WEBVTT - Hell and Gone Murder Line: Jonelle Matthews 0:00:46.480 --> 0:00:51.921 School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.361 case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite 0:00:55.401 --> 0:00:58.761 witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.961 be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights 0:01:03.001 --> 0:01:06.160 from family and community members, their statements should not be 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.961 considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts 0:01:10.041 --> 0:01:14.041 inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.160 presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 0:01:17.961 --> 0:01:20.840 Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply 0:01:21.041 --> 0:01:23.601 that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime 0:01:24.121 --> 0:01:28.521 is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening. 0:01:30.681 --> 0:01:34.400 On December twentieth, nineteen eighty four, twelve year old Janelle 0:01:34.481 --> 0:01:37.281 Matthews spent the evening singing her heart out at a 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:42.401 Christmas choir concert in her hometown of Greeley, Colorado, a 0:01:42.481 --> 0:01:46.801 residential suburb about fifty miles away from Denver. The concert 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:50.081 was held at Intro West Bank of Denver, and Janelle, 0:01:50.121 --> 0:01:52.521 who was in the seventh grade, was part of the 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:57.961 Franklin Middle School choir. Janelle was outspoken and opinionated. Friends 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:02.241 and families say that she loved performing. After the concert, 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:05.401 Janelle caught a ride home with her friend Deanna and 0:02:05.441 --> 0:02:09.761 Diana's father. They arrived back at Janelle's house, where she 0:02:09.841 --> 0:02:12.761 lived with her father, Jim, her mother Gloria, and her 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.800 sixteen year old sister Jennifer, shortly after. 0:02:15.601 --> 0:02:17.201 Eight fifteen pm. 0:02:17.641 --> 0:02:21.921 It was already dark outside, and Janelle had a routine. 0:02:22.041 --> 0:02:24.481 The garage door had been left half open for her 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:27.840 to walk into, and then once she got in, she 0:02:27.881 --> 0:02:30.361 would flick the light twice to let Diana and her 0:02:30.401 --> 0:02:34.561 dad Russell know that she'd gotten home safely. So Janelle 0:02:34.601 --> 0:02:37.240 went into the garage, and then Deanna and her dad 0:02:37.281 --> 0:02:42.601 saw the light come on, so they drove away. Janelle's father, 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:46.281 Jim Matthews, who was the principal at Platte Valley Elementary School, 0:02:46.481 --> 0:02:49.641 got home about an hour later, around nine thirty pm. 0:02:50.201 --> 0:02:53.680 He had been at Janelle's sister Jennifer's basketball game at 0:02:53.681 --> 0:02:59.201 her high school. He and Jennifer rode home separately. Janelle's mother, Gloria, 0:02:59.441 --> 0:03:01.881 had gone to visit her sick father in Los Angeles, 0:03:02.201 --> 0:03:02.921 so she was out of. 0:03:02.921 --> 0:03:03.561 Town that night. 0:03:04.721 --> 0:03:08.001 When Jim got home, he saw Janelle's clothes were scattered 0:03:08.001 --> 0:03:11.161 around the pantyhose that she'd warned to the concert were 0:03:11.241 --> 0:03:14.041 draped over a couch, her shoes were on the floor 0:03:14.041 --> 0:03:16.881 of the living room, and the space heater was pulled 0:03:16.961 --> 0:03:20.240 close to where she normally sat, near an easy chair 0:03:20.321 --> 0:03:23.561 that was close to the TV. Her family later told 0:03:23.601 --> 0:03:26.841 police this was Janelle's routine after she got home. She 0:03:26.881 --> 0:03:29.561 would pull the space heater close to the chair and 0:03:29.641 --> 0:03:34.241 watch TV, and the TV was turned on. All signs 0:03:34.281 --> 0:03:37.721 pointed to Janelle's settling in for a cozy night, but 0:03:37.881 --> 0:03:39.041 Jim couldn't find her. 0:03:39.601 --> 0:03:41.441 It looked like she had come home. 0:03:42.041 --> 0:03:44.441 Nothing appeared to be out of place, There were no 0:03:44.561 --> 0:03:47.481 signs of forced entry or a struggle, and nothing had 0:03:47.481 --> 0:03:48.521 been taken from the house. 0:03:50.081 --> 0:03:50.881 There were more. 0:03:50.721 --> 0:03:54.801 Clues in the kitchen that seemed to point to Janelle's timeline. 0:03:54.841 --> 0:03:59.041 Shortly after eight thirty pm, Janelle answered the phone, and 0:03:59.081 --> 0:04:01.401 a note on the blackboard in the kitchen that was 0:04:01.481 --> 0:04:05.001 used for phone messages showed that a substitute teacher at 0:04:05.041 --> 0:04:07.841 the school had called with a message for Janelle's dad. 0:04:08.761 --> 0:04:12.881 Janelle wrote that message on the board, so at first, 0:04:13.001 --> 0:04:16.001 given all this, Jim thought maybe Janelle had run out 0:04:16.001 --> 0:04:19.880 to do something else or see a friend. Jennifer, Janelle's sister, 0:04:20.001 --> 0:04:23.001 came home at around ten pm from her game. There 0:04:23.081 --> 0:04:27.401 was still no sign of Janelle. Concern Jim called his pastor, 0:04:27.681 --> 0:04:30.681 who suggested that he call the police. So he did, 0:04:30.841 --> 0:04:34.681 and he said Janelle was missing. Janelle was in the 0:04:34.681 --> 0:04:38.841 seventh grade. She disappeared just days before her thirteenth birthday. 0:04:39.481 --> 0:04:42.760 Her parents described her as a loving child. She was 0:04:42.841 --> 0:04:48.080 super in balld in school and sports, including basketball. Deanna 0:04:48.241 --> 0:04:51.080 later told Dateline that Janelle was in a great mood 0:04:51.081 --> 0:04:53.681 that night on the ride home. She was looking forward 0:04:53.721 --> 0:04:56.041 to the last day of school the next day, Friday, 0:04:56.601 --> 0:04:59.880 and to exchanging gifts with her friends. She was also 0:04:59.961 --> 0:05:03.281 looking forward to the upcoming two week Christmas holiday. There 0:05:03.361 --> 0:05:05.801 was zero's sign that night that she would leave her 0:05:05.841 --> 0:05:11.681 house for any reason or go away voluntarily. Police showed 0:05:11.761 --> 0:05:13.601 up at the Matthews house at. 0:05:13.441 --> 0:05:14.801 Ten fifteen pm. 0:05:15.121 --> 0:05:19.641 They immediately started canvassing the neighborhood, and they immediately announced 0:05:19.641 --> 0:05:23.241 to the community they believed that Janelle had been kidnapped 0:05:23.241 --> 0:05:28.080 from her home. Her parents left her presence unwrapped and 0:05:28.161 --> 0:05:31.801 under the tree in case she came home, but she 0:05:31.961 --> 0:05:37.001 never came home to open them. Janelle vanished and there 0:05:37.041 --> 0:05:44.401 was no sign of her until thirty years later. I'm 0:05:44.481 --> 0:05:47.561 Catherine Townsend. Over the past seven years of making my 0:05:47.601 --> 0:05:50.841 true crime podcast, Helen Gone, I've learned that there's no 0:05:50.921 --> 0:05:54.321 such thing as a small town where murder never happens. 0:05:54.961 --> 0:05:57.681 I have received hundreds of messages from people all around 0:05:57.721 --> 0:06:00.601 the country asking for help with an unsolved murder that's 0:06:00.601 --> 0:06:04.880 affected them, their families, and their communities. If you have 0:06:05.001 --> 0:06:07.081 a case you'd like me and my team to look into, 0:06:07.841 --> 0:06:09.801 you can reach out to us at our Helen Gone 0:06:09.881 --> 0:06:13.401 Murder Line at six seven eight seven four four six 0:06:13.561 --> 0:06:17.161 one four five. That's six seven eight seven four four 0:06:17.481 --> 0:06:20.760 six one four five, or you can send us a 0:06:20.801 --> 0:06:22.761 message on Instagram at. 0:06:22.801 --> 0:06:23.721 Helen Gone Pod. 0:06:24.601 --> 0:07:10.601 This is Helen Gone Murder Line. When police got to 0:07:10.641 --> 0:07:13.761 the Matthews house and searched it, they had very little 0:07:13.761 --> 0:07:17.401 to go on. There were no fingerprints found and no 0:07:17.441 --> 0:07:22.161 stranger DNA. Of course, DNA testing possibilities in nineteen eighty 0:07:22.161 --> 0:07:25.401 four were very different than they are today, and no 0:07:25.481 --> 0:07:28.401 one in the quiet, safe neighborhood had heard anything out 0:07:28.441 --> 0:07:31.841 of the ordinary. Again, there was no obvious sign of 0:07:31.841 --> 0:07:35.241 a struggle in the home, but police did notice a 0:07:35.321 --> 0:07:39.561 few small things that seemed out of place. First of all, 0:07:39.721 --> 0:07:43.521 the garage door was open, which Janelle's father, Jim, said 0:07:43.761 --> 0:07:46.641 should not have been. Janelle should have shut it after 0:07:46.681 --> 0:07:50.321 she came into the house. That was part of her routine. 0:07:50.401 --> 0:07:53.241 Then there were the footprints in the snow in the 0:07:53.281 --> 0:07:55.961 front of the house that led police to believe that 0:07:56.081 --> 0:08:00.721 someone might be looking through the windows. Over the years, 0:08:00.761 --> 0:08:03.401 there has been a lot of discussion about those footprints. 0:08:03.961 --> 0:08:07.641 The Dateline episode about this case is actually called Footprints 0:08:07.641 --> 0:08:10.841 in the Snow. The footprints were too big to be 0:08:10.961 --> 0:08:15.401 Janelle's and they were recent. It had snowed several hours earlier. 0:08:15.561 --> 0:08:17.441 This was the time of year where it was snowing 0:08:17.481 --> 0:08:22.401 pretty much every day, so these were fresh prints. Police 0:08:22.641 --> 0:08:25.841 later determined that the footprints were a single set from 0:08:25.881 --> 0:08:29.161 one person, a mail with an estimated foot size of 0:08:29.281 --> 0:08:32.441 nine to eleven. There was something else that was odd 0:08:32.481 --> 0:08:36.361 about the footprints. Jim had a rake in his garage 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.401 and it looked like someone had raked over the prince, 0:08:39.721 --> 0:08:42.961 presumably to try to get rid of them. Police did 0:08:43.001 --> 0:08:45.841 not share it with the public immediately, but it's a 0:08:45.881 --> 0:08:50.761 detail that will become very important later. Police of course 0:08:50.841 --> 0:08:54.041 turned their attention to those closest to Janelle, and naturally 0:08:54.401 --> 0:08:59.361 to relationships between family members, including between Janelle and Jim Matthews. 0:09:00.201 --> 0:09:03.521 They gave Janelle's father a light detector test and questioned 0:09:03.601 --> 0:09:08.041 him thoroughly. Jim later told Dateline he understood that police 0:09:08.081 --> 0:09:11.200 had to question him, but he admitted the whole ordeal 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.601 was painful and that he eventually became frustrated with the 0:09:14.641 --> 0:09:18.961 process because he had been completely forthcoming. Jim Matthews was 0:09:19.001 --> 0:09:26.241 cleared by police. Janelle was adopted, since she had been 0:09:26.241 --> 0:09:29.161 adopted when she was six weeks old by Gloria and Jim. 0:09:29.401 --> 0:09:33.041 Police also secretly put her birth mother, who was at 0:09:33.041 --> 0:09:35.680 the time living in Los Angeles, under surveillance for a 0:09:35.721 --> 0:09:40.281 period of time. They had to consider all possibilities, including 0:09:40.361 --> 0:09:46.040 parental kidnapping, but Janelle's mother was quickly cleared as well. 0:09:47.521 --> 0:09:50.881 There was a massive man hunt, first by law enforcement 0:09:50.961 --> 0:09:54.961 and later by six hundred volunteers who scoured all parts 0:09:55.041 --> 0:09:58.041 of Well County, but they found no sign of Janelle. 0:09:59.041 --> 0:10:03.001 According to the Greenwood's Commonwealth, Janelle's picture was featured on 0:10:03.041 --> 0:10:05.441 a milk carton and she was mentioned in news stories 0:10:05.441 --> 0:10:09.121 with other kidnap victims. Including Adam Walsh and Florida and 0:10:09.201 --> 0:10:12.401 Aton Pates in New York City. But Janelle's case was 0:10:12.441 --> 0:10:15.161 a little bit different because she had been home getting 0:10:15.201 --> 0:10:18.961 comfortable when she was taken. Who would have been bold 0:10:19.041 --> 0:10:21.281 enough to take her out of her home like that? 0:10:22.401 --> 0:10:25.721 Since there were no signs of forest entry, police did 0:10:25.801 --> 0:10:29.761 wonder did Janelle know her abductor or maybe could she 0:10:29.841 --> 0:10:33.001 have been familiar with them? Was there a reason why 0:10:33.041 --> 0:10:37.001 she let them in or were they already inside the 0:10:37.001 --> 0:10:41.321 garage when she came home, lying there in wait? Was 0:10:41.361 --> 0:10:44.641 this a crime of opportunity or could someone have been 0:10:44.681 --> 0:10:48.680 stalking the twelve year old. The case quickly garnered a 0:10:48.721 --> 0:10:52.121 lot of media attention. CBS News reported that one of 0:10:52.121 --> 0:10:54.921 the first investigators on the scene was a twenty seven 0:10:54.961 --> 0:10:58.761 year old police officer named John Gates. He was one 0:10:58.761 --> 0:11:03.001 of the first officers to canvass the neighborhood. Later, John 0:11:03.081 --> 0:11:08.041 Gates became mayor of Greeley. Janelle's bizarre abduction touched the 0:11:08.081 --> 0:11:12.881 whole town. In twenty nineteen, he told the Colorado Sun quote, 0:11:13.121 --> 0:11:15.841 it was all hands on deck the minute I walked 0:11:15.841 --> 0:11:18.601 into their home. I thought that this was probably not 0:11:18.801 --> 0:11:21.361 a runaway. We walked around the neighborhood. 0:11:21.521 --> 0:11:24.761 It was dark. Nobody in that neighborhood saw anything. 0:11:25.201 --> 0:11:28.560 It wasn't long before we started thinking this was probably 0:11:28.681 --> 0:11:33.041 not going to end well, end quote. For a long time, 0:11:33.121 --> 0:11:36.721 the case went cold, months and then years went by. 0:11:38.081 --> 0:11:41.521 In nineteen ninety four, ten years after Janelle vanished, she 0:11:41.681 --> 0:11:46.161 was declared legally dead. Then another heartbreaking twist in the 0:11:46.161 --> 0:11:51.041 case happened. In nineteen ninety seven, Janelle's mother, Gloria Matthews, 0:11:51.161 --> 0:11:54.161 received a letter from Janelle's birth mother, who had used 0:11:54.161 --> 0:11:58.641 a search consultant to track her biological daughter down. Janelle's 0:11:58.641 --> 0:12:02.401 birth mother had no idea that Janelle was missing or 0:12:02.441 --> 0:12:05.721 that she had been put under surveillance by police years earlier, 0:12:06.481 --> 0:12:09.681 so now Gloria had to break the news to Janelle's 0:12:09.681 --> 0:12:13.921 birth mother about what had happened to her. Jim and 0:12:14.001 --> 0:12:17.761 Gloria eventually moved away from the area. They were missionaries 0:12:17.801 --> 0:12:20.601 in the Philippines for a while, then they moved to Seattle. 0:12:21.041 --> 0:12:25.481 Eventually they retired in Costa Rica. But people in Greeley 0:12:25.641 --> 0:12:30.161 never forgot Janelle's case and the strange circumstances, the footprints 0:12:30.161 --> 0:12:32.801 in the snow, the open garage, the lack of evidence, 0:12:33.481 --> 0:12:36.321 but other than a cherry tree being planted in front 0:12:36.321 --> 0:12:39.241 of Janelle's middle school in her honor and local news 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.321 covering the case on big anniversaries, there just. 0:12:42.441 --> 0:12:43.441 Wasn't much movement. 0:12:44.521 --> 0:12:49.521 But then in twenty nineteen, over thirty years after Janelle's disappearance, 0:12:49.761 --> 0:12:53.681 seemingly out of nowhere, there was a massive break in 0:12:53.721 --> 0:13:06.721 the case. On July twenty third, twenty eighteen, a crew 0:13:06.921 --> 0:13:07.481 working on. 0:13:07.441 --> 0:13:09.440 An oil pipeline in a rural. 0:13:09.201 --> 0:13:12.601 Area southeast of Greeley, about fifteen miles from the Matthew's 0:13:12.681 --> 0:13:17.201 former family home, found human remains, including a skull with 0:13:17.241 --> 0:13:21.161 braces on its teeth and part of a jawbone. Police 0:13:21.241 --> 0:13:24.041 stated a few days later that the Weld County Corner's 0:13:24.081 --> 0:13:28.321 Office had identified the remains as being Janelle Matthews. Police 0:13:28.361 --> 0:13:31.361 also announced they found traces of red and blue fabric 0:13:31.441 --> 0:13:34.041 near the remains, so it appeared as. 0:13:33.961 --> 0:13:36.841 Though Janelle was still wearing the same thing that she. 0:13:36.801 --> 0:13:39.441 Had been wearing the night of the Christmas concert, a 0:13:39.521 --> 0:13:43.681 dark gray skirt, red blouse, and graceweater. The evidence pointed 0:13:43.681 --> 0:13:47.161 to Janelle being abducted and killed the same night she 0:13:47.241 --> 0:13:51.081 was taken. I cannot begin to imagine how her family 0:13:51.161 --> 0:13:54.041 must have felt. But often family members say it's a 0:13:54.081 --> 0:13:56.801 bag of mixed emotions. There's the part of you hoping 0:13:56.841 --> 0:13:59.241 your family member could still be out there and may 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:03.921 one day return, but then also the horrific reality kicks in. 0:14:05.721 --> 0:14:09.761 Janelle's sister, Jennifer, talked to the Associated Press in twenty nineteen. 0:14:10.561 --> 0:14:13.961 She described finding her sister's body after all that time 0:14:14.121 --> 0:14:17.361 as a miracle. Back in the day in the eighties, 0:14:17.681 --> 0:14:19.761 the area where the pipeline was dug was just a 0:14:19.801 --> 0:14:23.081 big deserted field in the middle of nowhere. The land 0:14:23.161 --> 0:14:25.761 was bought in nineteen seventy four, but was there for 0:14:25.921 --> 0:14:31.201 years totally undeveloped. Jennifer told the Associated Press quote, if 0:14:31.201 --> 0:14:32.961 it would have been Doug one foot to. 0:14:32.961 --> 0:14:35.441 The left or to the right, she would not have 0:14:35.481 --> 0:14:36.921 been found. End quote. 0:14:37.841 --> 0:14:41.721 Police confirmed very few details at the time, and when 0:14:41.761 --> 0:14:44.681 they did release the autopsy report to LOFE local news channels, 0:14:44.681 --> 0:14:48.321 it was heavily redacted, but they did state that the 0:14:48.361 --> 0:14:52.001 fabric match the plaid skirt, blouse and sweater vest Janelle 0:14:52.001 --> 0:14:55.881 wore on the night of the Christmas concert. Eventually, they 0:14:55.921 --> 0:14:59.481 stated Janelle's cause of death was a gunshot wound to 0:14:59.521 --> 0:14:59.881 the head. 0:15:00.361 --> 0:15:01.961 Manner of death was homicide. 0:15:03.561 --> 0:15:07.401 Janelle's family finally had an answer. They knew that she 0:15:07.441 --> 0:15:10.561 had been murdered. She had been killed almost certainly on 0:15:10.681 --> 0:15:12.681 the same night that she was taken from her home. 0:15:13.401 --> 0:15:17.081 Now they needed to find Janelle's killer, and it didn't 0:15:17.121 --> 0:15:20.321 take long for police to focus on a suspect, a 0:15:20.441 --> 0:15:24.721 man named Steve Panky. Steve Panky's name had apparently come 0:15:24.801 --> 0:15:28.001 up early in the investigation. He had written a series 0:15:28.081 --> 0:15:32.601 of bizarre letters to the District Attorney's office. In those letters, 0:15:32.641 --> 0:15:36.601 he claimed to have information about Janelle's case. Eventually, the 0:15:36.681 --> 0:15:40.801 DA's office started returning the letters to him unopened. Steve 0:15:41.001 --> 0:15:44.801 Pankey appeared to be kind of a strange character. By 0:15:44.841 --> 0:15:48.121 his own admission, he lied a lot. He later testified 0:15:48.121 --> 0:15:50.681 that he made a lot of stuff up, and the 0:15:50.761 --> 0:15:54.441 Matthews family said back in twenty nineteen, they had never 0:15:54.481 --> 0:15:56.641 heard that name before. They had no idea who this 0:15:56.681 --> 0:16:01.641 guy was. On September fourth, twenty nineteen, police traveled to 0:16:01.761 --> 0:16:05.161 Twin Falls, Idaho, to where Steve Panky was living. They 0:16:05.201 --> 0:16:09.121 executed a search warrant on his condominium. It was reported 0:16:09.161 --> 0:16:12.081 early on that Steve Panky had a tenuous connection to 0:16:12.121 --> 0:16:14.801 the Matthews family, that he was a neighbor of theirs, 0:16:14.921 --> 0:16:16.961 and that at some point he was a youth pastor 0:16:17.001 --> 0:16:20.841 at their church, and he had inserted himself into the 0:16:20.881 --> 0:16:26.521 investigation multiple times. Greeley Police Commander Roy Smith announced that 0:16:26.601 --> 0:16:30.080 Steve Panky had made repeated attempts to speak to detectives 0:16:30.121 --> 0:16:34.401 about Janelle's abduction, but then when police traveled to Idaho 0:16:34.521 --> 0:16:39.001 and tried to question Steve, he refused to answer their questions. 0:16:40.361 --> 0:16:44.081 In nineteen eighty four, Steve Panky lived in Greeley. At 0:16:44.081 --> 0:16:46.641 that time, he was thirty three years old. He was 0:16:46.721 --> 0:16:49.921 married with a five year old son. He and his 0:16:50.001 --> 0:16:53.321 wife lived about two miles away from Janelle and her family. 0:16:53.881 --> 0:16:58.481 At one point. Steve actually ran for governor unsuccessfully twice 0:16:58.641 --> 0:17:02.281 in Idaho as a writing candidate in the twenty fourteen 0:17:02.361 --> 0:17:06.360 and twenty eighteen elections. Both times he lost by a 0:17:06.521 --> 0:17:11.001 large margin. He only ever got slightly over one percent. 0:17:10.721 --> 0:17:12.120 Of the vote. 0:17:12.161 --> 0:17:15.081 Steve Pankey was in the Army. He moved to Greeley 0:17:15.161 --> 0:17:20.041 in nineteen seventy three. Steve was a very religious man. 0:17:20.521 --> 0:17:23.881 He was a member of the Sunnyview Church of the Nazarene. 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:28.281 This was the same church that Janelle and her family 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.920 were members of, but Steve and Janelle's family did not 0:17:32.001 --> 0:17:36.161 attend that church at the same time. He testified later 0:17:36.360 --> 0:17:38.801 that he served some of the functions of the youth pastor, 0:17:39.161 --> 0:17:43.160 like teaching Sunday school, but church officials told police Steve 0:17:43.241 --> 0:17:44.921 was more like a janitor at the church. 0:17:46.441 --> 0:17:48.241 Steve always seemed. 0:17:47.881 --> 0:17:50.401 To have an answer for why his stories didn't match. 0:17:50.921 --> 0:17:53.441 He clarified in court that even though he wasn't the 0:17:53.521 --> 0:17:57.160 official youth pastor, he did do janitorial work. He was 0:17:57.241 --> 0:18:01.440 performing a lot of those functions. Later, Steve testified he 0:18:01.481 --> 0:18:04.600 was asked to lead the church. He admitted he developed 0:18:04.601 --> 0:18:07.521 a hatred for that church and some of the church officials, 0:18:07.961 --> 0:18:10.960 and he testified that that hatred was kind of the 0:18:11.001 --> 0:18:14.160 reason he became fixated on Janelle's case in the first place. 0:18:14.801 --> 0:18:16.761 He believed that there was some kind of a link 0:18:16.761 --> 0:18:21.521 between Janelle's disappearance and that church. Steve Pankey did have 0:18:21.561 --> 0:18:25.561 a criminal record. In nineteen seventy seven, he told the 0:18:25.601 --> 0:18:28.120 Sun newspaper that he was accused of date raping a 0:18:28.121 --> 0:18:31.001 piano player at the church, but he said that he 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:34.601 was cleared after he took a polygraph test. Steve said 0:18:34.641 --> 0:18:37.241 that after that he was asked to lead the church, 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:41.161 the Suny Viewed Church of the Nazarene, the same church 0:18:41.281 --> 0:18:44.481 that Janelle's family later attended. So a lot of the 0:18:44.561 --> 0:18:48.881 rumors about Steve being the Matthew's neighbor and attending the same. 0:18:48.801 --> 0:18:50.360 Church really weren't true. 0:18:50.601 --> 0:18:53.241 He lived a couple of miles away and they did 0:18:53.281 --> 0:18:56.481 not attend the same church at the same time. Steve 0:18:56.561 --> 0:18:59.161 married his wife Angela in nineteen seventy eight. Their son, 0:18:59.241 --> 0:19:02.881 Mark was born in nineteen seventy nine. Over the years, 0:19:03.001 --> 0:19:05.961 Steve Panky was also hit with a lot of lawsuits, 0:19:06.361 --> 0:19:10.080 both civil and criminal. He seemed to get into conflicts 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.281 with a lot of different people, and he also made 0:19:12.321 --> 0:19:15.241 a lot of contradictory statements. So when you listen to 0:19:15.281 --> 0:19:19.281 Steve Panky talk, it's hard to separate fantasy from reality 0:19:19.321 --> 0:19:23.920 at times. The case against Steve Pankey seems to be 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:27.601 largely based on statements he made about Janelle's case and 0:19:27.801 --> 0:19:32.281 his alleged obsession with it. Steve Panky also told police 0:19:32.321 --> 0:19:35.241 that he had a connection to Russell Ross, Diana's dad, 0:19:35.681 --> 0:19:38.561 the person who dropped Janelle off at her home on 0:19:38.641 --> 0:19:39.161 the last. 0:19:39.041 --> 0:19:39.921 Night that she was alive. 0:19:40.681 --> 0:19:42.801 Steve said that in the seventies they worked at the 0:19:42.801 --> 0:19:46.080 same seven Up Boss company. Steve was trying to start 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:48.201 a union at the company, and he claimed that he 0:19:48.401 --> 0:19:51.201 and Russell got into an argument over that and that 0:19:51.281 --> 0:19:55.160 Russell physically assaulted him. In addition to sending letters to 0:19:55.201 --> 0:19:58.441 the DA over the years, Steve Panky also talked to 0:19:58.441 --> 0:20:02.041 the press. He did an interview with the Idaho Statesman 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:05.600 in September of twenty nineteen, and by that time he 0:20:05.641 --> 0:20:08.121 had completely changed his story. 0:20:08.201 --> 0:20:10.920 In that interview, he claimed that he did not know 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:12.561 Janelle or her family. 0:20:13.521 --> 0:20:17.241 When he talked to detectives in twenty nineteen, he told 0:20:17.281 --> 0:20:19.641 them that he had a lawyer and would not talk 0:20:19.681 --> 0:20:23.521 to them without making a deal. So a big question 0:20:23.601 --> 0:20:27.321 that came out during this investigation was what did Steve 0:20:27.361 --> 0:20:31.881 Panky know and when did he know it. His ex wife, Angela, 0:20:31.961 --> 0:20:35.801 told police that Steve was obsessed with Janelle's case ever 0:20:35.881 --> 0:20:40.241 since she disappeared. Law enforcement stated they did not believe 0:20:40.281 --> 0:20:42.521 that Steve Panky owned a gun at the time of 0:20:42.561 --> 0:20:45.801 Janelle's abduction, and on the night of the abduction, he 0:20:45.881 --> 0:20:48.640 had an alibi. He told police that he was at 0:20:48.641 --> 0:20:52.241 home with his wife and children, but Steve and his 0:20:52.281 --> 0:20:55.281 family did leave town on the morning of December twenty first, 0:20:55.401 --> 0:20:59.681 nineteen eighty four, the morning after Janelle was abducted. Steve 0:20:59.761 --> 0:21:02.801 told investigators that on that day, he, his wife, and 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:05.201 his child took a family Christmas trip to Big Bear 0:21:05.281 --> 0:21:08.201 Lake in California, and that they stayed there with his 0:21:08.241 --> 0:21:13.041 family until December twenty sixth. Steve's ex wife, Angela Hicks, 0:21:13.481 --> 0:21:16.321 ended up becoming a star witness in the case against him. 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:20.921 Angela told investigators that over the years, Steve had made 0:21:20.961 --> 0:21:24.561 a lot of statements implying that he had inside information 0:21:24.761 --> 0:21:29.601 about Janelle's kidnapping. In two thousand and eight, Steve Panky's 0:21:29.681 --> 0:21:34.401 son was murdered. After that, Angela told police that at 0:21:34.441 --> 0:21:38.681 their son's funeral, she heard him say, quote, I hope 0:21:38.721 --> 0:21:41.641 God didn't allow this to happen because of Janelle Matthews 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:47.640 end quote. According to the criminal indictment, police believed that 0:21:47.681 --> 0:21:51.921 Steve quote intentionally inserted himself in the investigation many times 0:21:51.961 --> 0:21:54.721 over the years, claiming to have knowledge of the crime, 0:21:55.161 --> 0:22:00.521 which grew inconsistent and incriminating overtime end quote. Police also 0:22:00.601 --> 0:22:05.321 pointed out Steve knew about the rake, which they found suspicious. 0:22:05.361 --> 0:22:08.401 Angela said when she and Steve were driving home from 0:22:08.401 --> 0:22:11.400 that trip to the lake on December twenty sixth, that Steve, 0:22:11.721 --> 0:22:15.121 who didn't normally allow radio or TV inside their home, 0:22:15.561 --> 0:22:18.561 suddenly turned on the news and was listening obsessively to 0:22:18.641 --> 0:22:22.641 the coverage of Janelle's disappearance, and according to the indictment, 0:22:23.041 --> 0:22:25.921 Angela claimed that after they got home from that trip, 0:22:26.441 --> 0:22:30.521 Steve started digging in their yard. Over the years, Steve 0:22:30.601 --> 0:22:32.521 gave many interviews about the case. 0:22:32.321 --> 0:22:33.801 Including one with The Times. 0:22:34.361 --> 0:22:37.361 In that interview, he said he believed he was being 0:22:37.441 --> 0:22:43.200 framed because he was a celibate homosexual. The evidence against 0:22:43.241 --> 0:22:49.600 Steve was entirely circumstantial. Police had no physical evidence. Steve 0:22:49.681 --> 0:22:53.120 Pankey told local reporters that he had given police a 0:22:53.201 --> 0:22:56.481 DNA sample, but the Greeley Police told Fox thirty one 0:22:56.840 --> 0:22:59.801 that they never even made a request to obtain Steve's DNA, 0:23:00.441 --> 0:23:04.361 so they said that statement was false. With Steve Panky, 0:23:04.401 --> 0:23:07.321 it's hard to tell which parts of the story are true. 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:11.041 He said in court that Angela was simply bitter and 0:23:11.121 --> 0:23:15.401 making up a lot of lies. According to an indictment, 0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:19.640 Steve Panky looked up the details of Janelle's case electronically 0:23:19.761 --> 0:23:23.481 hundreds of times, but it's really hard to say. Was 0:23:23.521 --> 0:23:26.640 that because he had a role in Janelle's disappearance or 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:29.761 because he was a true crime fan. Later it was 0:23:29.801 --> 0:23:34.281 reported Steve followed several true crime podcasts, So could he 0:23:34.361 --> 0:23:37.401 have gotten the details about the case from online reports 0:23:38.281 --> 0:23:43.161 or did he definitely know information only known to police. 0:23:43.241 --> 0:23:46.600 Another thing that made police believe Steve Panky might have 0:23:46.641 --> 0:23:50.561 had a role in Janelle's death was the rake. Apparently 0:23:50.641 --> 0:23:52.521 he had mentioned the rape, the one that was used 0:23:52.561 --> 0:23:54.481 to cover the footprints in the snow outside of. 0:23:54.441 --> 0:23:55.241 The Matthews House. 0:23:56.121 --> 0:23:59.481 Now, police state that no one knew about the rake 0:23:59.561 --> 0:24:03.361 at the time when Steve mentioned it. Police also pointed 0:24:03.401 --> 0:24:05.801 to details of a letter that Steve wrote to law 0:24:05.840 --> 0:24:10.080 enforcement in twenty thirteen. It read, quote, about a week 0:24:10.121 --> 0:24:13.400 after the fact, I realized a blanket or comforter or 0:24:13.401 --> 0:24:17.961 a quilt also disappeared from the Matthews house. Some experiences 0:24:18.041 --> 0:24:25.001 are hard to forget end quote. Apparently, police believe this 0:24:25.121 --> 0:24:28.601 could refer to the fact that Janelle's remains were found 0:24:28.881 --> 0:24:34.921 wrapped in a bedsheet. On October ninth, twenty twenty, a 0:24:34.921 --> 0:24:40.120 grand jury indicted Steve Panky on charges of kidnapping and murder. 0:24:46.840 --> 0:24:50.640 Steve's trial started in October of twenty twenty one. He 0:24:50.721 --> 0:24:53.400 took the stand in his own defense. At times, he 0:24:53.561 --> 0:24:56.840 rambled for a long time to answer the questions. Steve 0:24:56.961 --> 0:25:00.601 described himself as a fantasist and a liar. He admitted that, 0:25:01.241 --> 0:25:05.241 but again he completely denied any involvement in Janelle's kidnapping 0:25:05.241 --> 0:25:09.201 and murder. Steve's ex wife, Angela Hicks, was a major 0:25:09.281 --> 0:25:12.801 part of the prosecution's case. She talked about that trip 0:25:12.840 --> 0:25:15.521 that their family took on December first, nineteen eighty four, 0:25:15.601 --> 0:25:16.201 to Big Bear. 0:25:16.921 --> 0:25:18.921 She testified the trip was unplanned. 0:25:19.361 --> 0:25:22.521 She said Steve basically rushed in and told her on 0:25:22.601 --> 0:25:25.001 December twentieth they were packing up and leaving for Big 0:25:25.001 --> 0:25:28.321 Bear for Christmas and they needed to leave pretty much immediately. 0:25:29.281 --> 0:25:32.681