The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy

The Chapin family gets the news that Bryan Kohberger has been arrested for the murders. They sleep well that night. It won’t bring Ethan back, but it gives Maizie and Hunter a better sense of safety as they head back to campus. Jim is glad they caught Kohberger and wants him to pay for his crime, but figures that Kohberger’s life is over regardless of the trial’s outcome. He asks: “You really think Steve Goncalves is going to sit back while he walks around freely?” (328).

The Goncalves family is also relieved to hear of Kohberger’s arrest. They don’t know what the connection between Kohberger and the victims is and they don’t understand how WSU could have sheltered him without realizing it. Now that Kohberger has been arrested, WSU students begin posting to social media about the many red flags they’d observed. Steve is angry that the university “hasn’t published any of the disciplinary problems” they faced with him (329). He wants that information to be released. He intends to “keep up the pressure on the prosecution the same way he did the cops” and is doing his own digital investigation” (329).