Kaylee Goncalves’ brother, Steven Goncalves, has found love in an unexpected way.
One month after Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison for the 2022 murder of Kaylee and her three friends, Steven confirmed that he is engaged to journalist Olivia Vitale — a reporter he met during the investigation.
“There is a bright spot,” Steven shared on the Monday, August 18, episode of Newsnation’s Banfield. “I did meet Olivia. I do have my partner for the rest of my life and I’ll hold on to that.”
The pair initially met when Vitale was covering the death of Kaylee and her three friends. Things didn’t turn romantic, however, until a year later when the independent journalist was filming a documentary.
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“We were friends first, and then I invited him to — I was filming a documentary with NBC — and I wanted Steven to be a part of it, and it was on set where we bonded,” Vitale told host Brian Entin. “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.”
According to the couple, Steven’s late sister was a follower of Vitale’s work and a fan of true crime before she was murdered by Kohberger.
As a result, Vitale said she can’t help but have an attachment to a case that captivated the nation.
“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,” Vitale explained. “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.”
In the early hours of November 13, 2022, police say Kohberger entered Kaylee’s home wearing a black mask before stabbing the student and her friends Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle to death.
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Kohberger pleaded guilty to all four murders in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. In July, he was sentenced to four life sentences in prison.
Although Olivia is still interested in sharing compelling stories across the country, she is also determined to find a stable home for her and Steven.
“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,” she said. “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.”
