Kaylee Goncalves’ younger sister speaks out for the first time about Idaho murders

The younger sister of Idaho murders victim Kaylee Goncalves has explained why she’s speaking out for the first time over the tragic loss of her sibling.

Aubrie, now 20, was just 16-years-old when her big sister was killed by Bryan Kohberger in November 2022, and has purposely stayed quiet for nearly four years.

Now, though, she’s decided to issue a statement and take part in a TV appearance, in an effort to keep Kaylee and fellow victim Madison Mogen’s ‘memories alive,’ whom Aubrie also considers to be like a sister.

Appearing on the TODAY Show on Tuesday (4 August), Aubrie explained: “So when everything happened, I was a sophomore in high school.

“I was only 16 years old and at the time, I kind of just decided that no words were going to bring back either one of my sisters, so I didn’t feel like saying anything.”

Aubrie has appeared on the Today Show after releasing a lengthy statement (Today Show)

She reflected: “And now that I’ve gotten older, you know, almost four years has passed. I realise still that no words are going to bring back my sisters, but words are what’s going to keep their memories alive.

“And 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 names alive, and that’s why I’m here today.”

Aubrie has two other sisters, Alivea and Autumn Goncalves, with eldest Alivea being the primary public spokesperson for the family since the tragedy in 2022.

Best friends and University of Idaho students Kaylee and Madison Mogen, both 21, were found on the upper floor of their off-campus college home, having tragically been stabbed to death.

The murdered bodies of Ethan Chapin and his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, both 20, were discovered on the ground floor.

Last year, Kohberger, who was arrested 47 days after the murders, was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, and an additional 10 years for burglary. He took a plea deal and pleaded guilty, which allowed him to avoid a trial and a possible death penalty conviction.

However, he has since petitioned to abandon his guilty plea and undergo a trial, with the filing being issued days before the release of a new three-part Netflix doc.

Aubrie said that 'no words are going to bring' her sisters but 'words are what’s going to keep their memories alive' (Today Show)

On 29 July, the streaming service released a new three-part docuseries featuring bodycam footage, texts, and interviews with loved ones, called The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare.

The night before it was released, on 28 July, Aubrie released a statement on Facebook on The Goncalves Family Page, publicly addressing her older sister’s death for the first time, hitting out at conspiracy theorists, and slamming Kohberger’s petition.

She wrote that she ‘wasn’t planning to say anything’ but ‘couldn’t stay silent’ after ‘seeing that the man who admitted in court to murdering four innocent people now wants to withdraw his guilty plea’.

Aubrie also criticised theorists who ‘ignore the evidence because it doesn’t fit the narrative they’ve convinced themselves is true’ and that ‘watching strangers turn their murders into content hurts almost as much as losing them’.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle were murdered on 13 November 2022 (Instagram/@kayleegoncalves)

Aubrie Goncalves’ statement in full

A word from our youngest, Aubrie:

1,352 days.

That’s how long it’s been since Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, and Xana Kernodle were murdered.

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.

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.

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. 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.

For years, people have ignored the evidence because it doesn’t fit the narrative they’ve convinced themselves is true. They ignore the DNA recovered from the knife sheath left beside my sister, the surveillance footage tracking the white Hyundai Elantra before and after the murders, the cellphone data documenting his movements that night, his phone disconnecting from the network during the window of the murders before reconnecting afterward, the repeated trips investigators documented to the King Road neighborhood before November 13, the eyewitness testimony, the forensic evidence, the digital evidence, and the countless hours law enforcement spent piecing everything together until it all pointed to one person.

Then there are the people who insist it would have been impossible for one person to commit these murders in the amount of time investigators established.

It wasn’t impossible.

Experts explained why. The victims were asleep or caught completely off guard. They were attacked inside the same home, on two floors, in rapid succession. A large fixed blade knife is capable of causing fatal injuries within seconds. It’s a horrifying reality, but it is a scientifically possible one. Refusing to accept that doesn’t change the facts.

What hurts almost as much as losing them is watching strangers turn their murders into content.

People make videos for views.

People create conspiracy theories for attention.

People argue over evidence as if this is some fictional mystery they get to solve.

When they’re done, they close the app and go back to their lives.

We don’t.

We walk past an urn every day holding what we have left of Kaylee.

That’s our reality.

People tell families like mine to “move on,” but how do you move on when your sister’s life has been reduced to an urn sitting in your family’s home? How do you move on when every birthday, every holiday, every accomplishment reminds you of everything she should still be here for?

You get to put this case away when you’re tired of hearing about it.

My family doesn’t.

We live it.

Every single day.

So I’ll leave you with this.

Why should the man convicted of taking four innocent voices continue to have a platform loud enough to reopen old wounds, while Kaylee, Maddie, Xana, and Ethan will never get another chance to tell the world who they were?