Trial of ex-governor hopeful ends with hung jury

GREELEY, Colo. — The trial of a former long-shot Idaho gubernatorial candidate charged in the killing of a 12-year-old Colorado girl ended Thursday with jurors unable to reach verdicts on the most serious charges against him.

Jurors found Steve Pankey guilty of false reporting but could not reach agreement on murder and kidnapping charges.

Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke pressed for Judge Timonty Kerns to offer an instruction encouraging jurors to reach a verdict but Kerns said further deliberation would not change anyone’s verdict, the Greeley Tribune reported.

Pankey, described by his lawyer as a paranoid true crime junkie, testified in his own defense, delivering sometimes rambling testimony. He said he pretended to know information about the case out of bitterness for police and because he wanted his former church and former employer investigated. He denied being involved in Jonelle Matthews’ disappearance and death.

Pankey was a neighbor of Jonelle and her family when she vanished after being dropped off at her empty home by a family friend after performing at a Christmas concert in Greeley, Colorado, a city about 50 miles north of Denver. He emerged as person of interest in the case three decades later — shortly before Jonelle’s body was found in 2019 — after claiming to have information about what happened to her and asking for immunity from prosecution.

A hearing is scheduled Monday to sentence Pankey for the false reporting conviction and to discuss whether prosecutors will try again to put him on trial for murder and kidnapping.

Jonelle was considered missing until workers digging a pipeline in a rural area near Greeley in July 2019 discovered human remains matching her dental records.