Is this the first… nice twist in the ongoing saga of the University of Idaho murders? Because Steven Goncalves, Jr. has something new to smile about these days.
After Bryan Kohberger brutally murdered four students — Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Maddie Mogen, and his sister Kaylee Goncalves — a dark cloud of grief and confusion was cast over Steve’s life, as well as much of the area. But after several months, a silver lining did appear.
The brother of Kohberger’s possible target met someone covering the murders… and the two fell in love!
Related: The Gruesome Theory Behind Why Kohberger Disfigured Kaylee
Olivia Vitale is an independent journalist who has been covering the murders on her TikTok and YouTube channels. She met Steven while interviewing him about how he’s dealing with Kaylee’s death, and there was just… something there. In the most unlikely of circumstances! She told NewsNation‘s Brian Entin she was working on a documentary and ended up getting close to the family:
“I wanted Steven to be a part of it, and it was on set where we bonded. We were skipping rocks, you can see in the documentary, and that was really when we first really met, and we just became best friends after that.”
In her YT video on the unlikely romance, she explains they started talking on the phone for hours, and the friendship just blossomed. And now? They’re engaged! Wow!
They’re even planning a future together! She declared:
“Eventually, we would like to homestead, get some chickens, raise a family together, so I probably won’t have as much time to be on the road, and I’ll be, kind of, more working from home. We’ll do some stories together and help other families, because that’s really what it boils down to, is helping other people and giving them a voice.”
If you’ve followed the case, you may wonder how the righteously angry Goncalves family allowed a true crime journalist to get close to them in the first place. That’s another twist!
It turns out Kaylee was into true crime — and was a fan of Olivia’s work! She explained:
“She shared it with her family a few days before her passing; that really hit me hard. And so from the beginning, this case has been a bit different than the others, because of the personal connection with the victim.”
Wow! The crazy thing is, it sounds like if Kaylee were still around, she’d have been stoked for her brother to end up with this journalist she watched! Of course, that was never the plan for Olivia, but:
“The world works in weird ways. I never saw this coming. I never thought that I would fall in love with her brother. But life is weird.”
As for Steven, he says he and the rest of the family are still upset about the way this all turned out — with Kohberger getting to avoid both a public trial and the death penalty with his last minute plea change. But now there’s something nice about all this:
“But there’s a bright spot. I did meet Olivia. I do have my partner for the rest of my life, and I’ll hold on to that.”
Wow. Life really is weird! See Steven and Olivia tell their story (below)!
[Image via NewsNation/YouTube/Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram.]
The post Idaho Murders Twist: Kaylee Goncalves’ Brother Engaged To True Crime Journalist Covering The Killings! appeared first on Perez Hilton.