Alivea Goncalves, the grieving sister of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves has defended the surviving roommate who didn’t call 911 after coming face-to-face with murder suspect Bryan Kohberger on the night of the brutal killings, saying she was ‘probably really, really scared.’
She said that no one should blame Dylan Mortensen, 21, for waiting eight hours to contact police after encountering a creepy black-clad figure, when she opened her bedroom door after hearing a noise a little after 4 a.m. on the night of the bloody rampage.
‘She was probably really, really scared. Until we have any more information, I think everyone should stop passing judgments because you don’t know what you would do in that situation,’ Alivea told NewsNation, also noting that the surviving roommate is young.
Alivea said she was shocked to learn that Kohberger had allegedly visited her 21-year-old sister’s off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho at least a dozen times before the murders on November 13.
‘We had no idea. She had no idea. I had no idea that true evil was genuinely watching them,’ Alivea said.
Alivea said that she had spoken with Kaylee every day before her sister was killed along with her roommates Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20.
‘That’s been the hardest part of this is to sit back and look at the totality of it. When my sister was FaceTiming me about a new egg bites recipe, he was planning his next visit to the home,’ she said.
‘That’s really difficult not to wish that you had done more and wish that you had known more.
‘But, it’s just the first step. A lot more evidence will come out,’ Alivea told the news outlet.
She said she believes Kohberger may have been watching the probe play out online.
‘A lot of that comes from the fact that he had visited the home so many times before, late at night and early hours. He’s presented this pattern of behavior,’ Alivea said.
‘He went back to the home the morning of, before police had been called, I think to see if his circus, so to say, had started to unfold.
‘I think he would not have been able to refrain from engaging with the online communities, the theories, the conspiracies, and everything in between.
She said her family is setting up a foundation in Kaylee’s memory.
‘We still have such a long road ahead of us. The relief that we all felt having a suspect in custody was, I can’t even describe it, like the weight of the world was lifted from our shoulders,’ Alivea concluded.
