- Kathryn Restelli, 37, received prison sentences for conspiring to murder her husband in July 2024.
- The judge emphasized the impact of the crime on her children and issued an order that she not contact them.
- Restelli's brother and mother face trials for related charges in early 2026.
PROVO — Matthew Restelli's mother asked a Utah judge Tuesday to give her son's wife the maximum sentence possible for her role in his shooting death.
"Someday, I hope you understand the depth of your actions — but that will never bring Matt back," Diane Restelli told Kathryn Restelli during Resteilli's sentencing hearing. "You stripped me of his presence. Your children will never experience this incredible father as they grow into adulthood."
She described how Matthew Restelli cared for her when he was alive, calling her multiple times a day. His death, she said, has created a "massive hole" in her heart, and she spoke multiple times about how she felt her daughter-in-law had betrayed her and how she did not have remorse or compassion.
"Like Matt, I had done nothing to you to deserve this level of betrayal," she said. "Matt's death has created a massive hole in my heart."
Diane Restelli's last conversation with her son was two hours before he arrived at his mother-in-law's home in American Fork, where he was shot and killed — allegedly by his brother-in-law.
Although Kathryn Restelli was upstairs when her husband was killed on July 12, 2024, she admitted to luring him to Utah from their home in California, telling him she and their kids would be packed and ready to go back with him. When pleading guilty in July, she stated that she led her husband to believe she wanted to reconcile, kept him calm during his drive to her mother's home in American Fork, and told him the door was unlocked and he should just come in when he arrived.
She said the plot was designed to allow her family members to surprise Matthew Restelli and claim that he entered the house without permission, supporting their initial self-defense claim.
'Your children are victims'
Fourth District Judge Roger Griffin sentenced Kathryn Restelli, 37, to two terms of one to 15 years in prison for a reduced charge of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, second-degree felonies, and five years to life for felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony.
Following recommendations from attorneys, Griffin ordered the murder and firearm sentences to run consecutively, while the other sentence would be served concurrently, meaning she will spend at least six years in custody. He gave her credit for the 316 days she has already spent in jail.
The judge said he read multiple letters from people connected to the case before the sentencing, including several supporting Kathryn Restelli and saying she loved her children. However, he said he believes that is "simply not true."
"Your selfish actions show that you didn't love your children at all. You made them victims," Griffin said. "Let me be clear: Your children are victims of your actions. They'll be lifetime victims of your actions, and they deserve to grow up without you."
He cemented that belief by issuing a protective order that forbids Kathryn Restelli from contacting her children.
The judge also said he does not believe Kathryn Restelli's claim that she wanted to back out of the conspiracy, saying she had days to stop the plan but did not.
Kathryn Restelli expressed sorrow for the pain she had caused, crying as she said she did not think about that at the time. She said the least she can do, at this point, is help Matthew Restelli's family get justice by speaking the truth.
"My heart breaks for his children, his family, his friends and his community," she said.
Kathryn Restelli wiped tears from her face multiple times as she stood before the judge, reaching up to do so with hands chained to her waist.
Her attorney, Michael Brown, said he hopes at one point the Restelli family can forgive her, which is the only way she can at some point have contact with her children again. He said she feels the weight of what happened and wants to make amends.
"At some point, at some time she hopes to be able to manifest to the family that she is soulful, she is remorseful and she is penitent for what she did in this case," he said.
'She destroyed her children's future'
Matthew Restelli's brothers, Paul and Mark, each shared comments at the sentencing and asked, like their mom did, for the maximum sentence for their sister-in-law.
Mark Restelli, the youngest of the brothers, said he now regrets not speaking to his brother after a Father's Day barbecue in 2022, where he said he was not comfortable with his brother's wife, and that is why he had not invited them to another family event.
"Matt was loyal to Kathryn over everyone else in his life, including me. She had him trapped and was injecting venom," he said.
The brother said he wanted to reach out again after Kathryn Restelli took the kids to Utah two years later but didn't, something he said he will regret. He said Matthew Restelli was killed directly under the room where his children were sleeping, and he hopes his soul was able to say goodbye.
Now, he and his wife are raising their two children along with his own. He said because they are with him, they have a fighting chance at life. He said he brought his niece to a father-daughter dance, which he plans to do each year, but said that should be his brother's role.
"She took my brother, she took her children's father, she destroyed her children's future. Matt's kids didn't deserve this," he said.
Deputy Utah County attorney David Brown said prosecutors took into account information Kathryn Restelli gave them to help the investigation when offering reduced charges, and told the judge the leniency for her should stop there. Despite requests for the maximum sentence from the family, he said prosecutors still recommend the sentence suggested in the plea deal — which is what the judge ultimately sentenced her to.
He said it is disappointing that she is still minimizing her involvement, and that significant prison time is warranted in the case so she can reflect on that.
Kathryn Restelli's brother, Kevin Ellis, and mother, Tracey Grist, are each charged with murder, a first-degree felony; conspiracy to commit murder and obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies; and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony. Ellis is also charged with possession of a gun as a restricted person, a third-degree felony, and drug possession, a class A misdemeanor.
They are scheduled for jury trials in January and February, and Kathryn Restelli is expected to testify.
