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PROVO — The mother of a man shot and killed minutes after driving from California to American Fork to pick up his wife and kids said her son's mother-in-law called her the next morning, and after asking if she had her husband with her, said, "Matt is dead."
Diane Restelli said she assumed at that point her son, Matthew Restelli, had died in a car accident on his drive to Utah, she testified on Tuesday. Later, she learned he had been shot by his brother-in-law.
At that point, Diane Restelli learned more from news articles. In audio of a call two days after her son's death, she asked her daughter-in-law about whether lifesaving measures were taken and about reports that her son was shot in the back.
"Everything happened so quickly, obviously somebody was prepared," Diane Restelli testified.
Her testimony came at a preliminary hearing for Tracey Grist, her son's mother-in-law, who is charged along with two of her children, Kathryn Restelli and Kevin Ellis, with conspiring to murder Matthew Restelli when he arrived at her 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 their relationship was "a little rocky" in 2020 because of a lack of handyman work available for her son. She had purchased a 7-acre desert wilderness property for her son, and when he and his wife had a child, she purchased a manufactured home for the property.
Three weeks before Matthew Restelli's death, his wife left the family home with their children and drove to her mom's house in Utah without giving him notice, leaving the family truck miles from their home and requiring him to bike to it in the dark. Diane Restelli said her son was "pretty upset" and worried that something serious might have happened to them, but never expressed anger, just shock and surprise.
On July 12, 2024, Diane Restelli said she thought her daughter-in-law would be driving home but learned in a call from her son about two hours before his death that he was on his way to get them because she hadn't been able to rent a car. She said her son didn't seem upset, except about poor food quality and a malfunctioning gas pump.
The next morning, she learned he had died.
Three defendants
Kathryn Restelli, 37, Ellis, 34, and Grist, 59, are each charged with murder, a first-degree felony; criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice, both second-degree felonies; and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony.
Ellis is also charged with use of a firearm as a restricted person, a third-degree felony, and possession or use of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor. He was ordered to stand trial on each charge in a previous preliminary hearing.
Fourth District Judge Roger Griffin said he will review the evidence presented in the previous hearing on Thursday, a second day scheduled for preliminary hearings for Kathryn Restelli and Grist. In April, he ruled against separating the cases, against a request from Ellis' attorney.
All three were scheduled for a jury trial beginning in January 2026, although the two women have not yet been ordered to stand trial. The judge invited attorneys to decide whether they would prefer to make oral or written arguments about whether there is enough evidence for them to stand trial ahead of a status conference scheduled for each case on May 28.
Ellis claimed he shot his brother-in-law in self-defense.
Diane Restelli said her daughter-in-law had a "very hot and cold type of temperament," and she was careful about how she communicated with her but also tried to be loving. She said she canceled a traditional family trip to Las Vegas based on her daughter-in-law's temperament, which she said was distant and uncomfortable during a visit to their home shortly before Kathryn Restelli left for Utah.
Joseph Nordin, a detective with the American Fork Police Department and lead detective in the case, was the other witness to testify on Tuesday. He said a neighbor on the opposite side of Grist's duplex called 911 at 10:09 p.m. on July 12, 2024, minutes ahead of Grist's 911 call at 10:15 p.m.
He said officers were initially suspicious of the knife in Matthew Restelli's right hand — he was holding onto it "pretty tightly" but only had about half of the handle in his hand, and the blade was facing the wrong way. He also had a bullet wound in that wrist, and they later found out he was left-handed, making the placement of the knife more suspicious.
Nordin said the lights in the house were off when officers arrived, which seemed odd if the family was expecting someone. He said Matthew Restelli's sandals were next to the door, and there was cardboard to catch dripping oil under the truck that had just arrived at the home around 10:07 p.m.
The detective said the knife in Matthew Restelli's hand was unique, and he could not find the brand at local stores. Later, he found it was sold by a company to which Grist had sent an email regarding canceling a service for her friend's late husband.
Although he said, initially, investigators suspected that others were involved in the killing along with Ellis, electronic records added confirmation. He said "a lot of small things" considered together led to recommending charges against Grist and Kathryn Restelli as well.
He testified about multiple texts among Grist and her family members in the months before the shooting, which included threats, evidence the family was tracking Matthew Restelli's truck through an AirTag and plans for Kathryn Restelli to remain in Utah and not go back.
The morning after the killing, Grist texted her daughter, telling her not to tell Diane Restelli "about anything that happened" because it could be used against Ellis.
About six months earlier, she told Kathryn Restelli she had told Matt Restelli, "Don't mess with my child." The daughter responded that her husband had asked if it was a threat, and her mom replied: "Just try to sleep. I won't call him. I'll just drive 9 hours and strangle him." Kathryn Restelli's response was, "I know."
On June 6, 2024, the detective said Grist sent a text saying, "Matt made it so I want to kill him. ... he straight up lied. I'm going to kill him."
Searches on Grist's phone in May and June of 2024 included searches about Utah gun laws, renewing passports quickly, local cemeteries and "what scents attract mountain lions to humans," which, as Diane Restelli testified, were sometimes on the property she purchased for her son.
She also searched for information on a Florida case where a woman was charged with murdering her son-in-law and for an "it's happening meme" around the time Matthew Restelli would have started his trip to Utah.
The detective shared texts between Grist and Kathryn Restelli, in which they planned how to avoid her renting a car to drive back. This eventually led to his trip to Utah, including a fake ankle sprain.
Nordin also said Kathryn Restelli had told her husband she was going to travel back to California with him that night, planned food stops on a recorded phone call and said she was "excited" to return in a text — but had not packed when he arrived. Messages to others showed she was hoping to establish residency in Utah in order to file for divorce in the state.
