Steve Pankey, 71, was found guilty of murdering Jonelle Matthews in second trial after jury last summer could not come to a verdict in the decades-old case
Jonelle Matthews
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Silverman: Expect the quest for justice for Jonelle Matthews to continue and improve
It was a shocking crime at Christmastime. A Colorado girl snatched at night from her family home. Jonelle Matthews, age 12, vanished on Dec. 20, 1984. America went looking for her, encouraged by a concerned President Reagan. Nearly 35 years later, Jonelle’s clothed and decomposed remains were found at a rural Weld County field, 20 […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Trial of man accused of killing 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in Greeley ends with hung jury
GREELEY — The trial of a former longshot Idaho gubernatorial candidate charged in the killing of a 12-year-old Colorado girl ended Thursday with jurors unable to reach verdicts on the most serious charges against him. Jurors found Steve Pankey guilty of false reporting but could not reach agreement on murder and kidnapping charges. Weld County […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Weld County jurors deliberating in the murder case against Steve Pankey
GREELEY — Jurors started deliberating Tuesday in the trial of a former longshot Idaho gubernatorial candidate charged with murder in the death of a 12-year-old Colorado girl who disappeared in 1984. Suspect Steve Pankey was a neighbor of Jonelle Matthews and her family when she vanished after being dropped off at her empty home by […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Steve Pankey denies involvement in 1984 disappearance of Greeley girl
GREELEY — A former longshot Idaho gubernatorial candidate on trial in the 1984 killing of a 12-year-old Colorado girl has testified that he did not know the girl or her family before she vanished and denied being involved in her disappearance. At the time, Steve Pankey was a neighbor of Jonelle Matthew and her family […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Weld County trial begins for man accused in 1984 cold case killing of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews
By Patty Nieberg, The Associated Press A former longshot Idaho gubernatorial candidate on trial in the 1984 killing of a 12-year-old Colorado girl wasn’t even remotely considered a suspect to law enforcement until his obsession with the crime and incessant visits to talk with police about it provided clues that turned him into the suspect, […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
$5 million bond for man accused of killing 12-year-old Greeley girl in 1984
GREELEY — A Colorado judge set a $5 million bond on Friday for a man who is accused of kidnapping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in 1984. Prosecutors said that there was enough circumstantial evidence to charge Steve Pankey, 69, with the killing of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. Her body was found in July 2019 — […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Weld County grand jury indicts man in 1984 Greeley cold-case murder of 12-year-old girl
Nearly 36 years after 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews disappeared from her Greeley home, a Weld County grand jury has indicted an Idaho man for her death. Steven Pankey, who lived in Greeley at the time of Jonelle’s disappearance and had ties to the family’s church, was indicted on Oct. 9 on five charges, including first-degree murder […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, News
After haunting Colorado for three decades, there is new hope in the Jonelle Matthews case
Before 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews went missing, Greeley was half the size it is today. Kids rode their bikes on dirt roads past farmers’ fields, explored ravines and sold Girl Scout cookies door to door. On the night Jonelle was last seen, Christmas presents were already tucked beneath trees and holiday lights blinked from rooftops and […]