Keith Coffman

DENVER, (Reuters) – After their initial attempt failed with a hung jury or mistrial court records reveal that the second trial will see a new prosecution try to convict a former Idaho gubernatorial candidate for the kidnapping of a Colorado girl aged 12 years.

Steven Pankey, 70 years old, will face a new trial for kidnapping Jonelle Matthews and her murder in 2014. According to minutes taken from Wednesday’s status hearing, the remains of Jonelle were found more than thirty-three decades after she disappeared.

After a three week trial, which ended in November, the 12-member jury found Pankey guilty, but could not reach a unanimous verdict on more serious charges.

Timothy Kerns of Weld County declared Pankey’s case to be mistrial, and ordered Pankey placed on $5million bond.

Matthews vanished in December 1984, when she was dropped at her Greeley home, Colorado. She had just finished singing in a Christmas concert.

In 2019, an excavation crew working on a pipeline uncovered the girl’s remains at a remote oil and gas site in Weld County, police said. According to authorities, she had been shot in the head and died.

The prosecution presented no evidence directly linking Pankey with the crime. Instead, they relied on incriminating statements he gave over the years. These included details about the crime scene only the killer could know.

According to prosecutors, Pankey lived with Matthews in Greeley and witnessed the disappearance of Matthews.

Pankey claimed that he didn’t kill the girl and that he invented details to “be a big guy in this case.”

Pankey failed to run for Idaho governor under the Constitution Party ticket, and lost his second bid for the governorship in 2018.

An alternative trial date is not yet set.