Mother of the man shot, killed in the American fork against the wife of the son and his mother -in -law testifies

Provo-like the mother of a man shot in American Fork minutes after the journey from California to pick up his wife, and the children said that her son's mother-in-law called her the next morning and after asking if she had her husband, said: “Matt is dead.”

Diane Restelli said that at that time she assumed that her son Matthew Restellelli died in a car accident on his trip to Utah, she said on Tuesday. Later she learned that he had been shot by his brother -in -law.

At this point, Diane Restelli learned more from news articles. In audio of a call two days after the death of her son, she asked her daughter -in -law whether life -saving measures were taken and reported that her son was shot in the back.

“Everything happened so quickly, obviously someone was prepared,” said Diane Restelli.

Her testimony came to a preliminary hearing for Tracey Grist, her son's mother -in -law, who is accused of two of her children, Kathryn Restelli and Kevin Ellis, with the conspiracy, Matthew Restelli when he came home.

Diane Restelli said her son was married to Kathryn Restelli for about seven and a half years and they had two children. She said her relationship was “a little rocky” in 2020 because she was available for her son a lack of craftsman work. She had bought a 7 hectare desert winer for her son, and when he and his wife had a child, she bought a house made for the property.

Three weeks before Matthew Restellelli's death, his wife left the family home with her children and drove to the house of her mother in Utah, without drawing him, the family truck let him go from home from home and had to go on a bike in the dark. Diane Restelli said her son was “quite upset” and was worried that something serious could have happened to them, but never was in a shock and surprise.

On July 12, 2024, Diane Restelli said that she thought her daughter -in -law would go home, but learned about two hours before his death in a call from her son that he was on the way to get her because she couldn't rent a car. She said her son was not upset, except for poor food quality and a faulty tap pump.

The next morning she learned that he had died.

Three defendants

Kathryn Restelli, 37, Ellis, 34, and Grist, 59, are accused of murder, a crime of the first degree; Criminal conspiracy and disability of the judiciary, both crimes second; And two cases of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a crime third.

Ellis is also commissioned because of the use of a firearm as a limited person, a crime of third degree and possession or use of a controlled substance, a class A's offense. In an earlier preliminary hearing, he was instructed to stand in court with every indictment.

The judge of the fourth district, Roger Griffin, said that he would review the evidence submitted in the previous hearing on Thursday, a second day for preliminary hearings for Kathryn Restelli and Grist. In April he decided against the separation of cases against an application from Ellis' lawyer.

All three were planned for legal proceedings from January 2026, although the two women have not yet been instructed. The judge invited the lawyers to decide whether they would prefer to provide oral or written arguments as to whether there is enough evidence that they will be brought to trial on May 28th before a status conference.

Ellis claimed that he had shot his brother -in -law.

Diane Restelli said her daughter -in -law had a “very hot and cold type of temperament”, and she was careful, as she communicated with her, but also tried to love. She said she canceled a traditional family trip to Las Vegas, based on the temperament of her daughter -in -law.

Joseph Nordin, a detective at the American Fork Police Department and Detective in the case, was the other witness who testified on Tuesday. He said

He said the officials were suspicious of the knife in Matthew Restrau's right hand at first – he held it “quite densely”, but only had about half of the handle in his hand, and the blade was in the wrong way. He also had a gunshot wound in this wrist, and later they found that he had left -handed people, which made the knife placement more suspicious.

Nordin said the lights in the house were eliminated when the officials arrived, which seemed strange when the family expected someone. He said

The detective said that the knife in Matthew Restellelli's hand was unique and he could not find the brand in local shops. He later found that it had been sold by a company that Grist had sent an e -mail about the cancellation of a service for the late husband of her friend.

Although he initially said that the investigators suspected that others were involved in the killing together with Ellis, electronic records added a confirmation. He said, “many small things” that were taken into account together led to indictment against Grist and Kathryn Restelli.

In the months before the shootout, he testified about several texts among the Grist and their family members, which included threats, evidence that the Matthew Resthew Rest of Legal truck was pursuing through an Airtag, and plans that Kathryn Restelli remains in Utah and does not go back.

In the morning after the murder, her daughter's grist wrote an SMS and told her that she shouldn't say Diane Restelli of everything that happened “because it could be used against Ellis.

About six months earlier, she said Kathryn Restelli that she said Matt Restelli: “Don't put on my child.” The daughter replied that her husband asked if it was a threat and answered her mother: “Just try to sleep. I will not call him. I'll only drive 9 hours and strangle him.” Kathryn Restlli's answer was: “I know.”

On June 6, 2024, the detective said that the grist sent a text: “Matt did it, so I want to kill him. … He logs straight up. I'll kill him.”

The search for Grist's phone in May and June 2024 included the search for Utah weapons laws, the quick passes, local cemeteries and “What scents attract mountain lions for people”, which, as Diane Restelli said, were sometimes on the property she had bought for her son.

She was also looking for information about a case in Florida in which a woman was accused of murdering her son -in -law, and for a “it happens meme” when Matthew Restelli started his trip to Utah.

The detective shared texts between Grist and Kathryn Restelli, in which they planned how to avoid renting a car to drive back. This finally led to his trip to Utah, including false sprain of the ankles.

Nordin also said Kathryn Restelli informed her husband that she would travel to California with him that night, planned meal stops on a recorded call and said she was “excited” to return to a text – but I didn't pack when he arrived. Messages to others showed that she had hoped to establish the residence in Utah in order to make a divorce in the state.