Who Killed Jonelle Matthews? Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] [Applause] where's Janelle do you know where Janelle is I wonder what happened to that 12-year-old
little girl everybody was looking for Janelle what happened and why nearly 37 years after young girl
vanished from her home in gy the trial underway in the Janelle Matthews murder case ladies and gentlemen for 37 years
Justice for Janelle has been denied that Chang is beginning today let's talk about December 20th
1984 my mom was going to California to visit her family for Christmas and I had a basketball game that night my dad
dropped my sister off at the choir concert and he came and watched my game Janelle needed a ride home so she hopped
in our truck and we took her home my dad waited until he saw her for a flick on the light that was our sign that she
made it inside and everything's fine I came home and you could tell Janelle had been there I yelled out hi
Janelle Janelle are you there no answer I got home probably between 9:30 and 10: Jennifer do you know where
Janelle is and I said no she should be here was there anything out of place in the house not to
me I'm starting to feel real uneasy I called the police and told them that my daughter was missing and they did
uncover some [Music] Footprints I called home and he said I just have to tell you
[Music] something we can't find jel I just had a sick feeling to my stomach tell me a little bit about J
just sweet bubbly fun so kind so nice always seemed to kind of be the life of the party and you always knew Janelle
was around years go by 5 years 10 years 20 years 30 years the police were working
like hell to get this case cleared we just had to wait 35 years Janelle was finally found a
bulldozer operator uncovered the bones more than 20 mil from her old home I didn't want that to be
Jal I really wanted to not know the discovery of her body was not the end of the story this is Steve Panky
Panky is a person of interest in a homicide out of Colorado I've never met Janelle Matthews he's run for governor
never met her never talked to her he ran for Sheriff never heard of Janelle Matthews he likes to talk he's a
talkative guy I voluntarily gave my DNA but he's not a murderer I want to hear what he has to
say about that [Music] night could you please state your name and spell your last name Steven Dana
Panky when you heard that Panky was going to take the stand how did you react I was so surprised and CBS fors KY
worthman is watching the trial as it all unfolds and joins us now from The Newsroom you don't often have a person
who is being charged with murder to take the stand I did some things that were wrong did you ever think this case would
end this way I didn't I did not see this coming we the jury find the defendant Steven Dana Pinky
[Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] the evidence in this case will prove that the defendant is guilty of murder
in the first degree and second degree kidnapping it had been nearly four decades since December 20th
1984 when Janelle Matthews just 12 years old was kidnapped from her home and murder do you sound me swear and now now
her parents were finally in a courtroom desperate for answers she could have been lured out of the house uh in
gullible because she's 12 years old this was a moment that this community had been waiting for a long
time Kelly worthman is a reporter and anchor for Denver's CBS station kcnc people were ready but it was
intense it's a case that has haunted the small Colorado city of really we all lived with our front doors
open we rode our bikes a lot around town Janelle Matthew's friends Darla Jen and
Deanna Ross remember growing up with Janelle we had sleepovers birthday parties we just had a big group of
friends gy is the kind of town Realtors like to call a great place to raise kids
I'm so fortunate that we were neighbors but just 5 days before Christmas gy learned it could not hide from Evil
12-year-old Janelle Matthews disappeared from her grey home it's believed she's the victim of a kidnapping it was such a
mystery this whole thing happened just like that Darla lost her childhood friend do you remember being afraid oh
yeah I remember being afraid as a community it it rocked gayy Janelle Matthews will turn 13 in 2 weeks
no one knows where she'll spend her birthday you would be the last people to whom
something like this would happen I would think [Music] yeah Jim and Gloria Matthews had moved
to gy just six years earlier to raise their young daughters Jennifer we were happy and Janelle were you a close
family definitely Gloria was working at a restaurant and I was an elementary principal we were very inv involed in
our church and we just had a very full life at least they did until that night December 20th that's when Janelle went
to sing in a school choir concert she was interested in any kind of Performing thing afterward she got a ride home with
Deanna Ross and Deanna's father that was about 8:00 p.m. and you drove off thinking what that I'd see her the next
day at school I came home by myself Jim Matthews recalls arriving home at about 9:30
p.m. and found that his daughter wasn't there did it occur to you that maybe she
had run away no because I know my daughter well enough that number one it's Christmas time she loves presents
she just loves the whole festivities of Christmas at first he thought Janelle was at a friend's house but after
calling around and waiting about a half hour to an hour Jim says he called police they sent two or three detectives
out and started searching the house for Clues I remember that night like it was yesterday Grey's Mayor John Gates was 27
years old at the time and a police officer he was called to the scene my assignment that night was going around
the neighborhood knocking on doors asking they had seen or heard anything suspicious that evening no one had seen
or heard anything and the Matthews home which was now a crime scene offered few Clues the only physical evidence were
those footprints in the fresh snow they were found just outside the house and there was something odd about them
whoever did it tried to rake their Footprints and he was using what a garden rake yeah right out of my garage
yeah oh to cover the up yeah yeah peculiar huh yes there were no fingerprints and
if there was DNA law enforcement was still several years from being able to analyze
it with nothing else to go on investigators focused on Jim Matthews himself what was it like for you to be
considered a suspect in your daughter's disappearance for the longest time I knew exactly what were doing and
I respected it he even agreed to a lie detector test with an FBI agent the number one interrogator west of the
Mississippi Jim says the agent told him he failed I just kept telling him I listen I'm telling you the truth I'm
telling you everything I know then I had another one with the local police that's
when I started losing it I said listen I have been very honest I've been accessible to you anytime you wanted but
I'm getting sick of this because I am innocent Matthews was eventually cleared leaving no suspects or leads a group of
Grey residents worked hard to keep Janelle's story alive the rescue Janelle committee made all kinds of things
happen they made headlines Janelle became one of the first missing children whose photo appeared on milk cartons
Across America I learned about jonell Matthews of gy Colorado and even President Ronald Reagan got involved he
mentioned Janelle in a speech about missing children 5 days before Christmas jonell disappeared from her
[Music] home but Janelle's family and friends could only attract that kind of attention for so long with no real
evidence of what happened to the 12-year-old the case went cold but Janelle was far from forgotten
everywhere we R I was always looking for her I always had hope that I would find her in my
dreams she always came home you know she always came home I love this picture but in reality
there was no sign of Janelle I like that picture to a major development to tell you about
in a mystery that is more than three decades old and then on the 23rd of July 2019 nearly 35 years after Janelle's
disappearance police finally had that breaking news to share wow it was a complete shock a crew
digging a pipeline in a remote stretch of land just southeast of gy had discovered human remains with a gunshot
wound to the Head they were confirmed by the coroner to be those of jonel Matthews it was Agony for Janelle's
mother Gloria who could no longer hope her daughter would come home we are going to know that she was
murdered the question was who killed Janelle I heard that a girl was missing from gley Colorado Police might have
been closer to An Answer than they knew I lived in gley Colorado this man Steve Panky was once a candidate for governor
of Idaho I am one of the people who wants to represent you he was a person who sure was interested in the case I
contacted the FBI and made himself I knew more than I wanted to know okay A Person of Interest I told the FBI I want
to talk to you it may or may not have something to do with the Janelle Matthews [Music]
case in September 2019 just weeks after discovering the remains of 12-year-old Janelle Matthews
the case that had been so cold for so long quickly heated up authorities searched to home in Twin
Falls Idaho they've got full SWAT gear on they've got rifles and they're pointing him at me it belonged to Steven
Panky tonight's top story his house was searched by the twinfalls police department in a matter of days the
search was all over the news but not because police were talking don't spit in my face don't accuse me it was Steven
Panky who started talking I've never met Janelle Matthews to just about anyone who would listen I've never met anybody
in her family including CBS affiliate kmvt make sure the viewers he that I voluntarily gave my
DNA I offered to take a polygraph police won't directly confirm any of that I'm Kelly worthman here's a look at today's
top stories Kelly worthman interviewed Panky for Denver's CBS station over FaceTime if I gave my
DNA that would be kind of like a knockout blow did you kill Janel Matthews absolutely not we tried to get
our own interview with Panky would you let us talk to your client no I will not but by then defense attorney Anthony
viorst had silenced his chatty new client Mr Panky likes to talk he does to some extent we're going to just have to
have to face that Janelle's Father Jim says the fast breaking news about Panky surprised him we had never heard the
name Steve Panky we were totally clueless about this guy but as it turns out when Janelle vanished in 1984 Panky
lived in gy about 2 miles from the Matthews home at the time I was married and I had a 5-year-old son gy was much
smaller then and Panky was known around town I had met him in about the mid 1970s you remember that I do yeah he
worked from my father I remember meeting him gy mayor and former police officer John Gates knew Steven Panky and says he
was not considered a person of interest in the early days when Janelle first disappeared was Panky questioned at all
in the early days of this investigation not to my knowledge where was he the night Janelle Matthews disappeared
Anthony vior says his client has an alibi he was at home that night with his wife and
child Panky says the morning after Janelle disappeared he and his family left gy for 5 days we went to California
to be with my parents for Christmas on the 26th we were driving back and I heard on the car radio that a
girl was missing from gy Colorado of course you know you think that's terrible but lots of kids go missing you
know that's what he says he thought at first but a month after Janelle's disappearance Panky suddenly inserted
himself directly into the middle of this case I contacted the Fort Collins FBI office and volunteered some information
about Janelle's disappearance I said I wanted talk to you it may or may not have something to do with the Janelle
Matthews case Steve Panky claims that 7 days after Janelle disappeared his father-in-law a groundskeeper at a gy
cemetery shared some disturbing information he told me that a cop had contacted him and said that he had a
body he wanted to be buried Panky told kmvt that he shared the information with the FBI because he feared that somehow
someone might be trying to implicate him in Janelle's murder I want to at least be on record that I talk to you so I
don't get possibly an obstruction of justice charge it's a wild sounding story and 48
hours can't confirm it or even that he went to the FBI law enforcement records show that
Panky had other unrelated run-ins with grey police they describe mostly minor and
non-violent allegations like creating a nuisance and harassment in fact the day before Janelle disappeared Panky was
arrested at a bank for harassment and Criminal Trespass he argued with a bank teller and the police were called the
police and court records of what happened with the charges are no longer available and that's the kind of thing
that's happened to Mr Panky over the years he's had periodic you know sort of spats with people because he is an
erasable prickly guy but police clearly thought it was more than that and were looking closely at panky's past possibly
including a case from 1977 when a 26-year-old Panky was charged with sexually assaulting a woman
he met in church Steve welcome to unfound in this 4H hourong podcast recorded in November
2019 in 1977 I was a youth pastor at Church Panky claims he was dating his accuser
she was 23 years old there was a sexual encounter and she later said it was non-consensual the woman eventually
asked that the case be dismissed and it has nothing to do with this case nothing
he's a firm adherent to the Ten Commandments which include Thou shalt not kill but Jim Matthews who joined
that same church not long after Panky left says there's another commandment Panky seems to be having trouble with
Thou shalt not bear false witness he was not a youth worker at our church he was
the janitor do you believe that he was a threat to children in that church we don't
know Anthony theor says he isn't worried there's no physical evidence whatsoever
to connect Mr Panky to this crime zero physical evidence okay John Gates knows the evidence is circumstantial
but he believes it is as strong as it is strange this is some of the most bizarre
stuff I've ever heard and I've been around the BL about 2 years after 12-year-old
Janelle Matthews vanished from her home in gy Colorado her family made the painful decision to pack up and leave
town you have to go on with life you can't let this consume you around that same time Steven Panky his young son and
his wife who was pregnant with their second son also left gy the Panky family bounced around from
state to state for a while 1989 they settled in Idaho but Panky admits he could not stop
thinking about Janelle it would be in the back of my mind about this case so I called the guy who lived next door I
just asked did they ever resolve that Janelle Matthews thing and he said no not to his knowledge but Panky might
have been more than just curious in 1999 he told the Idaho Supreme Court after a
conviction for once again causing a scene in a bank that the conviction which was dismissed years later was in
part an attempt to force him to become an informant in Janelle's disappearance he also wrote that he feared he might
get the death penalty for revealing the location of her body see that's weird I mean why would he say that if he didn't
know where Janelle Matthews was buried well here's what I'll say Richard it I I agree with you that it's weird just
makes zero sense it's just he is a strange guy and we submit that he never knew where the body was cuz he did do
this but over the years there was even more strange Behavior moments that authorities believe add up to
circumstantial evidence what did you think of him how did he seem to you very odd Kevin Schneider says he met the
Panky family when they first moved to Idaho his son was friends with panky's son Mark did you son ever see any
unusual things at the Panky house when he was over there yes he did one time I guess their family dog was doing a lot
of barking and it was irritating Steven and he took duct tape and wrapped it around the dog's muzzle oh Panky denies
he ever did that but Kevin says panky's son Mark was so unhappy living at home that the schneiders took him in for
about six years he couldn't take his dad in 2001 panky's wife filed for divorce and he moved to shonne Idaho where in
2004 without any experience with law enforcement other than being arrested he ran for Sheriff he lost but Panky still
wanted to be Sheriff somewhere in 2008 he thought about running in Twin Falls where he went to church with Ryan horley
a political consultant I was kind of confused because our local sheriff actually went
to our church he wanted to run against his fellow church member yeah it just seemed really weird that he didn't have
a grievance against our local sheriff it just seemed like he was just running just to run Panky might have thought
better about running in twinfalls in 2008 he ran for Sheran shonne once again and once again he didn't come close to
winning my name is Steve Panky but his political Ambitions grew and he became a Serial candidate he's ran for lieutenant
governor once he's ran for governor two times I humbly ask for your vote on May 15th one of the times he ran for
governor was a real dumpster fire what made that campaign a dumpster fire he ran under the Constitutional party I
know you don't like at their State Convention he claimed that they tried to do an exorcism on him I'm sorry did you
say an an exorcism yes I know that you're a politician and not a priest but did he seem in need of an exorcism it
just seems straight I I was just kind of glued to the headlines this whole time on just his stories that they just
didn't make sense for the record the Constitution party denies Panky or anyone else was exercised at least by
them a humbly asked for your vote on May 15th in 2018 Panky made a second attempt
at becoming governor and to no one's surprise he lost Ryan horley says that's when Panky started collecting
guns out of the blue he began U purchasing firearms and later found out that gy Police Department had been
contacting him regarding this murder investigation and 6 weeks after Janelle's remains were discovered
authorities were at panky's front door with a search warrant they searched this place they
took my laptop Panky had an interesting next move he ran for Sheriff again vote Steve
Panky for Sheriff I think that was his last ditch effort honestly to do what to Halt any investigation to Halt um him
getting arrested it didn't work it is with great honor today that we announce that the grand jury indicted an
individual named Steven Dana Panky for the kidnapping and murder of Janelle Matthews on October 12th 2020 police
arrested Steven Panky for kidnapping and first-degree murder to the Matthews family I pray that this news brings you
some closure and hope as we continue to pursue Justice for Janelle and your family defense attorney Anthony theor
says the case against his client is just a weak and circumstantial collection of
Strange Behaviors test I don't like to divulge my defense you know on National Television but I don't think it's going
to be any surprise when I tell you that they've got no motive whatsoever for this crime there's absolutely no
indication Mr Panky knew this girl knew where she lived had any desire to kill her but the District Attorney's Office
felt they had enough evidence to go to trial please be seated and on October 13th
2021 a jury was seated Steve Panky is innocent and ready to hear the case [Music]
in August 2019 nearly 35 years after Janelle vanished Gloria and Jim Matthews were finally able to lay her to rest we
knew that we wanted to give her a dignified burial and I'm not a real emotional person but
boy just the floodgates opened up for both of [Music] us but there was no rest for the
Matthews they had to wait a little more than 2 years until October 2021 for this moment the search for
justice for Janelle begins today opening statements in the trial of Step Panky the evidence in this case will prove
that the defendant is guilty of murder in the first degree and second degree kidnapping gy Mayor John Gates was on
the witness list what were the challenges facing the prosecution well I think from a law enforcement perspective
the fact that the case was 37 years old the big thing in policing now is DNA that of course doesn't exist problem is
there's no physical evidence right so you've really got to believe these prosecution witnesses to convict this
guy no question of course the prosecution also has panky's own words he spent years
insisting he had Vital Information about what happened to Janelle Matthews he wasn't a person of interest and yet he
picks up the phone and he calls detective Jack stotler and he identifies himself as a ordained Baptist Minister
he claimed the he had contact with somebody who had information about Janelle's disappearance but he didn't
give up the information we interviewed panky's attorney Anthony viorst as he was preparing for trial why would he
interject himself into the case um I can't answer that because um I can't get into his head but I do think it's a
combination of sort of obsessive compulsive behavior and you know perhaps even mental illness mayor Gates thinks
there's plenty of evidence against Panky the most strong evidence to me is the way Mr Panky conducted himself from the
time this happened up till his indictment the bucket of bizaar means a lot to me it builds a
really really strong circumstantial case in my mind well at some point your your
name came out of that bucket of bizaar yes it did and that's why Gates became a prosecution witness he testified about a
call he got back in 2019 about a a bizarre claim Panky made in a letter to the media I was sitting
at my desk one day some time back and had a call from a journalist in Idaho that told me that I'd been named as a
person of interest in this case by Mr Panky and I think my jaw probably hit my desk and I said what in another
jaw-dropping move in that same letter Panky also named himself as a person of interest while still insisting he
innocent Mr Panky loves the Limelight he just does for whatever reason it's a hell of a way to get the Limelight isn't
it it's not a good way I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for Panky it might have started getting a little hot
under the Limelight if you will when the state star witness took the stand my name is Angela Hicks she is Steven
panky's ex-wife describe what happens on December 21st at your house that was just one day after Janelle disappeared
appeared Angela Hicks says her then husband came home and seemingly out of the blue announced they were leaving on
that trip to California and they were leaving quickly he said get us ready to go we're leaving before daylight
tomorrow morning to go to Big Bear for Christmas hick says on their way back to gy Panky insisted she turn on the radio
she says that shocked her because Panky had forbidden radio radio and television
use in their house about a year earlier no more music no TV no radio no newspapers this is going to be a Godly
home but Angela Hicks says that day her ex-husband was obsessed making her flip the dial in search of news about
Janelle's disappearance how long were you driving as you flip stations looking for new stories about Janelle Matthews
um I mean several hours once back in grey she says Panky drove right past their house straight to
the grocery store where he made her buy the local papers and search for news about Janelle he wanted me to read each
article out loud to him hick says Panky over the years would bring up Janelle or
react strangely when others did and she got really concerned when she found a note in the trash and one of the things
notated in his handwriting on this piece of legal paper was snow outside the Matthews House was
raped remember those footprints in the snow that somebody possibly Janelle's abductor tried to conceal using a garden
rake prosecutors say only the Matthews family investigators and presumably the killer knew about them but apparently
Panky knew he even mentioned them in a 2019 conversation with investigators and that
is arguably the one piece of evidence that arguably ties Mr Panky to the crime I mean arguably they never
released the information about The Rake so here's what I'll say it's our position that it was divulged by law
enforcement all right by the police yeah they told him all right and furthermore
vior told the jury that Panky wasn't the only person who knew about those raked Footprints Norris Drake ladies and
gentlemen knew that the footprints were Rak Norris Drake the orst claims that he
is Janelle's killer in the years after Janelle disappeared Drake was arrested on multiple unrelated misdemeanor
charges noris St murdered Janelle Matthews I mean as a reporter you start looking around and start trying to do
some searching of who this person is Kelly worthman and others covering the trial had never heard the name named
Norris Drake before but unlike Panky Drake had been questioned by police about Janelle's disappearance his mother
and sister lived across the street from the Matthews home and he was at his mother's house the night Janelle was
taken there were no signs of a struggle inside the Matthews home he could have been someone that Janelle had either
seen before or she might have willingly opened the door let him in might have willingly gone with him if he had said
something happened to your family come with me so that's why there was no struggle all right because Norris Drake
got her to leave the house on the night Janelle vanished Drake was unaccounted for for several hours but when did he go
missing Police Stopped investigating him when his mother told them Drake was still with her in her house at the Time
Janelle is believed to have disappeared but it raised some significant and I think important questions and vior had
more based on testimony by a former girlfriend of Drakes Norris Drake had an interest in young girls who had recently
reached pubert exactly what you know was exactly Norris Drake died in 2007 but many thought vor's theory about him
helped panky's case but the most talkative person in this case had yet to be heard from Panky himself would take
the stand the truest thing you've ever said is you're a master manipulator right
[Music] maybe the testimony you give will be the truth the whole truth when Steven Panky
swore to tell the truth and nothing but the truth Gloria and Jim Matthews were hoping to finally get to the truth about
their daughter Janelle's murder hopefully we will know the scenario of what happened that night but Panky has
never been a man with clear answers in the little jail cubicle before coming up here I was praying and I was thinking
God maybe I shouldn't testify because I'd be just telling more lies now under oath Panky said it was time to say
truthfully that he was a liar until now the truth is I made a lot of stuff up out of bitterness like that story he
once told law enforcement about his father-in-law he told me a cop had contacted him and said that he had a
body he wanted to be buried I had told so many lies that was one of many lies says Panky meant to Target people he
hated like his father-in-law and Mayor John Gates was a polite way of flipping them the bird it was pure hatred on my
part is that in any way believable to you it's not to me uh Richard but keep in mind I'm a 26y law enforcement
veteran so I might be a little more cynical than the average person it was just me trying
to be a big man be in the case okay I had no knowledge Panky made an unusual witness in his own defense one lie leats
to another Panky said says it was lies that led to him being charged with murder but not his lies his ex-wife
Angela hicks's lies fueled by her need for Revenge I had never imagined Angie would be as biggest Liars
I am Panky refuted his ex-wife's claim that their trip to California two mornings after Janelle disappeared was
sudden insisting it had long been planned a month three weeks two months I don't know before December he agreed
they were listening to the radio on their way back to gy that's the first time I heard that there was a missing
child but denied he was obsessed with the news I think it's it's her word against his so the defense clearly has
to prove yes he's an admitted liar but he's not lying now Panky was on the stand for 2 days giving testimony that
was often rambled I want to back up a little bit Mr P you I'm going to I'm going to ask you answer
my questions a little more directly if you don't mind and hard to follow think and sometimes head scratching I spent a
couple of hours in the basement jail area with my attorney and he was talking to me about my
testimony Mr VOR was saying to me cuz I would give certain things and he'd say well that's a good answer then I'd say
other things he'd say well that's nobody's going to buy that he lives in a world of conspiracy
paranoia and low self-esteem in his closing argument viorst who's a lawyer and not a psychiatrist raised serious
questions about his client's Mental Health Mr Panky does have a mental illness panky's defense lawyer told me
that he thought his client might be mentally ill if that's the theory of the defense did panky's time on the stand
help him or hurt him I could see that going either way but the state saw it going their way he's not someone that
has a mental health disorder he is a master manipulator on November 2nd 2021 the jurors got the case and 2 days later
they were back as a jury reached the unanimous verdict on count number four count four making false reports to
authorities we the jury find the defendant Steven Dana peny guilty I think that part might have fit into the
no-brainer category the other counts were far more complex than that in my opinion on those other counts the actual
murder charges the jury deadlocked and could not come to a unanimous verdict realize jury was unable to reach a
verdict on the other counts and that is a perfectly acceptable way for a trial to conclude the judge declared a
mistrial and as of now nobody has been convicted of murdering Janelle the jury likely was conflicted
on was Mr Panky in fact someone that kidnapped and murdered jonelle Matthews or was he one that just surrounded
himself with strange bizarre behavior for years for the family of Janelle Matthews
the news was so devastating they didn't want to discuss it to not have that definitive answer it's frustrating it's
emotional it's exhausting and they may have to do it all again prosecutors have announced they are ready for a new trial
because they still believe Janelle was killed by Steven Panky what do you think happened to your
sister I don't know specifics but he took her he shot her and then he buried her and went on
with his life and she could not go on with hers [Music] 48 Hours don't miss an episode
[Music]

A former candidate for governor is accused of kidnapping a 12-year-old girl. Does his decades-long fascination with the case mean he's a true-crime junkie or a murderer? "48 Hours" correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode details the trial of Steven Panky for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of Janelle Matthews, highlighting evidence and witness testimonies.

Key points

Steven Panky: A Person of Interest. Steven Panky, a former candidate for governor, becomes a key figure in Janelle's case.
The Disappearance of Janelle Matthews. In December 1984, 12-year-old Janelle Matthews vanished from her home, sparking a decades-long mystery.
A Shocking Discovery. In 2019, human remains were found, confirmed to be Janelle's, reigniting the investigation.
The Arrest of Steven Panky. In October 2020, Steven Panky was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Janelle Matthews.
The Arrest of Steven Panky. Steven Panky is arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Janelle Matthews.
Trial Begins for Steven Panky. The trial for Steven Panky begins, with the prosecution asserting his guilt.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I just had a sick feeling to my stomach.

1:57WatchNov 5, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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