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How did Steve Pankey's son die? Jonelle Matthews's killer believed death was divine retribution

Steve Pankey, who was convicted for the murder of Jonelle Matthews, was deeply affected emotionally when he lost his 20-year-old son, Carl

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

GREELEY, COLORADO: Long before law enforcement uncovered Steve Pankey's involvement in the 1984 abduction and murder of Jonelle Matthews, karma had already served its own justice—at least, that's what Pankey believed. The local Greeley resident, who even made a long-shot bid for the Republican nomination for governor of Idaho in 2018, was a criminal hiding in plain sight. He took 12-year-old Matthews from her home on the evening of December 20, 1984 and eventually killed her, says a report by NBC News.

The case remained unsolved until 2019 when the mortal remains of Matthews were found 15 miles away from her house. But Pankey had already paid for his sins to some extent. His 20-year-old son, Carl was accidentally killed by his girlfriend in 2008 in Phoenix, as per The Times.

Steve Pankey's wife testified in court

Steve Pankey's ex-wife, in her court testimony, recalled how he was deeply affected after their son's death. She told that she heard him say in front of the urn, "I hope God didn't allow this to happen because of Jonelle Matthews" as per Greeley Tribune.

Angela Hicks, who married Pankey in 1978, also told the investigators that he obsessively used to ask her to read him newspaper accounts about the case. She recalled his controlling behavior and even stopped her from seeing her father. She told that a day after Matthews's disappearance, he suddenly decided to visit his parents in California. "I mean, so I was just shocked because the last thing I had understood was that we weren’t going. So my first thought was for the dogs," she said on the stand, as reported by 9News.

When she asked that who would take care of their three dogs, he said, "'Don’t worry about the dogs. The dogs are gone," Hicks remembered. She mentioned that she never saw their dogs again. When they returned home after Christmas, Pankey told Hicks to turn on the radio, which was something he hadn't allowed her in over a year.

“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, then he wanted me to keep flipping the channels to see if he could hear anything more about that," Hicks told.

A month after Matthews's disappearance, when a pastor said that he heard from God that Matthews would be found alive, Pankey called him "false prophet." Hicks told that in 1999, when she found out that he hadn't paid the rent, he said that he had used all the money for the legal fees as police were "persecuting" him because he wouldn't "tell them what they want to know about Jonelle Matthews."

Why did Steve Pankey kill Jonelle Matthews?

The clear motive behind the murder of Jonelle Matthews was never established. However, it is believed that he committed the crime because he carried a vendetta against a local church that had excommunicated him.

Greeley Police Detective Mike Prill said “I think he kidnapped and murdered Jonelle because she was Latino going to this church that, when he attended it, they wouldn’t accept. He did it in a way to frame the church in general," as per a report by Fox31 Denver.

How was Steve Pankey caught?

Steve Pankey almost got away with the crime until a major discovery in 2019. 35 years after Matthews's disappearance, her mortal remains were found by construction workers 15 miles away from her home. Even at this point, no evidence pointed directly at Steve Pankey.

However, he was already a person of interest as the investigative authorities were suspicious of him owing to his extreme obsession and ever-changing statements over the years. Eventually it was found out that he abducted Matthews from her home and eventually shot her in the head, says The New York Times report.

How to stream 'The Girl on the Milk Carton'?

'The Girl on the Milk Carton' is a true crime docuseries consisting of two episodes. The first episode titled 'A Devastating Disappearance' is scheduled to air on Oxygen coming Sunday, August 25 at 7 pm ET/PT. Episode 2 titled 'A Monster Revealed' will release on the same day at 8 pm ET/PT.

The official synopsis for 'The Girl on the Milk Carton' reads, "Five days before Christmas in 1984, Jonelle Matthews went missing from her own living room in the small town of Greeley, Colorado. In an attempt to find Jonelle, her face appeared on milk cartons. Nearly 34 years after her disappearance, her remains were finally found about 20 miles away from her home."

'The Girl on the Milk Carton' trailer