Pankeys verdict was significant for three reasons, Rourke said. At the time of Jonelle's disappearance, Steven Pankey lived in Greeley, Colorado. President Ronald Reagan mentioned Jonelle Matthews in a speech on March 7, 1985, from Room 450 of the Old Executive Office Building. when he died at the age of 20. He was first held without bail at the Ada County Jail in Boise, Idaho before he was extradited to Colorado for court proceedings. She felt she had no choice but to tell her dad he was being too intrusive in her marriage. Her remains were found this week", "Jonelle Renee Matthews (12) Greeley CO, 1984", "Remains ID'd as those of Colorado girl missing 34 years", "Idaho Man Convicted in 1984 Murder of 12-Year-Old Colorado Girl", "After haunting Colorado for three decades, there is new hope in the Jonelle Matthews case", "Jonelle Matthews discovery provides closure for family, but new chapter is only just begun", "Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI)COLD CASE FILESJonelle Matthews", "Greeley girl's disappearance still a mystery after 25 years", "Colorado girl's disappearance still a mystery", "Jonelle Matthews disappearance anniversary: Timeline of events", "After 30 Years, They've Found Jonelle Matthews. Kerns set a Dec. 10 deadline for prosecutors to file a response to the defenses motion regarding the release of juror information, noting media would need to apply before the same deadline if they would like to get involved because he would not plan to make the document public if it is granted. The retrial of Steven Pankey is scheduled for October 4, 2022. It's official: Jamal Murray, Nuggets are in Phoenix's heads now. However, she told the court it was the only car to ever catch fire on their property. However, seeing her sisters face led her to stop questioning Pankey. Steven Pankey, 71, will spend life behind . Steven Dana . In a matter of three days, on October 12, 2020, police arrested Pankey for kidnapping and first-degree murder in Jonelle's case. He is a suspect but the heat has not been confirmed by a trial or jury. Prior to this, Pankey had constant problems with law enforcement, Hicks said, and he was suing people left and right. 7 death records, 193 followers 8.63k+ favorites, 201 followers 28.0k+ favorites. @48hours. "He argued with a bank teller and the police were called," he said. While the search was going on, Steve Pankey, a former Idaho governor candidate, made himself a person of interest by making allegedly incriminating statements and also discussing information about the crime the police had withheld from the public. 22 birth records, View Now The Family Seeks Her Killer", "Former Idaho gubernatorial candidate charged with killing girl, 12, who vanished in 1984", "25 years after Greeley girl vanished, no clues", "Greeley PD taking a new look Jonelle Matthews case", "Three decades after she disappeared from her Greeley home, memories of Jonelle Matthews remain", "Remains Found in Weld County Identified", "Remains of Jonelle Matthews dug up by work crew 34 years after she vanished, Greeley police sayThen 12-year-old disappeared after middle school Christmas concert", "Man Charged With Murder in 1984 Killing of Colorado Girl Taken From Home", "Former candidate for ID governor investigated in 1984 Colorado cold case killing", "Steve Pankey, Person Of Interest In Jonelle Matthews Case, Hopes Girl's Killer Is Found", "Suspect Steven Pankey Appears In Greeley Court In Jonelle Matthews 1984 Murder Case", "Mistrial declared on murder, kidnapping charges in Jonelle Matthews caseSteve Pankey was accused of killing Jonelle Matthews in 1984. [21], Pankey's ex-wife, Angela Hicks,[21] said they started their trip on December 22, two days after Jonelle's disappearance. While Harris pressed on with questions about Pankey talking about these cases, Hicks said he was fixated on Jonelles case to an extreme extent compared to the others. Nearly 38 years after he murdered Jonelle Matthews and buried her body in a field, Steve Pankey was sentenced to life in prison on Monday afternoon. Pankey also reportedly dug up his yard on their return, and there was the mysterious case of a car bursting into flames which Pankey disposed of at a local salvage yard. Jonelle's shoes and shawl were near a heater in the family room, a place she often sat. Si vous ne souhaitez pas que nos partenaires et nousmmes utilisions des cookies et vos donnes personnelles pour ces motifs supplmentaires, cliquez sur Refuser tout. He stopped her on news coverage about a 12-year-old who had gone missing from her Greeley home. His father was a Youth for Christ leader, and Pankey claimed that he came from a family with a long history of homosexuals and hellfire/brimstone Baptists. In 1975, he enlisted with the US army in Denver but was discharged precisely one year later. Pankey pleaded not guilty for those crimes. He testified that in the past he had lied about his knowledge of the case. Pankeys lawyers said his behavior may have seemed unusual but they argued police did not secure hard evidence against him and failed to clear an alternate suspect who died in 2007. Tune into Dateline on Feb. 17 at 9 p.m. EST on NBC for the full story. Keeler: Avs fans, could we please skip Valeri Nichushkin, Nazem Kadri revisionist history? "The evidence in this case will prove that the defendant is guilty of murder in the first degree and second-degree kidnapping. Second, the verdict gave the family and community closure. [4] Steven Pankey was sentenced to life imprisonment on October 31, 2022, after his arrest in 2020. During both visits to Greeley for her testimony, Hicks visited Jonelles grave and left a pink rose with a purple ribbon for her. He also said it happened after his . In 2020, Steven Pankey, who says he never met Jonelle, was charged with murder after repeatedly making public statements that inserted him into the case, including drawing up a list of persons of. A status hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. May 3. Critics say theyll make bias worse. In 2020, a jury went to mistrial because they couldn't agree on if Pankey was guilty. Hollywood writers going on strike over fair pay in streaming era, Missing teens likely among 7 people found dead in Oklahoma, authorities say, Fish contaminated with "forever chemicals" found in nearly every state, Gordon Lightfoot, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" singer, dies at 84, CBS News Poll: How GOP primary race could be Trump v. Trump fatigue, At least 6 dead after dust storm causes massive pile-up on Illinois highway, Oklahoma governor signs gender-affirming care ban for kids, U.S. tracking high-altitude balloon first spotted off Hawaii, Bob Lee died from three stab wounds, medical examiner says. After the last time Hicks spoke to Pankey in 2019, she never wanted to speak to him again. Even still, Dateline NBC is diving into what exactly happened to Matthews and how Pankey is connected to her disappearance. The Avalanche championship dynasty crumbles less than a year after hoisting the Stanley Cup. She remained missing for almost 35 years as her family and the police searched for her. While living in Idaho, Pankey continued to have brushes with the law. The third reason: Hicks would finally be safe from Pankey. A jury found Steve Pankey, 71, guilty Monday morning of false reporting . When it comes to landscape Did you know Your Butcher, Frank has super tasty delicatessen salads? She felt it was in Gods hands after she showed up and told the truth twice. It was suggested that his discharge might have been related to homosexual activities as right after being released, he said that he left the gay lifestyle and repented for it. He said they were planning to leave town the next day for a Christmas visit with family members in Big Bear Lake, California, and had already loaded their car. Did Carl serve in the military or did a war or conflict interfere with his life? Walsh said they may file one or two more pleadings. Pankey told her he needed the money because he wouldnt tell Sun Valley police what they wanted to know about Jonelle Matthews without gaining immunity first. However, it was more than a year later, on October 13, 2020, that the police announced Pankey had been indicted on charges related to first-degree murder and kidnapping in Jonelle's death. Who were the people in Carl's life? But he was the father of her two children, she said, so taking the stand against him came with complications. "They've got full SWAT gear on," Pankey said in an interview with CBS affiliate KMTV and he said, "they took my laptop, cell phones, they took a bunch of pics ", A year after authorities searched Steve Pankey's home, a grand jury handed down an eight-page indictment against Pankey on October 9, 2020. [3] Her remains were discovered on July 24, 2019, by construction workers putting in a new pipeline 15mi (24km) from her home. Without those pieces of information, I dont think we could have disproven what the defendant wrote in that alibi letter, Rourke said. On November 2, 2021, jurors got the case. He first faced court for the counts against him in 2021, yet it ended in a mistrial when the jury could only reach a unanimous decision on one count, that of false reporting. Steve Pankey testified in October 2021 in his trial for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of Jonelle Matthews in Weld District Court in Greeley. " I was home with my then wife and my 5-year-old son.". Right after Jonelles remains were discovered, detectives traveled to Pankeys residence to question him, but he refused to cooperate. He was not convicted on either of these allegations. Pankey, Hicks and their family members joined together later that year on Aug. 6, to celebrate their sons life on what was supposed to be his 21st birthday. I guess the main thing I can say is relief was what went through my mind when the guilty verdict was read, Hicks said. He says Norris Drake, whose mother lived across the street from Jonelle, is the killer. From the mid-90s until 2019, the information Hicks gave to police sat there because the Greeley Police Department didnt investigate the file sent from Sun Valley. Thats why its so important to That great looking new building in Wiggins? In 2018, Pankey made a long-shot bid for the Republican nomination for governor of Idaho, but that would be the beginning of his downfall. [13] She also said that after their return, Pankey forced her to read to him newspaper articles concerning the case. He requested Hicks grab copies of the Greeley Tribune and The Denver Post, she said. But in 2021, the jury convicted Pankey, and he now sits behind bars for at least 20 years, until hes 91 years old. In October 2021, a year after former Idaho gubernatorial candidate Steven Pankey was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews, he went to trial. Pankey testified he didnt know Hicks took any of these measures back in the 90s. Pankey's defense offered a different theory. [21] Mogensen said that while there had been sibling rivalry between her and Jonelle in 1984, Jonelle's killing eliminated the possibility for the two siblings to grow closer. There is some discussion online at websleuths and reddit that Carl may have changed his name to Carl Kassem Jetson just a few months before his murder (See. This file is auto-generated */!function(c,l){"use strict";var e=!1,o=!1;if(l.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage);else if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(!t);else if(! Jonelle Matthews: Roundup of Greeley Tribunes reporting on case, Steve Pankey trials. [2] In 1994, Jonelle was declared legally dead. Although it was intimidating and difficult to sit 10 feet away from Pankey and testify against him, Hicks was always told by her father to do the right thing and tell the truth. This initiated Hicks discussing the timeline with law enforcement, who discovered Pankey had previously said their family left for California on Dec. 19, instead of the 22nd. In the 1990s, suspicions about Pankey's interest in Jonelle arose when he said something that immediately made Hicks want to research the case, she said. Heres where Idaho governor candidates stand by CYNTHIA SEWELL, The following appeared in the Idaho Statesman on APRIL 07, 2018 09:59 PM (updated April 9 2018). Steve Pankey is charged with killing Jonelle Matthews. A few days later, Hicks testified that she went to the Sun Valley Police Department wanting to confirm or deny if her husband did come into the department saying he had information about Jonelle. Pankey told the newspaper that he did not know Jonelle or the Matthews family and had only heard about them following the disappearance. Devin Booker sulked. [11], For several weeks after the disappearance, law enforcement placed Jonelle's birth mother, Terri Vierra-Martinez, under surveillance without telling her that Jonelle was missing. Do you really think I would hurt her when she looked so much like you? Pankey responded. Jurors found Steve Pankey, 71, guilty of felony murder, second-degree kidnapping and false reporting in the disappearance and death of Jonelle Matthews in 1984, the office of district attorney. He said he and his wife were home on the night of Jonelle's disappearance. Based on DNA evidence, the Weld County Coroner's Office positively identified the remains as being those of Jonelle Matthews. In 2010, the Greeley Tribune published another summary of the case. When we share what we know, together we discover more. Law enforcement asked her to take notes along the edges of the article about things that stood out regarding Pankey. Following extradition from Idaho, Pankey made his first appearance in a Colorado courtroom in Greeley on October 30, 2020.[24]. The 12-year-old was missing for more than three decades. The remainder of Deputy District Attorney Robb Millers examination focused on the 1990s to 2019, when Pankeys suspicious statements, legal filings and writings revolving around Jonelles case led Hicks to reach out to law enforcement. Nobody ever came to me to ask, Hey, your husbands coming in and saying this, what do you have to say about it?. I was very relieved at that because my dad was just such a good, honest, kind man, and to have Steve use him like that was just horrible for me, Hicks said. Carl Wesley Pankey lived He left the church around June of 1978, and in the summer of that same year, Jonelles loving parents became a part of the congregation. Hicks and her sister, Vanesa Sakulenzkia, who also took the stand Monday, both testified they stood near Carls urn when Pankey approached and kissed it. Jonelle was twelve when . Steve Pankey (credit: Weld County District Attorney's Office) It was Dec. 20, 1984 when 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews sang in a concert and was dropped at home by a friend and the friend's father . Pankey's trial began on Thursday, October 14, 2021, ultimately ending in a mistrial on November 4, 2021, due to a hung jury. we begin to show & tell who our loved ones were during particular moments in their lives. (r=(t=i[n]).getAttribute("data-secret")))r=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),t.src+="#?secret="+r,t.setAttribute("data-secret",r);if(s||a)(e=t.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),t.parentNode.replaceChild(e,t);t.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:r},"*")}}}}(window,document); Millers questioning opened by asking about Pankeys controlling nature during his marriage to Hicks. Select " [relationship]" She also said this trip was unexpected. [3] Her remains were discovered on July 24, 2019, by construction workers putting in a new pipeline 15 mi (24 km) from her home. (t.secret||t.message||t.value));else if(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret));else{for(var r,s,a,i=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=0;o