Found Deceased CO - Jonelle Matthews, 12, Greeley, 20 Dec 1984 *arrest 2020*

[truecrimefamilytime]

I have received a copy of Person of Interest Steve Pankey's 1993 self published book "Graveyards: The Untold Story". Pankey seems to base the main character "David Darkson" after himself. He slightly changes the names of his actual family members. Other times the real life individuals do not even have their names changed such as Reverend James T. Christy, who was the Pastor at Sunny View Nazarene Church. Which Pankey has claimed that he was a youth pastor at the church, which they have disputed. He even admits in several interviews that he was forced to leave the church following an arrest of rape against a woman who attended the church in 1977.

View attachment 247699

The book is disturbing to say the least and appears to destroy the reputations of anyone that he seems to feel has wronged him. In the book, Darkson aka Pankey tells of how the Pastor and Church leaders try to recruit him and force him commit "Rape-Murders". He then implies that the death of an actual woman who was murdered, Mary Pierce, was the work of the Pastor Christy and the Sunny View Nazarene Church leaders. But in reality, Mary Pierce's murder was finally identified just a couple of years ago through DNA. There is no mention of Jonelle Matthews but Pankey is trying to get the reader to connect the dots and assume that the church had a nefarious plan to murder her, which he has attempted to present this theory several times in the past.

View attachment 247712

In the meantime he is still running for Twin Falls County Sheriff, his latest ad states "There's No Pankey with Pankey". Despite a heavy funding and advertising, he has only been able to garner 4 Likes on his Facebook Page.

 

[truecrimefamilytime]

I am fascinated with this case, but cannot find any way to access the book. Would you share how you got it? Or consider selling it?

R

 

[sbcjester21]

There is another way to look at it.

A hastily organized trip, meant to create an alibi, with the dog likely being killed for that reason, wouldn't that make the spouse suspicious?

The dogs were "dumped". There is no mention of them actually being killed. I take this to mean that they were simply abandoned in a remote area.

 

[Seattle1]

I am fascinated with this case, but cannot find any way to access the book. Would you share how you got it? Or consider selling it?

R

It seems most of the highlights of the book are published in this article.

Steven Dana Pankey arrest: What we know about the Idaho man accused of kidnapping, murdering Jonelle Matthews in 1984 – Greeley Tribune

 

[Niner]

Wednesday, Feb. 3rd:
*Arraignment Hearing (@ 10:30am MT) – CO – Jonelle Renee Matthews (12) (went missing on Dec 20, 1984 after entering her home at 8pm, Greeley, found July 24, 2019 by construction workers at an oil & gas site in rural part of Weld County near County Road 49 & County Road 34½) – *Steven Dana Pankey (33 @ time of crime/69) indicted (10/9/20) & arrested (10/12/20 in Meridian, ID.) with 1st degree murder after deliberation, 1st degree felony murder, 2nd degree kidnapping, with sentence enhancers for using a weapon in a violent crime & 2 counts of crime of violence. $5M cash-only bond.
Info on warrant & court info from 8/18/20 thru 12/4/20 reference post #761:
Found Deceased - CO - Jonelle Matthews, 12, Greeley, 20 Dec 1984 *arrest 2020*
12/4/20 Update: A status conference hearing is set for 12/30/20 @ 2pm that will include a review of the bond amount. 12/30/20 Update: No change in bond. Next arraignment hearing on 2/3/21.

 

[sbcjester21]

Pankey pleaded not guilty today. This should come as no surprise as 1. he's fought every case he's ever been the defendant in. and 2. he has nothing to lose. There is no plea deal he could take that isn't in effect a death sentence.

 

[manybooks]

Jonelle Matthews murder suspect Steve Pankey pleads not guilty – Greeley Tribune

 

[PommyMommy]

Jonelle Matthews murder suspect Steve Pankey pleads not guilty – Greeley Tribune

Thank you for the link, manybooks.

Noting:

1. Viorst said he intends to file for a change of venue within 21 days.
2. The deadline for motions to be filed is April 30.
3. A motions hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 28.
4. A trial readiness conference has been set for 1:30 p.m. June 30.
5. The 15-day jury trial is set to begin 8:30 a.m. July 12.

 

[Niner]

Date Len Name Hearing Type Case # Location Division
5/28/21
9:00 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Motions Hearing D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11

6/30/21
1:30 PM 15M PANKEY, STEVEN Pre-Trial Readiness Conference D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11

7/12/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/13/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/14/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/15/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/16/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/19/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/20/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/21/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/22/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/23/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/26/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/27/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/28/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/29/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/30/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11

link: Seventh Judicial District » Docket Search

 

[crhedBngr]

Date Len Name Hearing Type Case # Location Division
5/28/21
9:00 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Motions Hearing D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11

6/30/21
1:30 PM 15M PANKEY, STEVEN Pre-Trial Readiness Conference D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11

7/12/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/13/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/14/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/15/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/16/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/19/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/20/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/21/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/22/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/23/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/26/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/27/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/28/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/29/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11
7/30/21
8:30 AM 1D PANKEY, STEVEN Jury Trial D622020CR1866 Weld County Division 11

link: Seventh Judicial District » Docket Search

@Niner : You're the best! Glad you are able to access this link.

ETA: Can't wait for the details in this case!

JMVHO.

 

[crhedBngr]

Bump for Jonelle.

 

[Wilma_W]

This case is going to be on 48 Hours Saturday March 27, 2021:

Sneak peek: The Kidnapping of Jonelle Matthews

Can't wait to watch this one!

 

[Seattle1]

Politician charged with killing Jonelle Matthews wanted to be person of interest | Daily Mail Online

3/25/21

A former youth minister and failed candidate for Idaho governor who was charged in cold-case murder of a 12-year-old Colorado girl who disappeared in 1984 exposed himself as a suspect in the case because he craves attention, his lawyer claims.

Steve Pankey, 69, was arrested last October, nearly 36 years after he allegedly abducted and killed Jonelle Matthews, whose remains went undiscovered until 2019.

The investigation zeroed in on Pankey, who made a failed bid for governor of Idaho in 2018, after Jonelle's body was found because he had approached police claiming to have specific information about when the girl died, according to his indictment.

[..]

Pankey's attorney, Anthony Viorst, appeared in a new 48 Hours special about the case and explained that his client purposefully inserted himself in the investigation because he 'loves the limelight'.

'Mr Pankey wanted to be a person of interest,' Viorst said in a preview for the special airing Saturday. 'Mr Pankey could have laid low. Nobody would have charged him.'

But the attorney insisted that Pankey is not responsible for Jonelle's death.

'He's a talkative guy - but he's not a murderer,' he said.

 

[Mysteries1974]

Politician charged with killing Jonelle Matthews wanted to be person of interest | Daily Mail Online

3/25/21

A former youth minister and failed candidate for Idaho governor who was charged in cold-case murder of a 12-year-old Colorado girl who disappeared in 1984 exposed himself as a suspect in the case because he craves attention, his lawyer claims.

Steve Pankey, 69, was arrested last October, nearly 36 years after he allegedly abducted and killed Jonelle Matthews, whose remains went undiscovered until 2019.

The investigation zeroed in on Pankey, who made a failed bid for governor of Idaho in 2018, after Jonelle's body was found because he had approached police claiming to have specific information about when the girl died, according to his indictment.

[..]

Pankey's attorney, Anthony Viorst, appeared in a new 48 Hours special about the case and explained that his client purposefully inserted himself in the investigation because he 'loves the limelight'.

'Mr Pankey wanted to be a person of interest,' Viorst said in a preview for the special airing Saturday. 'Mr Pankey could have laid low. Nobody would have charged him.'

But the attorney insisted that Pankey is not responsible for Jonelle's death.

'He's a talkative guy - but he's not a murderer,' he said.

He killed her, I don’t believe anyone else killed her. I believe with absolute certainty that Pankey was ultimately responsible for Jonelle’s abduction and murder. He’s probably responsible for more as well.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 25, 2021
The Arrest - The search for Jonelle Matthews - CBS News
[...]

Decades after the 12-year-old's disappearance, investigators have zeroed in on a suspect. "48 Hours" correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports on the case in "The Kidnapping of Jonelle Matthews" airing Saturday, March 27 at 10/9c on CBS.

[...]

The Matthews Home
Investigators searched the Matthews home, but the only physical evidence they found were shoeprints in the snow that someone had tried to eliminate with a garden rake. The rake came, "right out of my garage," Jim Matthews told "48 Hours."

The Search for Jonelle

KCNC
Days after Jonelle disappeared, a task force calling itself the "Rescue Jonelle Committee" raised $20,000 as a reward for anyone with information leading to the return of Jonelle or to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for her disappearance.

[...]

Milk Cartons

NATIONAL CHILD SAFETY COUNCIL
Jonelle was one of the first missing children featured on milk cartons across the country. This is a photo of the layout that was sent to various paper companies for the production of the milk cartons.

Presidential Mention
Jonelle's case received national attention when President Ronald Reagan mentioned her in a White House speech on March 7, 1985. "… I learned about Jonelle Matthews of Greeley, Colorado, who would have celebrated a happy 13th birthday with her family just last month," he said.

[...]

Pankey's Alibi

CBS NEWS
The home where Pankey lived with his family at the time of Jonelle's disappearance. Pankey told NBC affiliate KTVB he remembers where he was the night Jonelle disappeared. "… I was home with my then wife and my 5-year-old son."

[...]

A few years after Jonelle disappeared, Pankey and his family moved around to different states before settling in Idaho. There he found an interest: politics. He ran for sheriff three times, municipal council, lieutenant governor, and even governor - twice. He was never elected.

Court Documents

IDAHO SUPREME COURT
While living in Idaho, Pankey continued to have brushes with the law. In a few court filings, he brought up Jonelle's case such as this 1999 filing when he told the Idaho Supreme Court that his conviction for causing a scene in a bank was in part "an attempt to force" him "to become an informant" in Jonelle's disappearance. He also wrote that he feared he might "get the death penalty for revealing the location of Ms. Matthews body."

Pankey's Home Searched

KMVT
On September 4, 2019, just over a month after Jonelle's remains were found, authorities searched Pankey's home in Twin Falls, Idaho. "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 …"

The Indictment
A year after authorities searched Steve Pankey's home, a grand jury handed down an eight-page indictment against Pankey on October 9, 2020. It charged that "he took Jonelle Matthews from her family home …" and "shot Jonelle Matthews during the course of the kidnapping."

The Arrest
In a matter of three days, on October 12, 2020, police arrested Pankey for kidnapping and first-degree murder in Jonelle's case. By February 3, 2021, Pankey plead not guilty for those crimes. "…there's no indication that he committed this murder, no indication that he had anything to do with burying the body." Pankey's defense attorney Anthony Viorst told "48 Hours". "Mr. Pankey wanted to be a person of interest … Mr. Pankey loves the limelight … all of the statements that he has made about his culpability have been, 'I didn't do it.'"

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Suspect in disappearance of long-missing girl made some claims
The attorney of Steve Pankey called his own client a “strange guy.”
See why investigators think he may be involved in the disappearance and murder of long-missing Jonelle Matthews. Saturday, 10/9c.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=113936240672757

Former politician names himself a person of interest in murder case
This week's "48 Hours" investigates the kidnapping and murder of a girl in Colorado more than 35 years ago.
Jonelle Matthews' case remained cold for decades, until her body was discovered in 2019 and police began to question a new suspect.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=359866558592135

Decades after she disappeared, the search for Jonelle Matthew ends
The decades-long search for a missing girl finally ends, but an unusual suspect quickly emerges.
What happened to Jonelle Matthews?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=253875243044078

 

[margarita25]

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Watching the 48 Hours special on this case. In the Articles above, it said he was a youth Minister. On the show it was said that he was only a janitor even though he claimed to be a youth minister.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 27, 2021
Jonelle Matthews case: Steven Pankey, former political candidate, inserts himself into the case of a missing girl and ends up a murder suspect - CBS News
[...]

More than three decades after Jonelle's disappearance, one-time Idaho gubernatorial candidate and former Greeley resident Steven Dana Pankey became a person of interest in the case.

Pankey has publicly said he never met Jonelle Matthews. Yet, his indictment points to repeated statements implicating Pankey – made by Pankey. He allegedly volunteered, without being asked, what he claimed were details about when Matthews died. He also drew up a list of persons of interest with his name on it, according to the indictment.

Pankey has been charged with Jonelle's murder and will stand trial in July. He pleaded not guilty. "He's a talkative guy," says Anthony Viorst, Pankey's attorney. "But he's not a murderer."

Instead, says Viorst, Pankey craves attention. "Mr. Pankey wanted to be a person of interest," Viorst says. "Mr. Pankey could have laid low. … Nobody would have charged him. … Mr. Pankey loves the limelight."

[...]


STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: I heard that a girl was missing from Greeley, Colorado.

[...]

STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: I lived in Greeley, Colorado, from 1973 …

[...]

STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: I contacted the FBI.

STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: I knew more than I wanted to know, OK.

STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: I told the FBI I want to talk to you. It may or may not have something to do with the Jonelle Matthews case.

[...]

Mayor John Gates: I had met him in about the mid-1970s.

Richard Schlesinger: You remember that?

Mayor John Gates: I do. Yeah, he worked for my father. … So, I remember meeting him.

Greeley Mayor and former police officer John Gates knew Steven Pankey, and says he was not considered a person of interest in the early days when Jonelle first disappeared.

[...]

Steve Pankey claims that seven days after Jonelle disappeared, his father-in-law — a groundskeeper at a Greeley cemetery — shared some disturbing information.

STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: He told me that a cop had contacted him and said that he had a body he wanted to be buried.

Pankey told KMVT that he shared the information with the FBI, because he feared that somehow someone might be trying to implicate him in Jonelle's murder.

STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: I want to at least be on record that I talked to you, so I don't get possibly an obstruction of justice charge.

It's a wild sounding story and "48 Hours" can't confirm it or even that he went to the FBI, but law enforcement records show that Pankey had other unrelated run-ins with Greeley police. They describe mostly minor and non-violent allegations, like creating a nuisance and harassment. In fact, the day before Jonelle disappeared, Pankey was arrested at a bank for harassment and criminal trespass.

[...]

Anthony Viorst: The kind of thing that's happened to Mr. Pankey over the years. He's had periodic sort of spats with people because he is an irascible, prickly guy.

But police clearly think it's more than that and seem to be looking closely at Pankey's past — possibly including a case from 1977, when a 26-year-old Pankey was charged with sexually assaulting a woman he met in church.

In a four-hour episode of the "Unfound" podcast recorded in November 2019, Pankey claims he was dating his accuser.

[...]

Anthony Viorst: There was a sexual encounter. And she later said it was nonconsensual.

[...]

Jim Matthews: He was not a youth worker at our church. He was the janitor.

[...]

The Pankey family bounced around from state to state for a while. In 1989 they settled in Idaho, but Pankey admits he could not stop thinking about Jonelle.

STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: It would be in the back of my mind about this case … so I called … the guy who lived next door … I just asked, did they ever resolve that Jonelle Matthews thing? And he said, no, not to his knowledge.

But Pankey might have been more than just curious. In 1999 he told the Idaho Supreme Court, after a conviction for once again causing a scene in a bank, that the conviction — which was dismissed years later — was in part an "attempt to force" him "to become an informant" in Jonelle's disappearance. He also wrote that he feared he might "get the death penalty for revealing the location of" her body.

Richard Schlesinger: See, that's weird. I mean, why would he say that if he didn't know where Jonelle Matthews was buried?

[...]

Anthony Viorst | Pankey's defense attorney: Nobody ever reported a shot fired in the neighborhood.

Richard Schlesinger: They say that he owned a gun in 1984, that he lived within a few miles of Jonelle Matthews, and that he lived within 10 miles of where her body was found. What do you make of those things?

Anthony Viorst: Well, you probably just described … 20 or 30,000 men in — in the Greeley metropolitan area. … And the place where the body was found was … in a very remote location that he had no connection to.

[...]

The indictment cites several examples where Pankey "Intentionally inserted himself in the investigation." Including a document filed as part of his own divorce in 2003, where, for reasons that are clear only to Pankey, he wrote that Jonelle's family should be told she "died before crossing 10th st. [sic]" That's close to where her choir concert was held the night she vanished.

[...]

Richard Schlesinger: Why would he interject himself into the case?

Anthony Viorst: I can't answer that because I can't get into his head, but I do think, again, it's a combination of sort of obsessive-compulsive behavior and, you know, perhaps even mental illness.

[...]

When Jonelle Matthews first disappeared, investigators had only one piece of physical evidence — those footprints in the snow outside the Matthews home that somebody, possibly her abductor, had tried to conceal by using a garden rake.

[...]

Only the Matthews family, investigators and presumably the killer knew about those raked over footprints. And that is what made a 2019 conversation that investigators had with Steven Pankey so interesting.

[...]

But the indictment says Pankey knew of and discussed a crucial piece of evidence from the Matthews house withheld from the public by law enforcement: specifically, a rake was used to obliterate shoe impressions in the snow.

Mayor John Gates: I guess the moral of the story is if you're involved in criminal activity and you talk about it, eventually you're gonna say something that crosses that line into an area that you shouldn't know if you weren't involved.

[...]

Anthony Viorst: So, here's what I'll say. … I can't tell you everything that I know … Because I have attorney-client privilege and I'm still in the process of preparing the defense of my client, all right? But suffice it to say that we have reason to believe that that information was divulged to him, um, to Mr. Pankey.

Richard Schlesinger: By whom?

[...]

Anthony Viorst: I will say. By law enforcement. It's our position that it was divulged by law enforcement. All right?

[...]

 

[BethAnn777]

I only caught the last 15 minutes of the 48 Hours show, but I did hear that there was no DNA evidence on Jonelle (I don’t remember the exact wording) that belonged to Steve Pankey. I’m not surprised there wasn’t after all these years, but it sure would have been nice if there would have been DNA evidence linking Steve to Jonelle.

Steve’s attorney is...strange. Lots of blinking, looking to the side, and trouble finding the right words.