American Fork police say Matthew Restelli's murder was planned by his wife

Police on Tuesday arrested the wife of a 42-year-old man fatally shot in American Fork this summer, as well as the woman's mother and brother, alleging the family plotted to kill him and cover up their crimes.

According to the documents, Matthew Restelli's wife wanted out of the couple's seven-year marriage but didn't know how. She had already left the couple's home in California with her two children to stay with her mother in Utah. There, she confided in her mother and online friends, and eventually, the documents allege, they, her mother and brother, plotted to kill Restelli.

The conspiracy, officials allege in probable cause statements, included a ploy to get Restelli to drive to Utah, a tracker that watched his movements, a planted knife and a plausible self-defense setup.

However, police said in a press release that they had figured out the conspiracy after an “intensive, time-consuming and meticulous investigation.”

The brother, 33-year-old Kevin Ellis, was charged with murder as well as drug, weapons and domestic violence charges. He has not yet entered a plea.

Restelli's wife and the woman's mother were booked into jail Tuesday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, obstruction of justice and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child.

They all remained in the Utah County Jail as of Thursday afternoon without the ability to post bail.

The Salt Lake Tribune typically does not name defendants unless they have been charged.

A “helpless” situation

According to police, Restelli's wife contacted a divorce attorney while in Utah. At that meeting, she felt “helpless” and unsure “what to do” — apparently worried about custody since she had taken her children across state lines.

Meanwhile, Restelli asked his wife to return to California. He offered to send her money so she could rent a car.

When she relayed that conversation to her mother, the mother suggested she fake an ankle sprain, according to text messages police reviewed.

“I can’t drive with this ankle!” she wrote, according to text messages that police reviewed. “I know we can wrap it and make it look swollen under the wrap.”

Restelli then planned to drive to Utah to pick up his wife. Police said she texted him the access code to her mother's neighborhood, her mother's address and a photo of the house on July 12 – the day he was scheduled to leave California – so he “knew exactly where he was going.” should go”.

He told his wife that day that he was worried his truck would leak oil on the driveway, so she put down a piece of cardboard for him to park on later. He also feared that the car wouldn't start again if he turned it off. So he planned to leave it running for the 15 minutes it would take to load and exit the car, according to records of the couple's phone conversations, police said.

She then asked him, “Are you going to come in?” the footage showed. He didn't answer and she asked again. He said yes.

“Okay,” she said. “The front door is always unlocked, okay?”

That same morning, she wrote on her social media group, “I have big girl things to do this morning…wish me luck.”

Restelli's arrival

According to a neighbor's surveillance camera footage, Restelli pulled into the home's driveway at 10:06 p.m. His wife and children were upstairs. Ellis and his mother were also at home.

A minute later, a neighbor heard gunshots. They first called Restelli's wife's family, but no one answered. They called the police at 10:09 p.m. Restelli's wife's mother called 911 at 10:15 p.m

When police arrived at the home, they found Restelli dead and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

The family initially told police that Restelli and his wife were going through a breakup, and he showed up at the house with a knife. According to a probable cause statement, they said Ellis shot Restelli in self-defense and noted that Restelli appeared “agitated” and surprised them.

According to the documents, officers found Restelli on the ground inside the building with a knife in his right hand. But the family's story unraveled as police examined the evidence.

Police noted that the knife blade was pointed at Restelli's hand – the opposite of how someone would normally wield a weapon. And he was left-handed.

“It appeared that the knife may have been placed in Matthew's right hand after he was shot,” police wrote in a probable cause statement. The officers likely wrote in the minutes between the shooting and the mother's call to police.

Officers arrested Ellis that night, who they suspect pulled the trigger, and took Restelli's wife, 36, and her mother, 59, for questioning. They also confiscated the women's phones.

Further information

These phones helped initiate a case against the family.

In May, police discovered that Restelli's wife had texted a friend saying, “I'm trying to wait… Maybe I'll murder Matt today though…”

Investigators also learned that the family had been tracking Restelli since at least June using an AirTag hidden in his truck. They were texting about his movements minutes before the shooting.

In June and July, police discovered that the mother had searched online for various topics that appeared to concern her daughter's parental rights and the death of Daniel Markel. Markel was a law professor at Florida State University and was apparently killed in a conspiracy by his ex-wife's mother and brother.

They also discovered that on July 12, just after 2 p.m., she searched for the “It's Happening Meme” — an image or GIF of Steve Carrell's sitcom character Michael Scott from “The Office” excitedly shouting, “It happened!”

The next day, Restelli's wife spoke to some of her online friends via video call. She told them Restelli was dead and showed them the blood on the floor where he was shot.

When they expressed their condolences, Restelli's wife told them it was OK and she was happy, the friends told police. She had a date that day.

Even the knife found in Restelli's hand probably did not belong to him, according to police.

Instead, they found an email that suggested his wife's mother got it in April while visiting a friend to help him after the friend's husband died. The husband apparently subscribed to a monthly surprise box of tactical gifts – including the type of knife found in Restelli's hand.

The mother had sent the company an email that same month asking them to cancel the dead man's subscription.

Who was Restelli?

In an interview with police after Restelli's death, his wife said the couple had marital problems, that Restelli abused drugs and “yelled at her on a daily basis.”

She left after an argument with two of her three children and had been in Utah for about three weeks when he picked her up, she said.

They spoke on the phone several times during his drive, sometimes arguing about her taking the children and once about a “negative interaction” he had with a fast-food worker in Beaver.

The couple's children have since been placed in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, police said.

In an obituary, Restelli – known as Matt by those closest to him – was remembered for his “deep love of nature.” He enjoyed mountain biking, fishing and hiking – “often accompanied by his beloved children.”

“Matt’s sense of adventure and deep appreciation for the outdoors were evident to all who knew him,” it said. “His commitment to his family was unparalleled, giving them not only love but also the shared experience of adventures that brought them closer together.”

The obituary does not name his wife.