← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Alivea & Steve Goncalves React to Lifetime’s Idaho Murders Movie & Kohberger’s Sister Twist
00:17:02
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- [00:01]
A
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- [00:36]
B
Hey everybody, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead serious. If you thought Bryan Kohberger's guilty pleas and the multiple life sentences he got marked the end of his twisted and pathetic story, think again. They ended his real life story and I guess we can all be thankful for that. But his Lifetime story, that is just getting started. And by lifetime, I mean the cable network that never met a true crime headline that it couldn't dramatize. They have already tackled Jodi Arias, Amanda Knox, the Menendez brothers, and now they are turning their cameras towards Moscow, Idaho, and the convicted killer behind the Idaho student murders at 1122 King Road. Bryan Kohberger, sadly will always be the star of this horrible story. Right. Should be the four innocent kids who were killed. But the mystery of this horrible man, it's the kind of thing you can't shake, right? You cannot. You can't stop trying to figure out, how did he end up that way? How is he so unlike the rest of us? So with that starring role, they had to find an actor to play him. And they have landed one. His name is Miles Mary. And if you don't know him, he also appeared in the Lifetime epic Girl in the the Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez. And whether you can or you cannot imagine what it must have been like for the families of those four murdered students to imagine the worst part of their lives will now be a Lifetime movie. It is no doubt surreal when the directors start calling action. And earlier today I talked about all of this with Steve and Olivia Gonzalez, the father and sister of Kaylee Gonzalez, who was one of the four students murdered at that house on King Road. But I also want to call your attention to an interesting piece of information that just emerged in a court document, a real court document, part of the slow motion release of orders and evidence that have been under seal for almost three years. In that gag order, it seems that Brian Kohberger agreed to his plea deal, something that wiped the public trial right off the map. Right. And a lot of the details went with it. He agreed to that plea deal less than a week after learning that his sister Amanda had been added to the prosecution's witness list. Are those two things related? Are they unrelated? Was the thought of his big sister on the witness stand more than even a cold blooded multiple murderer could stomach? Here's my conversation with Steve and Olivia Gonzalez. Have a listen. Steve, Olivia, thank you so much for joining me. Let me start with you, Steve. You know, we seem to get a drip, drip, drip of information every couple of weeks, and I just wonder how you process all of it.
- [03:38]
C
You think it's over, and then something comes out, you know? Yeah. You hear about, you know, your phone starts blowing up and all this new information comes out, and you just kind of start searching just like everyone else. And it's. It's shocking every time because you think that it's over, but it just keeps on hitting you.
- [03:58]
B
And, Olivia, nobody knows the shoes that you're walking in. Right. Like, no one will ever understand what you guys are going through. And everybody processes information differently, too. Do you find yourself immediately wanting to know what the latest ungagged information is? I mean, you've got four kids. You're a really busy woman.
- [04:17]
D
Yeah, absolutely. I want to get the information as fast as I can. The day that the gag order was lifted, we asked if we could have everything that we could have upfront so that we could go through it on our own time, so that we could have time to process that. So, yeah, I mean, we're on pins and needles just like everyone else, waiting for that next drop of information.
- [04:37]
B
What was the reason for them not giving you everything right off the bat? Did they. Did they say they needed to redact it all first? Was there a logical reason?
- [04:44]
D
It's mainly the redactions, as well as the prosecutor's office isn't the custodian of many of these documents. Right. You know, they're actually owned by Moscow Police Department or the Idaho Police Department. And so the documents that they own, it's my understanding that they're actually held up with the court process, which is going through that very, very lengthy sealing, unsealing, redaction process. That's. That's my understanding.
- [05:05]
B
So as we learn more about the actual case, there's just this new development, and that is that sort of out of nowhere, a Lifetime movie has just been announced. I suppose it was inevitable, but they've already hired an actor. I think the working title is the Idaho Murders right now. But it's one of their Ripped from the Headlines series. And Steve, I was wondering if you could tell me your thoughts. I almost feel like, again, it's going to happen. The books and the movies, but no one walks in your shoes.
- [05:33]
C
This is different, a little bit different, because we're used to documentaries, but, yeah, this is like a movie. And it's shocking to know that somebody feels the confident that they can just tell your story about your child and, you know, Maddie, her best friend, the same people that, you know, you interacted with every day, you know, picking them up from school, taking them to parties and taking them to birthday parties and things. And to have somebody else just tell this story, it doesn't seem real. It seems like somebody's just reaching into your house and stealing your life and putting it on screen.
- [06:07]
B
Olivia, what do you think of the project, the Lifetime project?
- [06:09]
D
Yeah, it's really angering honestly, from my side. My sisters aren't. They're not a headline. They're not a Lifetime movie. And I get incredibly frustrated at the scripted aspect of it. Right. We've experienced this in real time, and it's very, very much far from something that is specifically made for an entertainment purpose. I think that that's the part that's the hardest for me to get over.
- [06:38]
B
Did they reach out to your family and ask you to be consultants or. Or to be, like, a part of this process?
- [06:44]
D
Oh, absolutely not. No, we have not been. When you saw the article is. When we saw the article, so we didn't have any inside information on that.
- [06:52]
B
And I guess the flip side of that is, like, would you have wanted to be a part of it, you know, just to ensure as much accuracy as possible in your sister's story?
- [07:02]
D
I think that's a really great question, and I think it's a difficult one for me to answer because personally, I don't want to be involved with anything that has just a pure entertainment aspect like that. Regarding my sister's lives and deaths, would.
- [07:15]
B
You have wanted to be a part of the project so that at least, you know, if it's inevitable and these things are going to happen, you could, you know, at least make it as accurate as possible?
- [07:25]
D
I personally don't want to be a part of anything that's strictly for an entertainment purpose. So while I would have appreciated them reaching out for what that stands for, I wouldn't have taken part in something that is a scripted, fictional, dramatic reenactment of our and my sister's real life.
- [07:47]
B
Any chance you. You're going to consider legal action? Because some people, you know, sue if their life rights Aren't purchased.
- [07:55]
D
Yeah, I really don't know, honestly, like, we are not, you know, very sue happy people. And the. The benefit of that, I don't really know because it's almost like whack a mole. Like, you get one down and, you know, four others pop up, and it's almost like, you know, where. Where is that line drawn at this point? We've had how many documentaries, we've had how many books, we've had how many articles. So, you know, while we don't agree with it, I don't know if it's something that we would ever, you know.
- [08:23]
B
Take legal action over as Lifetime continues. You know, it's. It's planned. The real true details, you know, are being unveiled with these documents that keep dropping. And the latest one, I remember looking at the video that was unsealed of Bryan Kohberger walking in and out of a Costco and an Albertsons just hours after the murders, and he just seemed as though he had no care in the world. He was getting coffee and some groceries, and my jaw just dropped at how normal his life went on. And I just wondered what you thought when you saw those videos.
- [09:00]
C
Creepy to see that guy, the way he walks and moves. It's just unnatural to my eyes. I could see why a lot of girls could pick up on that vibe very quickly. Yeah, it's disturbing to know that that was just afterwards. And you want to analyze every action that he did before and after and. Yeah, it's hard. It's hard to watch that.
- [09:29]
B
You know, Olivia, I think so many people on the outside of your story are just so perplexed by Bryan Kohberger and what he did. And I'm sure it doesn't come close to how your family feels about this and how confused you are about someone who could do this. And I wonder if that's why we are so voracious for every single ounce of new information or detail that might bring us closer to understanding even a little bit about how something this awful could happen, how someone this awful could walk among us.
- [10:04]
D
I don't think that we're ever gonna get closer to why. Because. Because I think that the why only makes sense in a psychopathic mind. So I don't want to understand his why personally, because that would make me more like him. Um, but as far as, you know, that. That human need to, you know, want to satisfy something in yourself that provides comfort. I get it. And personally, I think it's because of the gag order and how restrictive it was and how long lasting it was that essentially, they starved everyone out for information. So now every little piece that comes out is, you know, nitpicked and analyzed and overanalyzed over and over and over, attempting to satisfy that starvation that we've all had for so long.
- [10:49]
B
And yet it's not satisfying. At least not. Not to me.
- [10:51]
D
No. No. You know, you can sit there and look at that Costco video and. And I did. And, you know, the takeaway is. Is what is it? Is it more answers? Is it more questions? Is it applicable? Is it not? Yeah, it's absolutely creepy.
- [11:07]
B
I mean, I took away that, you know, he's heartless, right? He has no compunction. He's just done this terrible thing and, you know, life just goes on. He's going to get a coffee and have his, you know, Sunday morning. But in a way, we already knew that. We knew that this killer was so heartless. But maybe the video just helps reinforce that we weren't wrong before to think he was heartless. Because maybe before we just couldn't believe that it was true. We needed something else to prove that this man truly was a heartless monster. You know, I wonder if that helps us sort of understand him any further.
- [11:45]
C
Yeah. When you see that person walking around and, you know the actions that they've done, you. You want to tell yourself that you'd be able to identify and that they wouldn't be able to blend in. They wouldn't look like just a normal guy in the grocery store sitting next to you. So when you see it, it just creeps you out and gives you this, okay, this person isn't behaving in a manner that I would expect anyone who just done that. And I think that's a lot of the reasons why we all look at that and say, this just doesn't make sense.
- [12:17]
B
I think we all want to know that we can identify the evil that, like, walks among us. And when you look at that video, I mean, I feel for the Costco greeter who brushed up against that horror and didn't know it. I feel for the cashier who was standing right in front of that man and didn't know how dangerous that person was. I feel for the. The people with their groceries walking right past him, having no idea how close they came to evil among our flock, you know, and it just. It gives me the. The willies. I wanted to ask you, Olivia, about this new report that. That. That came out that. That Brian Coburger signed this plea deal just days after learning that his sister was going to be on the prosecution's witness list. Did it surprise you or did that give you insight at all?
- [13:01]
D
No, I don't really believe that causation is correlation there. I think that the plea deal was a long time coming. I think that probably what had more of an impact on the plea deal being taken was the fact that the alternate perpetra, their argument was struck down. They wouldn't be able to take that into the courtroom. So that door closed. They didn't have any more to open up. Time was winding down. I think it had very, very little to do with his sister being on that prosecutor's list.
- [13:32]
B
Steve, what do you think the prosecution thought it might get from putting Amanda on the stand?
- [13:37]
C
There's been a long backstory of things that been suggested that she. You know, I think that there was. People believe that she had seen him with a knife. Personally, I think that would have been something that would have came up. And talking about the murder weapon, predating, even moving out here, would be very damning to their case. And I don't think they were able to ever give a replacement for what was missing. So the time was running out. And even having his family and all those people that probably didn't help to remind him that he was cooked and the evidence was there and he wasn't going to get out to be able to go recover any of those things. This time, he totally ran out to try to swap one for another.
- [14:24]
B
Steve, I know there are a lot of members of law enforcement and people involved in the case, even in an ancillary way, who have so much love and respect for your family and for you in particular. Has anybody reached out to you lately to give you any intelligence on how Bryan Kohberger is faring in. In the lockup? Especially since we already got that report before of those inmates who were screaming and making his life hell. You know, I just wonder if you're getting these updates to maybe feel some sense of justice continuing.
- [14:53]
C
Yeah, I have heard that he isn't doing so well in that prison system that he's in. In the block that he's at. He's very adamant that he. He has rights in there that need to be respected. And I think he's starting to learn that, you know, you picked the Northwest, you picked Idaho. You picked a place where we don't spend a lot of money on people that we throw the key away on. So, you know, you picked their state. Now you got to live it. You don't do the crime if you can't do the time. And he's going to be doing the time. And I've been hearing a lot about how the amount of noise that he's making in there isn't doing him any favors.
- [15:31]
B
You know, as time goes on and the Idaho murders become smaller in the rear view mirror for us, there will be a day when you have almost forgotten many of the details of what happened at 1122 King Road. But for those families, it will be as raw in the future as it was this summer during sentencing when Olivia gave that unbelievably raw, powerful victim's impact statement. It will be as raw for them a year from now, two years from now, 4, 5, 10, 20 years from now as it was the day they found out they lost their loved one. Right? Those families will feel this way differently than we will. And I often think of them when I hear new news, when something is released, when. When the gag order drips something else out to us, they're usually the first people I think of. I wonder how this is landing with them. Listen, we're a community here. I'm not a super religious person, but if I were going to send prayers to anybody, those would be the folks that I send prayers to because something tells me they can hear them and I know for sure they need them. If you're watching this episode on YouTube, I would love it if you'd hit the like button and tell me what you think about this case in the comments and also about some of this new information that's coming out now that the gag order is, you know, finally yielding. If you're listening on Apple or Spotify, please make sure to follow and also leave a quick review. I love hearing what you think. Even when you're upset about something, it does help us keep telling the stories that matter to you and that makes this podcast better for all of us. Again, thank you so much for listening. Thank you for watching. Thank you for just being here with Atlas and me. I'm Ashley Banfield. And remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious.