close
close

Wife and mother-in-law arrested in connection with man's July 2024 death in American Fork

This post contains graphic images and/or details. Reader discretion is advised.

AMERICAN FORK, Utah (ABC4) – The wife and mother-in-law of a deceased California man were arrested Tuesday, Oct. 29, at a gated community in American Fork for their alleged involvement in his July 2024 shooting.

Kathryn Restelli, 36, and Tracy Grist, 59, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death of Matthew Restelli, 42, Kathryn Restelli's husband and Grist's son-in-law.

Man told police he would 'kill his mother' before they both died in Roy fire: documents

“The arrests came after an intensive, time-consuming and meticulous investigation that led investigators to believe that Kathryn Restelli and Tracy Grist worked with Kevin Ellis to lure Matthew Restelli from California so that Ellis could kill Matthew,” it says of the message American Fork Police Department said in an Oct. 29 press release.

Kevin Ellis (Kathryn Restelli's brother and Matthew Restelli's brother-in-law) was Arrested on multiple charges earlier this yearincluding murder, after an investigation revealed that Ellis shot Matthew Restelli as he entered Grist's home, which was in a gated community.

According to police in a probable cause statement, Matthew Restelli was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said photos from the crime scene showed a knife in Matthew Restelli's right hand, but “the blade was pointing inward toward Matthew rather than outward toward a threat.” In July, Ellis claimed he shot Matthew Restelli in self-defense.

“It appeared that the knife was intentionally placed in Matthew's right hand after he was shot,” police said in the probable cause statement.

Officers determined that the knife in Matthew Restelli's hand was received from Grist in April 2024 and was not purchased by the victim. Further details revealed that Matthew Restelli was left-handed and had a gunshot wound to his right wrist that was covered by his long-sleeved shirt.

“Investigators concluded that it is reasonable that if someone were to put a knife in Matthew's right hand after he was shot, the person would also not have seen the gunshot wound in Matthew's right wrist because of his long-sleeved shirt,” said the police.

Police said Kathryn and Matthew Restelli's two children were found unharmed inside the home after the incident. These children were taken into care Utah Department of Children and Family Services.

Grist and Kathryn Restelli were booked into the Utah County Jail on Oct. 29 on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, obstruction of justice and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child.

The allegations are merely allegations. All persons arrested are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

background

Officials said Matthew Restelli was a California resident and lived there with his wife, who lives in Utah. Kathryn Restellie reportedly came to Utah to stay with her mother after she said the couple was having marital problems. While in Utah, Kathryn Restelli contacted a divorce attorney, according to police.

Police seized the phones of Ellis, Grist and Kathryn Restelli after the incident and found text messages sent to Kathryn Restelli that appeared to show another relative reporting the location of an Apple AirTag.

Police said each of the people arrested had access to the location of the AirTag that was later found in Matthew Restelli's truck.

Details provided by police say a neighbor's surveillance camera captured Matthew Restelli's truck pulling up to Grist's home in American Fork around 10:06 p.m. on July 12. A witness reported hearing gunshots at 10:07 p.m. and called 911 at 10:09 p.m

Grist also called 911 around 10:15 p.m., and police said the delay between the witness' call and Grist's call was “unreasonable.”

“Investigators believe that a knife was placed in Matthew’s hand during this delay,” police said.

At approximately 10:25 p.m., medical personnel arrived at the scene to perform life-saving measures on the victim, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police later searched Kathryn Restelli's iPad and found recordings of phone conversations between her and her husband in which she ensured he would come to Grist's home after arriving from California.

A friend of Kathryn Restelli filed a report on July 15, 2024 (three days after Matthew Restelli's death), telling police that Kathryn Restelli said in a text message in May 2024 that she “might murder her husband.”

On the morning of Matthew Restelli's death, July 12, Kathryn Restelli sent a message in a social media chat room saying she had “big girl things to do this morning.”

The day after the incident, Kathryn Restelli told her friend that her husband was dead, and after the friend expressed her condolences, the friend told police that Kathryn Restelli said, “It's okay, I'm happy.” On The day after Matthew Restelli's death, Kathryn Restelli had a video call with the same friend while preparing for a date.

While Kathryn Restelli was on a video call with her friend, she showed “a picture of blood” where her husband's body was found. Kathryn Restelli also had her friend speak to Grist, who told the friend that she would have taken a photo of Matthew Restelli's body if she had known the friend liked true crime.

Additional text message excerpts explained Grist's involvement in planning a fake injury for Kathryn Restelli and how she and her daughter were “thinking about ways to do this.” [Kathryn Restelli] not to take a rental car from American Fork back to California,” police said.

Police also revealed what they found in Grist's search history in the period leading up to Matthew Restelli's death, including the following questions: “How do I get my US passport quickly,” “Cemetery American Fork,” “What to do?” Parental Kidnapping and No Custody Order” and “It’s Happening Meme”.

The allegations are merely allegations. All persons arrested are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, visit ABC4 Utah.