$5M bond for man accused of killing 12-year-old girl in 1984

GREELEY, Colo. - A Colorado judge set a $5 million bond on Friday for a man who is accused of kidnapping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in 1984.

Prosecutors say there is enough circumstantial evidence to charge 69-year-old Steve Pankey with the killing of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews.

Weld County Assistant District Attorney Robb Miller referred to several instances of behavior over the years that he says implicates Pankey.

Pankey’s defense attorney Anthony Viorst says all of the information presented had nothing to do with the actual murder of Matthews.

Pankey is facing two first-degree murder charges, two violent crime charges and one second-degree kidnapping charge. All are felonies.

Steve Pankey ran as a Constitution Party candidate for governor of Idaho in 2014 and as a Republican in the 2018 primary.