Former Idaho gubernatorial candidate convicted of 1984 murder

On Monday, a former candidate for governor of Idaho was found guilty of the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old Colorado girl who went missing in 1984 after taking part in a Christmas recital.

Steven Pankey, who had two runs for governor of Idaho, stood trial in Weld County District Court for the charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping of Jonelle Matthews of Greeley Colorado.

Pankey’s 2021 ended in a mistrial after the jury couldn’t reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charge.

Pankey will be sentenced on Monday. He is facing a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

The case went cold for years, but investigators got a breakthrough in 2019 when when an excavation crew at an oil and gas drilling site in Weld County unearthed Matthews’ remains. An autopsy confirmed she died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Prosecutors said Pankey become a strong suspect after he revealed details to authorities that only the killer could have known as they had not been made public.

In closing arguments in the second trial, defense attorney Jessica Brazil said that despite her client having anti-government views and conspiracy theories, he is not violent and there is no direct evidence tying him to this crime.

“Convicting an innocent man will not bring closure to the Matthews family,” she told jurors.

Prosecutor Michael Rourke hit back by saying that in one of his conversations with law enforcement, Pankey asked for immunity in exchange for information about the case.

“That’s something innocent people don’t do,” Rourke said.

Pankey failed in a run for Idaho governor on the Constitution Party ticket in 2014, and also lost a second gubernatorial bid in the 2018 Republican primaries.