Steve Goncalves also shared his thoughts about the news that prosecutors would be seeking the death penalty in the case if suspect Bryan Kohberger is found guilty of murder.
The family of one of the four University of Idaho students found murdered in her off-campus home is speaking out after the college announced plans to raze the building.
"I feel the house is evidence, not just for the prosecution but for both sides," Steve Goncalves tells Inside Edition.
His daughter Kaylee Goncalves was stabbed to death inside the home on 1122 King Road alongside her friends Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
Goncalves points out that if the house is demolished, a jury will never be able to see the residence. A number of high-profile murder trials, from O.J. Simpson to Alex Murdaugh, have included trips by juries to see some of the residences referenced in the case.
"You kind of just want to scream from the mountaintops just let it be," says Shanon Gray, the attorney for the Goncalves family. "Don't touch the house until the trial is over."
He says that the college currently plans to raze the house this summer so that it can be gone by the start of the fall semester.
"They ask us what we think of demoing it and we say: 'Don't do it,'" says Gray. "And they say: 'Thanks, but we are demoing it.'"
Goncalves also shared his thoughts about the news that prosecutors would be seeking the death penalty in the case if suspect Bryan Kohberger is found guilty of murder.
If he is sentenced to death it would be by lethal injection, though a new law in Idaho allows for death by firing squad if the drugs needed for a lethal injection are not available.
Goncalves says that he would attend the execution.
"I know I'll be there," says Goncalves. "Other family members have told me they'll be there for the other victims."
Earlier this week, prosecuting attorney William Thompson provided five arguments to support his decision to pursue the death penalty in the notice obtained by Inside Edition Digital. He writes:
- “At the time the murder was committed the defendant also committed another murder.”
- “The murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.”
- “The defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life.”
- “The murder was committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, arson, rape, burglary, kidnapping or mayhem and the defendant killed, intended a killing, or acted with reckless indifference toward human life."
- “The defendant … has exhibited a propensity to commit murder which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society.”
Kohberger told a previous public defender that he expects to be exonerated at trial. In May, he declined to enter a plea after being formally charged with four counts of murder. The judge in the case entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
In a filing last week, his defense team questioned the strength of the case against their client, claiming that the DNA of three men had been discovered at the murder scene.
The filing also claims that there is a "total lack of DNA evidence from the victims in Mr. Kohberger’s apartment, office, home, or vehicle."
Kohberger will appear in court for a hearing next week at which time the judge is expected to rule on a number of motions. His trial is set to begin on October 2.
