Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Everything To Know About Steve Pankey, the Former Idaho Gubernatorial Candidate Convicted of Killing Jonelle Matthews
Before gubernatorial candidate Steve Pankey was linked to the brutal murder of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews, he displayed odd behavior and inserted himself into the investigation.
Over the course of his life, Steve Pankey has been defined by many labels: husband, father, used car salesman, failed gubernatorial candidate and, most recently, convicted killer.
In 2022, he was found guilty of kidnapping and killing 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews decades earlier. The heartbreaking case is the focus of Oxygen’s two part special The Girl on the Milk Carton, premiering Sunday, August 25.
Jonelle disappeared from her Colorado home on December 20, 1984 after coming home from a Christmas concert that she'd performed in with her school choir. It would take years before Pankey — who lived nearby with his family at the time of the abduction — would be linked to the crime.
After decades without any answers, Jonelle's body was discovered in a field by oil workers in 2019, bringing the case back into the spotlight and leading to Pankey’s arrest the next year.
So, just who is the man who took Jonelle's life?
Who is Steve Pankey?
In 1984, Pankey was a married father living in Greeley, Colorado, in a home about two miles from the Matthews residence, according to an indictment in the case obtained by Oxygen.com.
His now-ex wife, Angela Hicks, testified in court that Pankey was extremely controlling and didn’t allow her to drive or listen to the radio or TV during most of their marriage, according to Colorado NBC affiliate KUSA.
Pankey found work over the years as a security guard and used car salesman.
He was also no stranger to run-ins with law enforcement. Just one day before Jonelle disappeared, according to a report from CBS News, he had been arrested for making a scene at a bank and he had other “unusual” run-ins with authorities over the years.
Steve Pankey runs for governor of Idaho
Three years after Jonelle disappeared, Pankey moved with his family to Idaho, according to the Idaho Statesman. There, he tried to become governor in two failed bids for the state’s highest office, once in 2014 and again in 2018.
Pankey's political campaign poster from his 2018 run described him as a Republican candidate with “traditional core values with a biblical and constitutional perspective.”
He also vowed on the campaign poster to protect second amendment rights and he promised not to take donations from lobbyists.
“I intend to keep simple issues simple, and bring together competent people to resolve Idaho’s complex issues,” reads a quote from him on the poster.
But his message failed to resonate with voters. Pankey earned just 1.4% of the votes in the state’s Republican primary in 2018, knocking him out of contention before the general election, according to election results reported by The New York Times.
How Steve Pankey emerged as a suspect in Jonelle Matthews’ disappearance
Although no DNA evidence has ever linked him to the case, Pankey initially became a suspect in Jonelle's murder largely because of his odd behavior and the fact that he continually inserted himself into the investigation.
According to an affidavit, Pankey — who briefly attended the same church as the Matthews family — had a habit of watching children walk home from the middle school where Jonelle was a student.
Authorities say Pankey also knew of and had discussed a crucial piece of evidence that had never been released to the media, specifically that a rake was “used to obliterate shoe impressions in the snow” outside the Matthews home the night of the abduction.
He also owned a gun at the time of the kidnapping. Jonelle died from a gunshot wound to the head, but by the time the body was discovered, authorities were unable to recover any usable DNA from the body.
Hicks would also testify in court about Pankey’s strange behavior around the time Jonelle disappeared.
She said that just one day after Jonelle disappeared, Pankey announced that the family would be taking a trip to California to visit his parents, who had invited them for Christmas, even though he had already decided earlier not to go, according to KUSA.
Hicks was concerned about the family’s two Great Danes, but Pankey told her he had “dumped” the dogs, and they were never seen again.
Pankey suddenly cut the trip short after having an argument with his father and the family drove back to Colorado on Christmas Day. According to Hicks, during the drive, Pankey asked her to turn on the radio, even though she typically wasn’t allowed to listen to the radio.
“In my flipping around I came to a portion of a news report that indicated that a girl had gone missing from Greeley, Colorado, and he wanted to hear that," she testified. "... And then he wanted me to keep flipping the channels to see if he could hear anything more about that."
Hicks also said in her testimony that once they'd made it back to Greeley, they stopped at a store and bought multiple newspapers. She added that Pankey asked her to read him the articles related to Jonelle's disappearance.
“I recall him having me read each one at least three times," she told the court.
Hicks said that about a month after Jonelle disappeared, the pastor at their church said he'd heard a message from God that the girl would be found alive and that Pankey yelled “false prophet” and had to be taken out of the church.
Pankey made other odd comments about the case over the years, once telling his wife he believed he was being persecuted by police because he wouldn’t tell them what he knew about Jonelle.
Pankey also brought up Jonelle during his son’s funeral in 2008, Hicks said.
"It's the only time I ever saw that much emotion from him," she testified, according to KUSA. "Very choked up. He bent and he kissed the urn, and he said, 'I hope God didn't allow this to happen because of Jonelle Matthews.’”
RELATED: Girl, 8, Vanishes from Her Georgia Neighborhood and 14 Hours of Search Time Are Lost
Authorities say Pankey also made “direct and veiled statements” about Jonelle in civil and criminal court documents over the years, once writing in a 1999 Idaho Supreme Court filing that, “Without a deal, this case will never be solved,” according to an affidavit.
Steve Pankey is arrested
Pankey was arrested in 2020. His first trial in 2021 ended with a hung jury, but he was found guilty the next year of second-degree kidnapping with the use of a deadly weapon, felony murder and false reporting to authorities, according to The Coloradoan.
Jonelle’s father, Jim Matthews, urged Pankey to confess during his sentencing hearing, telling him, “The gates of heaven can still be open for you. It’s not too late, Steve Pankey. God is waiting.”
But Pankey — whose attorney described him as a “true-crime junkie” who just likes to be in the limelight — continued to profess his innocence in his own remarks to the court.
"I am a Christian. I will be in heaven. I am innocent, and this is not justice for Jonelle,” he said.
Where is Steve Pankey today?
Pankey — who was convicted in 2022 of kidnapping and killing 12-year-old Jonelle — was handed a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years. The 73-year-old is currently serving his time at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway, Colorado. He’ll be eligible for parole in 2040, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections.
