Nobody cares about you. You’re not worth the time, the effort to be remembered," he added. "In time, you will be nothing but two initials, forgotten to the wind, no visitors, nothing more than initials on an otherwise unmarked tombstone."

Goncalves' older daughter, Alivea Goncalves, also read a statement, which received applause from the courtroom after she told Kohberger that if he didn't attack her sister while she was sleeping, she would have "kicked your f------ ass."

Kohberger declined to address the court after all of the impact statements had been read at the hearing.