A 69-year-old man who ran for governor of Idaho twice has been charged in connection to the kidnapping and killing of a 12-year-old-girl in Colorado in 1984.
Weld County district attorney's office announced on Tuesday that Steven Pankey had been indicted by a grand jury for the killing of Jonelle Matthews in the decades-old cold case and is being charged with murder in the first degree - after deliberation; murder in the first degree - felony murder; second-degree kidnapping; and two counts of crime of violence.
Matthews' body wasn’t found until July 2019 by a construction crew unearthing ground as part of pipeline installation. Her death was ruled a homicide.
On Monday morning in Meridian, Idaho, Pankey was arrested, and he is currently being held without bail at the Ada County Jail in Idaho.
According to DailyMail
A former youth minister who ran for election in 2018 as Idaho governor has been charged in the cold-case murder of a 12-year-old Colorado girl whose disappearance in 1984 shocked the nation.
Steve Pankey, 69, was arrested on Monday at his home in Meridian, a suburb of Boise, Idaho for the murder of Jonelle Matthews.
His arrest was announced on Tuesday by Michael Rourke, Weld district attorney, who said that Pankey had been indicted by a grand jury on October 9.
Matthews was abducted from her family home in Greeley, Colorado, in December 1984. The case remained cold until her remains were discovered last year.
Rourke said she died from a single shot to the head.
Pankey is being held without bail, awaiting extradition to Colorado, and is facing charges of felony murder, kidnapping and two violent crime sentence enhancements.
'For over three decades, the disappearance of Jonelle Matthews has left our community with many unanswered questions and a void that has not been filled,' said Mark Jones, chief of Greeley police department.
