AMERICAN FORK, Utah — Officers with the American Fork Police Department have now arrested two more people in connection to the murder of 42-year-old Matthew Restelli in July of this year. Detectives have arrested 36-year-old Kathryn Restelli and 59-year-old Tracy Grist for conspiracy to commit murder. 33-year-old Kevin Ellis was already in custody for murder, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, and possession of a controlled substance.
According to police, on Friday, July 12 at 10:10 p.m. they were called to a home in American Fork for a report of a man who had been shot. When they arrived they found Matthew Restelli dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
Three other adults and two children were in the home at the time: Kathryn Restelli (wife of Matthew), Kevin Ellis (brother of Kathryn), and Tracy Grist (Kathryn's mother). The two children were Matthew and Kathryn and they were unharmed. They have now been placed in the custody of the Division of Child and Family Services.
The American Fork Police Department says what followed their arrival was an "intensive, time-consuming, and meticulous investigation that led detectives to believe that Kathryn Restelii and Tracy Grist worked in concert with Kevin Ellis to lure Matthew Restelli from California so that Ellis could kill Matthew."
Following their investigation at the scene, police questioned Kevin Ellis in the presence of his attorney. They told detectives at the time that he had shot Matthew but believed it to be self-defense claiming that Matthew had a knife. They declined to answer however about how the knife was produced or if Matthew had threatened anyone with the knife.
The attorney also told police investigators that Kevin had stated that Matthew had shown up to the home uninvited and unannounced at the time of the shooting.
Court documents in the case state that Matthew and Kathryn lived in California but were having marriage problems, so Kathryn came to Utah to stay with her mother, Tracy.
Police said they believe the motive behind the murder was that Kathryn, who moved to Utah to live with her mother, wanted a divorce and was worried it would be a lengthy process. Police said she was also worried she’d lose her kids.
Kathryn told detectives that Matthew had decided to drive to Utah to speak with her and called her multiple times along the way.
“Under California law, from what we understand, if Matthew wanted the children back in California, they would need to be returned, and Kathryn didn’t want that to happen," explained American Fork Police Lt. Stuart Fore.
Kathryn, Kevin, and Tracy's phones were seized during the murder investigation and a search warrant was obtained to search the three phones. That search showed that Kathryn had gotten a text message from her sister on June 20th reading, "…I’ll be watching the AirTag and let you know as soon as it updates.”
Also found on Kathryn's phone was a screenshot of Apple Maps with a blue dot sent from her sister showing the location in Aguanga, California. That is near Matthew Restelli's residence in the state and led investigators to believe they were tracking his whereabouts.
When police searched Matthew's truck, which was in front of the home where he was found dead inside of, they discovered an AirTag device in a cloth storage drawer resting on the passenger side of his truck. Police write, "The AirTag was found at the bottom of the drawer, which was filled with random debris including paper, receipts, magazines, snacks, and drinks. Based on the location of the AirTag, detectives observed it would have been difficult to find if you were not looking for it."
Following the search of Tracy's phone and an iPad belonging to Kathryn, detectives say they were able to show that all three of the suspects shared access to the AirTag device and were able to monitor it.
On July 12, the day of the shooting, police say Kathryn would send a text to her brother, the shooter, at 10:01 p.m. reading, "... keep an eye on Find My.” American Fork Police would receive the first report of shots fired just ten minutes later.
On the day of the shooting, before medical personnel had arrived on the scene, police took a picture of the victim lying on the floor on his stomach. However, police would state that when observing the picture, "... it did not appear that Matthew was holding this knife when he was shot. It appeared that the knife was deliberately placed into Matthew’s right hand after he had been shot dead."
The knife itself was from a brand called "EVATAC." Detectives researched the brand and found that the knife was one put into "mystery boxes" sent by "My Tactical Promos."
Detectives also found an email from Tracy Grist's cell phone sent to "support@mytacticalpromos.com" The email from Tracy, dated 4/10/24, requested that the company stop sending the boxes to an individual in California because the person subscribed had passed away.
Police searched Tracy's phone and found that in April she had gone to California to assist a friend in estate planning due to her husband, the one subscribed for the tactical boxes, had passed away. Pictures of Tracy were also found placing her in California at the time. "Detectives found it reasonable that Tracey could have obtained an EVATAC knife from the California residence to bring back to American Fork," police would write in court documents.
Three days after the shooting, a friend of Kathryn reported that she and Kathryn had been in a friendship for years and would speak daily through texts, apps, and video chats. The friend, who wasn't named by police, would state that on May 13th she received a message from Kathryn wife which read something to the effect of “I’m trying to wait… I just might murder Matt today though.”
The friend would also tell detectives that the day of the murder, Kathryn would make a post in a social media group stating, “I have to do big girl things this morning… wish me luck”.
The day following the murder, the friend would state that Kathryn called her and told her that Matthew was dead. When the friend offered condolences to her Kathryn would tell her that it was okay and she was happy. In a video call later that day Kathryn would tell her online friends that her husband had died and would show the group the area where he died including blood left on the carpet.
Two days prior to the shooting, Kathryn would text her mother, Tracy, that Matt didn't want to drive to Utah and was sending her money for a rental car. Tracy would respond saying that Kathryn could fake having a sprained ankle and not drive to California due to that.
On the day of the shooting, Kathryn and Tracy would text about the rental car with Kathryn saying, "he is going to drive out." Tracy would then call Kathryn for a 5-minute conversation.
During their investigation, detectives would conduct a search of Tracy's internet history finding the following searches:
06/07/2024- “how old were dan markel’s kids when dan was killed”
06/07/2024- “katie magbanua second trial.defense charts”
06/16/2024- “Utah gun law registration”
06/16/2024- “Utah shoit break in”
06/16/2024- “how does private sale of firearms work in Utah?”
06/16/2024- “how ti estabkish Utah tesidency”
06/16/2024- “to file for divorce if wife is a Utah resident and husband is ca residebt”
06/17/2024- “how to Get my U.S. Passport fast”
06/17/2024- “Apply for a child’s U.S. Passport”
06/22/2024- “what is mom takes kids for overstate line visit and dad sisnt agree”
06/22/2024- “what are the legal implications of taking your kids on vacation without the other parent’s permission?”
06/22/2024- “If my child’s father and I do not have a custody agreement in place, can he take my child and not return them back to”
06/22/2024- “What To Do? Parental Kidnapping and No Custody Order”
06/27/2024- “cemetery american fork”.
06/28/2024- “Cemetery near Alpine”.
06/30/2024 “adelson donna”
06/30/2024 “adelson donna movies and tv shows”
06/30/2024 “New Dateline episode January 19- Donna Adelson: Arrested at the Airport!”
06/30/2024 “Ashley Judd’s family feud: Wynonna tracking her car!”
07/11/2024- “when was donna adelson arrested”
07/12/2024 14:13 hours MST- “its happening meme”
Donna Adelson was arrested for helping arrange the murder of her son-in-law Dan Markel. "It was also discovered by detectives conducting an internet search of Dan Markel’s murder that there were custody issues between Donna’s daughter and Dan Markel, who was in a divorce with Donna’s daughter, Wendi Adelson," police wrote in court documents.
A search of Kathryn's phone would find that during his trip to Utah, she at no time told him not to come and pick her up or that she didn't want to return to California. Instead police state that she would assist him in choosing the best roads to travel, give him her mother's address, the gate code for her mother's community, and even put out cardboard like he requested so his truck wouldn't leak oil on the asphalt.
Kathryn Restelli and Tracy Grist are now facing charges of murder, obstruction, and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child.
“It’s rare that we have a murder let alone one where someone is lured from another state to our city to be murdered,” Lt. Fore said.
