Once back in Greeley, she says Pankey drove right past their house, straight to the grocery store, where he made her buy the local papers and search for news about Jonelle. He's had periodic sort of spats with people because he is an irascible, prickly guy. Hicks reflected back to that moment, during her testimony, when she heard him say, I hope God didnt allow this to happen because of Jonelle Matthews.. MAYOR JOHN GATES: I was sitting at my desk one day some time back. In 2018, Pankey made a second attempt at becoming governor and to no one's surprise, he lost. Pankey was seen in what was described by multiple witnesses as an orange-red vehicle over the years. Jim Matthews: He was not a youth worker at our church. They've got rifles and they're pointing them at me. Pankey refuted his ex-wife's claim that their trip to California two mornings after Jonelle disappeared was sudden insisting it had long been planned. Steve Pankey and Angela Hicks' son, Carl, was murdered in 2008. The retrial of Steven Pankey is scheduled for October 4, 2022. Richard Schlesinger: Where was he the night Jonelle Matthews disappeared? Pankey was found guilty in the murder of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in Greeley in 1984. In fact, the day before Jonelle disappeared, Pankey was arrested at a bank for harassment and criminal trespass. Jim Matthews: Whoever did it, tried to rake their footprints. STEVE PANKEY ["Unfound" podcast]: She was 23 years old. Ken Blum and Jud Johnston are the editors. On October 12, 2020 Steven Pankey was arrested for the nearly 35-year-old kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. Jim Matthews: We had never heard the name Steve Pankey. Darla Jentzsch: Oh, yeah. STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: At the time I was married. Jonelle became one of the first missing children whose photo appeared on milk cartons across America. That was about 8 p.m. Deanna Ross: Jonelle needed a ride home so she hopped in our truck and we took her home. Hicks shared a story Monday about witnessing her husband drive past the church following his removal. Mr. Pankey wanted to be a person of interest. Before interviewing Drake on the record, Olson spoke with Drake, and he revealed he had knowledge about raked-over shoe prints in the backyard of the Matthews home the night Jonelle went missing. We just had a big group of friends. Steve Pankey claims that seven days after Jonelle disappeared, his father-in-law a groundskeeper at a Greeley cemetery shared some disturbing information. But the District Attorney's Office felt they had enough evidence to go to trial. Kevin Schneider says he met the Pankey family when they first moved to Idaho. All right? Jim Matthews: They sent two or three detectives out and started searching the house for clues. That was just one day after Jonelle disappeared. Anthony Viorst: Mr. Pankey loves the limelight. Authorities last week searched the Twin Falls home of 68-year-old Steve Pankey, serving him a warrant that said investigators had probable cause to believe he kidnapped and killed Jonelle Matthews in 1984. Lowery will never forget the moment police told her that her son Trevor had died. Viorst believed it was possible for Drake to have left directly after the show ended to commit the crimes against Jonelle. So, I might be a little more cynical than the average person. Anthony Viorst: He argued with a bank teller and the police were called. August 6, 2022 / 10:03 PM She explained her brother was upset Drake had not returned his truck before midnight, the time both siblings went to bed. Jim Matthews: Hopefully we will know the scenario of what happened that night. Count four: making false reports to authorities. STEVEN PANKEY: So, the truth is that I made a lot of stuff up out of bitterness. Richard Schlesinger: Was Pankey questioned at all in the early days of this investigation? Police won't directly confirm any of that. ANTHONY VIORST: Norris Drake murdered Jonelle Matthews. Drake became noticeably upset by questions regarding the hold-back evidence and said he felt bad because he didnt see anything and he was right there.. Deanna Ross: We had sleepovers, birthday parties. Pankey told the Statesman he was sure that after police had his DNA, they would stop investigating him. The selection changes often, but if you love good Buying or selling a home is the largest financial investment most people ever make. Their son, Carl, was murdered in Phoenix in 2008. In 1840 there were 8 Pankey families living in Police stopped investigating him when his mother told them Drake was still with her in her house at the time Jonelle is believed to have disappeared. The boys body was discovered in a storage unit in the 5000 block of E. Pankey told the Statesman on Thursday that he was shocked when police searched his home. ANTHONY VIORST: Mr. Pankey does have a mental illness. She described being forced to listen to news accounts about Jonelle's disappearance, and she told jurors about finding a piece of paper in Pankey's trash. He allegedly honked on his horn and flipped off church-goers standing outside. I think to this day he harbors a grudge to Russ Ross, Hicks said on the stand. But the most talkative person in this case had yet to be heard from. Everything to know about his ex-wife and son. Mitch McConnell is a U.S. Senate Republican Leader. Anthony Viorst: He was at home that night with his wife and child. I said listen, "I have been very honest, I've been accessible to you any time you wanted, but I'm getting sick of this because I am innocent.". But as it turns out, when Jonelle vanished in 1984, Pankey lived in Greeley about two miles from the Matthew home. Hicks told Viorst she never had any suspicions of Pankey having a sexual interest in anyone other than adults. She recalled Pankey had a change of heart about Christy after Pankey was asked to leave the church. He doesnt talk much about his mother, but generally gives the impression that he was raised in a very religious family. She loves presents. Pankey, who resided in Idaho in the years leading up to his arrest, was a 33-year-old used car salesman living in Greeley with his then-wife and young son at the time of Jonelle's disappearance. STEVEN PANKEY: In the little jail cubicle before coming up here, I was praying and I was thinking, God, maybe I shouldn't testify Because I'd be just telling more lies. "It began as a series of lies, and it got bigger and bigger over the years," Pankey told the jury. What happened? He mentioned Jonelle in a speech about missing children. Thats why its so important to That great looking new building in Wiggins? 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. WebCommonly after shootings, we hear families of the victims call for more gun control. Police even reported Pankey offered the same deal to other law enforcement agencies. Pankeys relationship with Christy was not pleasant either, Hicks said. But over the years there was even more strange behavior, moments that, authorities believe add up to circumstantial evidence. Produced by Judy Rybak. Ryan Horsley: Yeah. Kelly Werthmann interviewed Pankey for CBSDenver over FaceTime. Please enter valid email address to continue. "Always seemed to kind of be the life of the party," Jim Matthews fondly recalled of Jonelle. DA ROBERT MILLER: How long were you driving as you flipped stations looking for news stories about Jonelle Matthews? After an Aug. 13, 2013, phone call with the suspect, he still did not make a report, but Viorst said Olson wasnt in charge of investigating Pankey. He said she lived across the street from his mothers home, according to Daviets testimony. I said "I want to talk to you. Cross-examination from Wells highlighted there were no matching shoe prints between the Drake residence and the Matthews residence to the prints found in the back of home. Wells argued Al Dominguez, the district attorney of Weld County during that time, previously testified he never touched nor came across Jonelles case. On December 20, 1984, a 14-year-old girl, Jonelle Mathews was kidnapped from her home in Colorado, never to return. Greeley Mayor John Gates was on the witness list. at their state convention, he claimed that they tried to do an exorcism on him. Ryan Horsley: I think that was his last-ditch effort, honestly. According to his own website, his father was a Youth For Christ Leader. Norris Drake. Steve Pankey was once a candidate for governor of Idaho. Richard Schlesinger: And you drove off thinking what? Their son, Carl, was murdered in Phoenix in 2008. Anthony Viorst: It's not a good way. The red-orange car was allegedly seen by Jonelle and her friend on the bus heading back from the choir concert on Dec. 20, 1984. Pankey went on trial in October 2021. Hicks says on their way back to Greeley, Pankey insisted she turn on the radio. But keep in mind, I'm a 26-year law enforcement veteran. ANGELA HICKS: And one of the things notated in his handwriting on this piece of legal paper was snow outside the Matthews house was raked. During the tense moment in the courtroom, Hicks said Viorsts commentary in the ViacomCBS 48 Hours program that aired in March sounded shady and rubbed her the wrong way. Anthony Viorst: Well, here's what I'll say, Richard. Showbiz Corner Pankey, 71, is on trial for the second time for her kidnapping and murder. Last year, his first trial ended with a hung jury on the kidnapping and murder charges, but he was convicted for false reporting after he admitted to lying to law enforcement about the case during his testimony. The selection changes often, but if you love good Buying or selling a home is the largest financial investment most people ever make. The video showed Drake being questioned about his knowledge of the controlled evidence. Her comments brought up Pankeys connections to family friends of the Matthews family, according to Hicks. About 9:30 p.m., Jonelles father returned home from his other daughters basketball game to find Jonelle missing. Pankey was a secretive man during their marriage, Hicks said. Steve Pankey was born in 1951 in Ventura, California. Richard Schlesinger: It's a hell of a way to get the limelight. Wells had to reword her questions to receive only yes or no responses about the witness reports. About two years after 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews vanished from her home in Greeley, Colorado, her family made the painful decision to pack up and leave town. STEVEN PANKEY: In the little jail cubicle before coming up here, I was praying and I was thinking, God, maybe I shouldn't testify Because I'd be just telling more lies. Miller confronted Barr about her statements of loving her brother and believing he didnt commit murder through questioning their closeness. Viorst and Hicks discussed Pankeys anti-establishment views, believing law enforcement was actively out to get him and having occasional run-ins with the police. As currently indicated, Karl Banke was the youngest child of Stephen Banke. DA ROBERT MILLER: He's not someone that has a mental health disorder, he's a master manipulator. Jim Matthews: She was interested in any kind of performing thing. But there was no rest for the Matthews. He had abducted her on Dec 20th, 1984 from her home after she came home from a Christmas concert. At the start of the day, defense attorney Anthony Viorst advised the court the main subject matter for the day would be the introduction of evidence that would tie Norris Drake into the narrative of Jonelles disappearance. STEVE PANKEY [to KMVT]: Don't spit in my face. And then on July 23, 2019, nearly 35 years after Jonelle's disappearance, police finally had that breaking news to share. Hicks reported that was the only time she saw that much emotion from Pankey, as he kneeled down to kiss the urn. Andersen said he remembers the car being reddish, but he could not swear to this statement either. BOISE, Idaho Former Idaho gubernatorial candidate Steve Pankey is again claiming he's innocent. In 2019, Hicks and Pankey also had several phone calls throughout August in which her ex-husband requested her not to speak with police if they reached out about the Matthews case, Hicks said during her time on the stand. He has lived in the Aurora/Southeast Denver Metro area since 1965 and is an expert Getting ready for a yard project? JUDGE TIMOTHY KERNS: I realize the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the other counts and that is a perfectly acceptable way for a trial to conclude. GREELEY, CO OCTOBER 13: Murder suspect Steven Pankey, right, listens to testimony on the first day of his trial at Weld County District Court on October 13, 2020 in Deanna Ross: As a community, it rocked Greeley. Carter and Pankey will begin at Stephens on Sept. 1. The man, who tried to threaten Justice Brett Kavanaugh with his life, was arrested with the joint efforts of the U.S. And Viorst had more, based on testimony by a former girlfriend of Drake's. Isn't it? He testified about a call he got back in 2019, about a bizarre claim Pankey made in a letter to the media. He was described as immature, hung out with a younger crowd and focused on partying. he's a firm adherent to the Ten Commandments, which include thou shalt not kill. Mayor John Gates: It's not to me, ah, Richard. Pankey said he wants his story to be heard in case he is arrested. He said he was charged over his years in Colorado with as many as 20 other arbitrary misdemeanors, such as battery and harassment by phone, and went to trial multiple times. Pankey said two Greeley detectives came to his condo around Aug. 15 and asked to interview him, but he told them that he would speak to them only if his attorney was present. But Pankey might have been more than just curious. During Statler's testimony, he indicated he received a call from Pankey three weeks after Jonelle's disappearance. Hicks on Monday said Pankey acted suspiciously in the days following Jonelles disappearance, including making their family leave town, fixating on the news coverage and digging a hole for hours outside their house. Mayor John Gates: My assignment that night was going around the neighborhood, knocking on doors asking them if they had seen or heard anything suspicious that evening. It builds a really, really strong circumstantial case, in my mind. Barr testified she was told by an expert that the gun was un-fireable.. You can't let this consume you. The best home improvement jobs deserve the best materials. It may or may not have something to do with the Jonelle Matthews case.". He said he moved to Greeley in 1973. Fred Smith knows real estate. that told me that I'd been named as a person of interest in this case by Mr. Pankey. Jennifer Mogensen: I don't know specifics. First published on March 27, 2021 / 11:03 PM. She further stated Pankey seems to want the attention.. Viorst began his examination by asking if Pankey had the right to defend himself during this trial, receiving a yes response from Hicks. Ryan Horsley: He ran under the Constitutional Party. Pankey said he also has volunteered to take a polygraph test. Richard Schlesinger: Arguably? But when did he go missing? 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. Thats why its so important to That great looking new building in Wiggins? Deputy District Attorney Lacy Wells asked Sakulenzki about multiple occasions in the past when she reported Pankey to law enforcement, which resulted in an objection from Viorst. Jonelle Mathews left her home on December 20, 1984, and didn't return back ever again. 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Jim Matthews: The number one interrogator west of the Mississippi. By 2002, the divorce was finalized. He was different from others and didnt get along with most people. Prosecutors have announced they are ready for a new trial, because they still believe Jonelle was killed by Steven Pankey. Like that story he once told law enforcement about his father-in-law. Because Norris Drake got her to leave the house. They never released the information about the rake. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Jim Matthews: Yeah, right out of my garage. Viorst questioned how Drake knew about Jonelles disappearance that morning, with it being unlikely he contacted his mother after leaving her house that night or before coming upstairs the following morning. Anthony Viorst: I can't answer that because I can't get into his head but, but I do think it's a combination of sort of obsessive-compulsive behavior and you know, perhaps even mental illness. Idaho Falls news, Rexburg news, Pocatello news, East Idaho news, Idaho news, education news, crime news, good news, business news, entertainment news, Feel Good Friday and more. It's just he is a strange guy. Pankeys eldest son has no recollection of this ban and remembers watching TV with his parents, he said during his short time on the stand. When it comes to landscape Did you know Your Butcher, Frank has super tasty delicatessen salads? Of course, the prosecution also has Pankey's own words. Pankey was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Jonelle in Oct. 2020. Darla Jentzsch: It was such a mystery, this whole thing happened. One of the star witnesses in this case, Steven Pankey's ex-wife Angela Hicks, testified about what she says she witnessed while married to Pankey. So, Pankey said, he decided to speak publicly now, because of his concerns about law enforcements ideas about him, and because he is a public figure in light of his runs for office. I mean, why would he say that if he didn't know where Jonelle Matthews was buried? He was criminally charged, but the charge was later dismissed by prosecutors. Great news for one of the cases featured on our podcast: Steve Pankey has been arrested for the 1984 murder of 12-year old Jonelle Matthews!https://t.co/sch2tDfjmy. And six weeks after Jonelle's remains were discovered, authorities were at Pankey's front door with a search warrant. But it was intense. A few days later, on Aug. 19, he said, law enforcement asked him for a DNA sample, and he gave it. Or was he one that just surrounded himself with strange, bizarre behavior for years? I just wanted to not be married to him anymore, she said. Here we have explained his remarkable political journey after serving his country and community as a responsible officer. The other counts were were far more complex than that, in my opinion. And furthermore, Viorst told the jury that Pankey wasn't the only person who knew about those raked footprints. An attorney in North Carolina said if she didnt show up for the Pankey trial as a witness, she would go to jail. But he didn't give up the information. That was one of many lies, says Pankey, meant to target people he hated, like his father-in-law, and Mayor John Gates. LOCAL NEWS REPORT: 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews disappeared from her Greeley home. Hicks remembered seeing Pankey with a gun three times throughout their relationship: when he worked as a security guard at the job where the two first met, when he did target practice outside their home and when she pawned his gun in 1979. Pankeys youngest son, Carl, a 20-year-old college student, was shot and killed by his girlfriend in 2008 in Phoenix. This story was originally published September 13, And he took duct tape and wrapped it around the dog's muzzle. No one knows where she'll spend her birthday. There were two campaigns for governor, one for municipal council, one for lieutenant governor and three runs for county sheriff. Pankey says the morning after Jonelle disappeared, he and his family left Greeley for five days. The most Pankey families were found in USA in 1880. During the process of forming a file, Hicks was asked to write comments on newspaper stories and give them to the department. Kelly Werthmann: He really wanted to make himself clear that he was framed. White are the field producers. Due to his business buying used cars and parts to sell to customers, Pankey would be in possession of several different cars. Greeley was much smaller then and Pankey was known around town. He was a person who sure was interested in the case. Unfortunately, we are not able to find out his current whereabouts. 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. Marshals Service and Montgomery County Police. The trial starts back up at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday with a new witness on the stand. During her testimony, she said Pankey talked about how the snow was raked outside of the Matthews home. Multiple officers and investigators have confirmed in their testimonies that shoe prints were discovered in the snow of the family home the night Jonelle went missing and that the prints in the back of the home were raked over. Jim Matthews: No, because I know my daughter well enough that number one, it's Christmas time. Also, he was a candidate for a county sheriff in Twin Falls which, once again, wasn't a success story for him. The Twin Falls Police Department verified Thursday that it had executed the warrant on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at Pankeys condo in the 300 block of Elm Street North. On the stand, Olson stated Francis account from the night Jonelle went missing was the only information that led to an open lead in the 1984 case. But Jonelle's family and friends could only attract that kind of attention for so long. He agreed they were listening to the radio on their way back to Greeley. But in reality, there was no sign of Jonelle. At the time, Pankey and his former wife lived about 2 miles away. The media interviews Pankey did in 2019 was another aspect Barr named when addressing his behavior. ANGELA HICKS: "No more music, no TV, no radio, no newspapers. 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. And that's why Gates became a prosecution witness. Several reports say that he endured the death of his son but the details are unconfirmed. On July 4, 2008, the couples youngest son, Carl, was murdered at age 20, and their family came together to celebrate his life with a memorial service. Kevin Schneider: Yes, he did. The day before the Pankey was even unaware of the gender and names of her children, according to a statement he made in January 2021, Miller said.
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