What you should know about Jonelle Matthews' killer Steve Pankey

Over the course of his life, Steve Pankey has been given many labels: husband, father, used car salesman, failed gubernatorial candidate, and most recently, convicted murderer.

In 2022, he was found guilty of kidnapping and killing 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews decades earlier.

The heartbreaking case takes center stage oxygen's two-part special The girl on the milk cartonPremiere on Sunday, August 25th.

Matthews disappeared from her home in Colorado on December 20, 1984, after she returned home from a Christmas concert where she had performed with her school choir, but it would be years before Pankey – who was living nearby with his family at the time of the abduction – was ever linked to the crime.

After decades of no answers in the case, Jonelle's body was discovered by oil workers in a field in 2019, bringing the case back into the spotlight and leading to Pankey's arrest the following year.

So who is the man who presumably took her life?

Steve Pankey is running for governor of Idaho

Three years after Matthews' disappearance, Pankey and his family moved to Idaho, according to the Idaho StatesmanThere he tried twice to become governor in failed bids for the state's highest office, once in 2014 and again in 2018.

Pankeys political campaign poster from his candidacy in 2018 described him as a Republican candidate with “traditional core values ​​with a biblical and constitutional perspective.”

He also vowed to protect Second Amendment rights and promised not to accept donations from lobbyists.

“I want to keep simple issues simple and bring competent people together to solve Idaho's complex problems,” he said during his campaign.

But his message did not resonate with voters. Pankey received just 1.4% of the vote in the state's Republican primary, knocking him out of the race before the general election, according to election results. The New York Times.

How Steve Pankey emerged as a suspect in Jonelle Matthews' disappearance

Although no DNA analysis linked him to the case, Pankey became a suspect in the Matthews murder primarily because of his strange behavior and police allegations that he continually interfered in the investigation.

According to the affidavit in the case, Pankey – who for a time attended the same church as the Matthews family – had a habit of watching children on their way home from the middle school that Matthews attended.

Authorities said Pankey also “knew” and “discussed” a key piece of evidence that was never released to the media: the fact that a rake was “used to erase shoe prints in the snow” outside the Matthews' home on the night of the kidnapping.

He also had a gun at the time of the kidnapping. Matthews died of a gunshot wound to the head. However, when the body was discovered, authorities were unable to obtain any usable DNA from it.

Hicks would also testify in court about Pankey's strange behavior around the time of Matthew's disappearance.

She said just one day after Matthew's disappearance, Pankey announced they would be taking a trip to California to visit his family, even though they had already decided not to go, according to KUSA.

Hicks was worried about the family's two Great Danes, but Pankey told her that he had “abandoned” the dogs and they had never been seen again.

Pankey abruptly cut the trip short after an argument with his father, and they drove back to Colorado on Christmas Day. According to Hicks, Pankey became fascinated with the radio during the drive and asked her to turn it on, even though she was not normally allowed to listen to the radio.

“As I was channel surfing, I came across part of a news story that said a girl had disappeared from Greeley, Colorado, and that's what he wanted to hear,” she testified. “And then he wanted to hear that, and then he wanted me to keep channel surfing to see if he could hear any more about it.”

When they returned to Colorado, Hicks testified that they stopped at the store and purchased several newspapers. Pankey asked Hicks to read him the articles about Matthews' disappearance.

“I remember he made me read each book at least three times,” she told the court.

About a month after Jonelle's disappearance, Hicks said the pastor of her church heard a message from God that the young girl would be found alive, and Pankey screamed “false prophet” and had to be led out of the church.

He also made other odd comments about the case over the years. He once told his wife he thought the police were following him because he didn't want to tell them what he knew about Jonelle. He brought up the case again at his son's funeral in 2008.

“That's the only time I've seen him so emotional,” she testified, according to KUSA. “Very moved. He leaned over, kissed the urn and said, 'I hope God didn't let this happen because of Jonelle Matthews.'”

Authorities said he also made “direct and veiled statements” about Matthews in civil and criminal court documents over the years. In a 1999 brief to the Idaho Supreme Court, for example, he wrote that “the case will never be resolved without a settlement,” according to the affidavit.

Steve Pankey is arrested

Pankey was arrested in 2020. His first attempt in 2021 ended with a failed jury, but he was found guilty the next year of second-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, premeditated murder and making a false report to authorities, according to The Coloradoan.

Jonelle's father, Jim Matthews, urged Pankey to confess during the sentencing, telling him, “The gates of heaven may still be open for you. It's not too late, Steve Pankey. God is waiting.”

But Pankey – whose lawyer described him as a “true crime junkie” who simply loves being in the spotlight – continued to maintain his innocence in his own statements in court.

“I am a Christian. I will be in heaven. I am innocent and this is no justice for Jonelle,” he said.