Former candidate for governor suspected of murdering Jonelle Matthews admits he lied to investigators

When Steven Pankey took the stand in his personal homicide trial, he braced the jury for stunning testimony in regards to the 1984 disappearance of Jonelle Matthews.

“This is the hard part because I raised my hand and I swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” Pankey instructed a packed courtroom in Weld County, Colorado, on October 28, 2021.

Pankey, 70, ceaselessly veered off matter as he tried to clarify why he inserted himself in a high-profile kidnapping and homicide that he says he didn’t commit.

“I began a series of lies and it got bigger and bigger over the years,” Pankey mentioned, including, “One lie leads to another.”

It was a weird twist within the tragic case of Jonelle Matthews, who was kidnapped from her dwelling in Greeley, Colorado, on December 20, 1984. “48 Hours” correspondent Richard Schlesinger’s unique report on the chilly case homicide trial, “Who Killed Jonelle Matthews?” airs Saturday, August 6 at 9/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

Jonelle was 12 years outdated when she disappeared after attending a Christmas choir live performance. A household good friend dropped Jonelle off at dwelling alone, and she or he was by no means seen alive once more.

Police initially checked out Jonelle’s father, Jim Matthews, who was the primary to uncover his daughter was lacking. After clearing Jim Matthews, police struggled to discover a suspect.

Pankey lived two miles from the Matthews home in December 1984 and had as soon as attended the identical church because the Matthews, however he was not thought of a suspect till he repeatedly inserted himself into the investigation over a number of many years.

“I told the FBI I want to talk to you,” Pankey recalled on the stand. “It may or may not have something to do with Jonelle Matthews.”

Pankey, a former safety guard, used automotive salesman and self-professed “true-crime junkie,” wasn’t charged within the case for 35 years.

“He’s a true-crime junkie. He gets himself in the middle of murder cases, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he actually was involved in them,” Pankey’s then-defense lawyer Anthony Viorst instructed the jury.

Through the years, Pankey typically spoke to native media, investigators, and anybody else who would hear to him about his theories on Matthews.

“I said I thought that they should look into the church. I thought that they should look into her trusted adults,” Pankey testified.

In the time since Jonelle’s disappearance, Pankey moved to Idaho the place he ran for governor twice and county sheriff 3 times. His marketing campaign for the highest legislation enforcement place included the tagline “Pankey is the antidote for bozo sheriff investigations.”

Pankey needed a jury to consider he’s been the sufferer of a misguided felony investigation in Colorado.

Although he as soon as named himself an individual of curiosity within the case, Pankey testified his involvement was all fabrication — orchestrated by him to get again at Greeley Police and others locally who he felt had wronged him.

“I have had police in the past make up things regarding me,” Pankey mentioned.

The day earlier than Matthews’ disappearance in 1984, Pankey was arrested for inflicting a scene at a financial institution and launched hours later. It is only one instance in an extended line of uncommon run-ins with police that Pankey believes made him a goal in Greeley. Police and courtroom information of what finally occurred with these incidents are not obtainable.

“I didn’t trust the Weld County Sheriff. I didn’t trust the Greeley police,” Pankey testified.

In the Matthews case, Pankey gave unsolicited statements to the Greeley Police Department, the Weld County District Attorney’s Office, and the FBI over the course of 30 years.

“It was just me trying to be a big man, [and] be in the case, OK? I had no knowledge,” Pankey testified.

It’s an odd manner to get consideration, admits Viorst. But he says that is simply half of Pankey’s eccentric nature.

“Mr. Pankey loves the limelight. He just does, for whatever reason,” Viorst instructed “48 Hours” correspondent Richard Schlesinger in an unique interview as he was getting ready for trial.

Pankey even inserted information about Jonelle Matthews into his personal 2003 divorce case, writing that Jonelle’s household must be instructed she “died before crossing 10th Street.”

Pankey’s protection lawyer instructed Schlesinger this was one other instance of his consumer feigning data of the case.

“That’s just, you know, pulled out of thin air,” Viorst mentioned. “It’s not true. It’s not based on anything.”

Pankey says that by 2014, a number of of his letters to the DA’s workplace have been returned to sender, unopened, and Pankey misplaced curiosity within the case.

“I just stopped talking about the Jonelle Matthews case,” Pankey mentioned.

But after authorities found Jonelle’s physique in July 2019, they started taking Pankey’s statements extra significantly and paid him a go to at his dwelling in Idaho, the place he had since relocated.

During that interview, Pankey testified he instructed detectives that his information on the Matthews case “might be real or imagined.”

Pankey was arrested for Jonelle’s kidnapping and homicide on October 12, 2020.

In the indictment, authorities cited Pankey’s many statements over time as proof of his involvement within the case. They gave specific significance to Pankey’s feedback about proof discovered outdoors the Matthews’ dwelling.

“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,” the indictment states.

But Pankey says there’s one other clarification.

“I got information from them. The longer you talk to a cop, some information is going to come out at some point.” Pankey testified.

When Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke cross-examined Pankey, he was incredulous.

“You’ve had 37 years to think about what you were going to say if you ever had to sit on that stand, and that’s what you came up with yesterday, ‘I made it up?'” Rourke requested.

“Yes,” Pankey replied.

Viorst says whereas Pankey’s statements are actually unusual, they haven’t any actual place within the investigation.

“Nothing he’s ever said actually implicates him in the murder,” Viorst instructed Schlesinger.

Despite his cryptic feedback in regards to the case, Pankey has all the time maintained that he by no means got here into contact with Jonelle Matthews.

“I wasn’t at the Matthews’ home. I didn’t know who they were,” Pankey testified.

After testifying for two days, Pankey appeared exhausted on the stand as he pleaded his case.

“And that’s the truth, OK? And I’m totally humiliated. I wanted to handle this in a lesser way,” Pankey mentioned.