Steve Pankey found guilty in 1984 murder of Jonelle Matthews in second trial

The jury returned a verdict in the second trial for Steve Pankey in a decades-old murder case on Monday. Pankey was found guilty in the murder of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in Greeley in 1984.

The first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on three of the four charges. 

The jury found Pankey guilty of false reporting, second-degree kidnapping and first-degree felony murder. Jurors found Pankey not guilty of first-degree murder after deliberation. 

Pankey pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and murder and faced four charges in the case including false reporting. He was arrested last year after Jonelle's remains were found in 2019.

In November of last year, the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on the two counts of murder (murder in the first degree after deliberation and murder in the first-degree felony murder) and the kidnapping charge but did convict him of false reporting to authorities.

On Dec. 20, 1984, 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews sang in a concert and was dropped at home by a friend and the friend's father. She was last seen at 8 p.m., entering the ranch-style home where she lived with her father, Jim; mother, Gloria; and sister. But when her father returned from her sister's basketball game an hour later, Jonelle was gone.

Jonelle was considered missing until workers digging a pipeline in July 2019 discovered human remains matching her dental records in a rural area in Weld County. Police then labeled her death a homicide. An autopsy report suggests she died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Pankey was not a family friend of the Matthews family. However, he did attend the same church and was part of the same social circles as the family.

Jonelle's parents were present for this trial and the verdict which was announced Monday morning. Pankey was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.