Pankey is on trial for the kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in Greeley in 1984.
GREELEY, Colo. — On Thursday, Steve Pankey, the man accused of murdering 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews in Greeley in 1984, took the stand in his own defense.
Pankey, whose lawyers call a “true crime junkie,” is also a former candidate for governor of Idaho.
While DNA evidence hasn’t been linked to Pankey, prosecutors argue that his obsessed interest in the case, in part, points to him as the killer.
At times, Pankey’s testimony went in different directions, and the answers he gave avoided some questions.
Pankey testified that he didn’t know who the Matthews family was on the night of Jonelle’s disappearance on December 20, 1984.
“Did you ever lay a hand on Jonelle Matthews?” Pankey’s attorney asked at one point.
Pankey said the morning after Jonelle’s disappearance, he and his wife at the time, Angela Hicks, drove to Big Bear Lake, California to see family.
Last week, Hicks testified that on their drive back to Greeley from that trip, they heard on the radio that Jonelle was missing, and Pankey wanted to hear more. She said they stopped at a Safeway for newspapers before getting back to their home.
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Pankey denied that Thursday, among other pieces of testimony from Hicks and the prosecution. He also denied digging in the front yard of their home on the day of their return.
Prosecutors argued that over the years, Pankey became obsessed with the case, and approached police and wrote letters to the Weld County DA’s office several times about the case, and at times insinuated that he had information about the case.
“So for instance, on July 15 of 2013, you said that if you want Miss Matthews’ body, you need to protect the witnesses’ fourth, fifth and sixth amendment rights. Why did you write that, Mr. Pankey?” his defense attorney asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t have a good reason,” Pankey responded.
When questioned on statements he made to police asking for immunity, Pankey said in part, “Because at that point, I wanted to privately say what I publicly said today that, you know, I really don’t know anything, and I was bitter and I was just making stuff up.”
The trial will continue Friday at 9 a.m.
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