CRIME

Wife and mother-in-law of deceased American Fork man arrested, accused of conspiring to murder him

Oct 29, 2024, 11:49 PM | Updated: Jan 14, 2025, 2:24 pm

SALT LAKE CITY — Both the wife and mother-in-law of an American Fork man who was shot were arrested and accused of conspiring to murder him Tuesday, according to the American Fork Police Department.

On July 12, Kevin Stanley Ellis, 33, shot Matthew Restelli, 42, in self-defense, according to court documents. Police reported that Restelli’s wife, Kathryn Restelli, 36, and his mother-in-law, Tracey Grist, 59, were inside the home when he was found dead. Two children he shared with his wife were also inside the home, and they were unharmed.

A few days later, Ellis, was charged in the 4th District Court with murder, a first-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; two counts of domestic violence in the presence of children and being a restricted person in possession of a gun, third-degree felonies; and drug possession, a class A misdemeanor.

“It’s a shocking murder. We’ve had murders in American Fork but nothing to this level,” said Lt. Stuart Fore with the American Fork Police Department.

On Tuesday, American Fork police announced Grist and Kathryn Restelli were also arrested on suspicion of conspiring to murder Matthew Restelli.

July 12 shooting

Police said before he was killed, Matthew and Kathryn Restelli had recent marriage difficulties. Those difficulties caused Kathryn Restelli to move from the pair’s resident state of California to stay with her mother, Grist, and her brother, Ellis, in American Fork.

Several weeks after Kathryn Restelli came to Utah, her husband said he wanted her to return to California and booked her a rental car. According to police, Kathryn Restelli and Grist came up with a plan: faking an ankle injury so that they could tell Matthew Restelli that Kathryn Restelli was not able to drive. It was resolved that Matthew Restelli would drive to Utah to come get her.

Kathryn Restelli contacted a divorce lawyer on July 11, police said. She contacted a friend later the same day and expressed frustration with the proceedings.

“I’m [expletive],” Kathryn Restelli said in a text conversation with her friend. “I just feel hopeless.”

The next day, Kathryn posted in an online social media group, “I have to do big girl things this morning … wish me luck,” roughly 12 hours before her husband arrived at her mother’s house from California.

That night, video footage obtained from a neighbor observed Matthew Restelli pulling up to Grist’s home in his truck at 9:06 p.m. Neighbors heard gunfire at approximately 9:07 p.m., and 911 was called at 9:09 p.m. Medical crews arrived at 9:22 p.m. Matthew Restelli was found dead with gunshot wounds.

“Based on our investigation, Matthew [Restelli] had believed that he was coming here to pick up his wife and children,” Fore said. “They were only going to spend a few minutes at the house and then drive back to California that same night. Within a minute after he walked in the house, he was shot eight times and killed.”

Police said Ellis’s attorney claimed on his behalf that Matthew Restelli had a knife, and therefore, Ellis fired shots in self-defense. During the investigation, officers located a knife in Matthew Restelli’s right hand and concluded that it was placed there posthumously.

“It did not appear that Matthew was holding this knife when he was shot,” police said. “It appeared that the knife was deliberately placed into Matthew’s right hand after he had been shot dead … While speaking to family of Matthew, detectives discovered that Matthew was dominantly left-handed.”

The knife was taken into evidence and determined to be a subscription purchase made by Grist.

Matthew Restelli was tracked

After obtaining a search warrant, detectives seized the cell phones of Grist, Ellis, and Kathryn Restelli, as part of the the murder investigation.

Text conversations revealed that multiple family members were tracking an AirTag in Matthew Restelli’s truck to locate him as he drove from California to American Fork. Police said text conversations with Kathryn Restelli’s sister indicated the tracking device was placed on Matthew Restelli’s truck.

Police reported that Kathryn Restelli’s sister had been tracking the device, and another text message conversation indicated Kathryn Restelli was monitoring the device from Grist’s phone. The search warrant concluded that Grist, Ellis and Kathryn Restelli all had access to monitor the AirTag device. Police said the AirTag was labeled “truck” and “the poop emoji was also displayed next to the title,” on the AirTag.

After Matthew Restelli’s death, his truck was searched, and an AirTag was located.

“Based on the location of the AirTag, detectives observed it would have been difficult to find if you were not looking for it,” police said.

Conspiring evidence

Further into the investigation, a search into Grist’s internet use yielded searches about topics including passport applications, the Donna Adelson murder case, and local cemeteries, police said.

“Things started to not add up, and the more we were able to show and come up with enough probable cause that Kathryn [Restelli] and Tracy [Grist] had conspired to lure Matthew [Restelli] here to Utah in order to kill [him],” Fore said.

Police said a friend of Kathryn Restelli’s told them she threatened to murder her husband in a text message with the friend in May. The text message read, “I’m trying to wait … I just might murder Matt today, though.”

After Matthew Restelli was killed, Kathryn Restelli is alleged to have told a friend that she was “happy” that he died, and went on a date the next day, according to the American Fork police press release. Police said she also “bragged” to her friends about the shooting and showed them pictures of blood stains on the carpet.

Further searching of Kathryn Restelli’s phone indicated that she helped assist Matthew Restelli on his trip to Utah, leading him directly to the house where he was shot and killed. According to police, she confirmed with him multiple times through the drive that he was indeed going to enter through the front door when he arrived.

Kathryn Restelli and Grist were arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail on suspicion of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, obstruction of justice, and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child. Kathryn and Matthew Restelli’s children were confirmed to be in the custody of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services on Tuesday.

Police did not say if Kathryn Restelli’s sister, who detectives did not name, was under investigation or arrested.

Official charges

Kathryn Restelli and Grist were officially charged Monday with one count of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child.

Grist was additionally charged with purchase, transfer, possession or use of a firearm by a restricted person, and one count of possession or use of a controlled substance.


Contributing: Dan Rascon, KSL TV


Editor’s Note: This article was updated with additional information after its initial publication. It was edited again to fix a formatting issue in 2025.


If you or someone you know is going through abuse, help is available.

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

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Wife and mother-in-law of deceased American Fork man arrested, accused of conspiring to murder him