Jonelle Matthews Case Verdict: Was Steve Pankey Sentenced To Life Imprisonment? Here Is All What We Know

Let’s find out ‘Jonelle Matthews Case Verdict: Was Steve Pankey Sentenced To Life Imprisonment?’ This week, a 71-year-old former candidate for office in Idaho was found guilty of murdering a little girl, whose remains were discovered in a field decades later.

Jonelle Matthews Case Verdict: Was Steve Pankey Sentenced To Life Imprisonment?

On Monday, October 31, the Weld County District Attorney’s Office said that Steven Pankey had been convicted of abduction and first-degree murder in connection with the passing of Jonelle Matthews, a 12-year-old girl. According to the Greeley Tribune, a court gave Pankey a life sentence with the chance of parole. After much thought, he was found not guilty of the first-degree murder accusation.

Pankey was taken into custody in Idaho in October 2020. The Weld County District Attorney’s Office claims that in December 1984, Pankey took Matthews from her home before fatally shooting her.

According to Greeley Police, the disappearance of Matthews “haunted” the community for more than 30 years. In 2015, detectives revisited the case and resumed their investigation.

On July 23, 2019, a team digging a pipeline in a remote area of Weld County found what seemed to be human remains.

When the deputies from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office arrived, they “decided the remains were human.”

The remains were definitively identified as belonging to Matthews, according to Greeley Police, based on evidence found at the site and an assessment by the Weld County Coroner’s Office.

According to Greeley Police, Pankey was identified as a person of interest very early in the probe. He was then labeled a suspect when further evidence was acquired by the cops.

Pankey was put on trial in 2021, according to KMGH-TV, but the jury allegedly couldn’t agree on the allegations. During that trial, he was found guilty of fabricating information.

In his 2018 campaign to become governor of Idaho, Pankey vowed to “back President Trump’s Nationalist Policies” and “Drain the Swamp in 2018 and beyond.” In addition to running for lieutenant governor, he apparently studied criminal justice in college.

Some Quick Facts About Jonelle Matthews
Born	February 9, 1972 Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Disappeared	December 20, 1984 (aged 12)
Status	Solved
Died	c. December 20, 1984 Greeley, Colorado
Cause of death	Gunshot wound to the head
Body discovered	Along a rural route southeast of Greeley, Colorado
Resting place	Linn Grove Cemetery, Greeley, Colorado
Nationality	American
Education	Franklin Middle School
Occupation	Student
Organization(s)	Member of Sunny View Church of the Nazarene and Franklin Middle School Choir
Height	5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Parents	Jim Matthews (father) Gloria Matthews (mother)
Relatives	Jennifer Mogensen (sister), Terri Vierra-Martinez (biological mother)

Details About Jonelle Matthews Family

Terri Vierra, at 13 years old, gave birth to Jonelle Matthews on February 9, 1972, at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California. James “Jim” and Gloria Matthews, a married couple with a daughter, adopted Jonelle in March 1972. They lived in Greeley, Colorado. Jonelle’s father served as the headmaster of Platte Valley Elementary School in Kersey, Colorado, at the time of her abduction.