The youngest sister of Kaylee Goncalves is speaking out following Bryan Kohberger’s petition asking a court to let him take back his guilty plea to killing four University of Idaho students.

Aubrie Goncalves, 20, spoke Tuesday on Today about why she has decided to publicly speak out for the first time in nearly four years after her sister was killed in her off-campus house along with students Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin and Madison Mogen.

“When everything happened, I was a sophomore in high school,” Aubrie said. “I was only 16 years old, and at the time I kind of just decided no words are going to bring back either one of my sisters, so I didn’t feel like saying anything.”

“And now that I’ve gotten older, almost four years has passed, I realized still that no words are going to bring back my sisters, but words are going to keep their memories alive,” she continued. “I’m not really one to put myself in a situation like this, I don’t really like to, but I know that I have to keep Maddie and Kaylee’s name alive, and that’s why I’m here today.”

Aubrie released a statement on Facebook on July 27, when Kohberger filed a petition asking a court to let him withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial after alleging that his lawyers manipulated him into making the deal by promising him better prison conditions and scaring him about the quality of life on death row.

“I wasn’t planning on saying anything today. But after seeing that the man who admitted in court to murdering four innocent people now wants to withdraw his guilty plea, I couldn’t stay silent. For him, this may be another legal filing. For me, it’s another day without my sister,” Aubrie wrote.

“I’m Aubrie Goncalves. I’m Kaylee’s little sister, and Maddie wasn’t just Kaylee’s best friend she was family. She was my big sister too. I don’t know life without November 13, 2022 anymore. Every birthday, every holiday, every family gathering, every milestone has two people missing who should still be here,” she wrote. “They were silenced without a choice, without a second thought. They were murdered while they were sleeping, in the place they should have been safest.

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“They never got the chance to tell their story. They never got the chance to ask for mercy. Mercy was never going to be shown to them. So why should the person convicted of taking their voices continue to have one?

“This isn’t a Netflix documentary. This isn’t a conspiracy theory. This isn’t entertainment. This is my life. These were real people. And every time this case is dragged back into the spotlight because of another filing, another theory, or another attempt to rewrite history, families like mine are forced to relive the worst day of our lives.”

Kohberger’s petition was filed just days before the release of Netflix’s three-part docuseries, The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare.

Kaylee’s father Steve Goncalves took part in the Netflix docuseries and spoke about Kohberger originally taking a plea deal that allowed him to avoid trial and the possibility of a death penalty conviction.

During the family’s time on Today, Steven said he would still like Kohberger to stand trial even if that meant the victim’s family members had to relive the details of the case.

“That’s never changed. I’ve been consistent through and through. The evidence was there. I want to honour all the work that the agents did,” he said. “I think it should’ve stood. We need to make case law. Idaho had a chance, we spent $8 million, we really were in a perfect position to put our foot down and say we’re not going to allow this to happen in our state. And I would’ve liked to see that happen.”

Kohberger filed the handwritten petition on July 27 from the Idaho Maximum Security Penitentiary where he is currently serving consecutive life sentences for the murders of Goncalves, Chapin, Kernodle and Mogen in a rental home near campus in 2022.

“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” Kohberger said in a statement provided to the New York Times.

It’s been just over one year since he pleaded guilty to the stabbing deaths.

In his request, Kohberger said his lawyers didn’t adequately represent him and that his guilty plea wasn’t knowingly or voluntarily entered because it “was induced by unkept promises” and threats, according to The Associated Press.

He offered only a few details in elaboration, saying they failed to disclose or review evidence that might have helped his case during plea discussions, like an “unknown hair in Chapin’s hand.”

On July 2, 2025, Kohberger told 4th District Judge Steven Hippler that he was pleading guilty “freely and voluntarily” because he was guilty and not because he had some other incentive.

He agreed to waive his rights to appeal and confirmed that he understood the punishments on the table for the crimes and assured the court that he wasn’t coerced by his lawyers or anyone else to make the plea.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed they would not seek the death penalty and would recommend that he be sentenced to four back-to-back life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 10 years.

“Have any other promises been made to you that have influenced your decision to plead guilty?” Kohberger was asked on the plea agreement document. He checked the box indicating “no.”

“Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” Hippler asked him in court a few days later.

“Yes,” Kohberger replied.

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said his office “stands ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure justice is fully carried out” following Kohberger’s handwritten petition.

“My heart goes out to the families of Madison, Kaylee, Xana, and Ethan, who have already endured unimaginable loss and now must face today’s deeply painful news,” Labrador wrote in a post on X.

— with files from The Associated Press