KS - Youth pastor Matthew Richards stabs wife and 4 sons before setting home on fire - September 17, 2023

[Ebon]

Youth pastor accused of stabbing wife, 4 sons and daughter, then setting home ablaze

Police in Kansas arrested a youth pastor after he allegedly stabbed his wife, four sons and daughter before setting their home on fire.

lawandcrime.com

Police in Kansas arrested a youth pastor after he allegedly stabbed his wife, four sons and daughter before setting their home on fire.

Matthew Lee Richards is facing five counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm, the Shawnee Police Department said in a press release.

Firefighters and police in Shawnee, a city about 10 miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, were called at 3:47 a.m. for a disturbance and house fire. Firefighters arrived and quickly extinguished a fire in the basement. Seven people, including Richards, were taken to the hospital.

The victims were his wife, 19-year-old adult child, and four minor children, police said. They were all suffering from “laceration injuries of varying degrees,” police said. The 19-year-old and two of the minor children have been treated and released from the hospital. His wife and two other children remain at the hospital, according to police. No motive was given.

Richards has been a youth pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee since 2016, his bio said. He’s described as a “big kid who loves teaching little kids about Jesus” and has been married to his wife since 2003.

 

[tlcya]

I wonder what caused him to do this? Family annihilator? Some sort of secret he couldn't bear they find out like a job loss or . . . something to do with his being youth pastor . . ?
-------------------------------
He was also a seventh grade teacher at Christ Prep Academy where one of his children recently graduated.

“He and his family have three rules: 1. Love God 2. Love People 3. Love Sports (especially the Jayhawks and Sporting KC),” the bio said.Kids pastor charged with 'stabbing wife and 4 kids before setting house ablaze'

 

[darkstar105]

Shawnee children's pastor attacked family, set house on fire to hide financial troubles, documents say

Matthew Lee Richards, 41, is charged with 5 counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm.

www.kmbc.com

 

[sasha17]

Shawnee children's pastor attacked family, set house on fire to hide financial troubles, documents say

Matthew Lee Richards, 41, is charged with 5 counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm.

www.kmbc.com

My goodness, plenty of people face financial troubles but don't attempt to murder six family members and burn the house down in response.

 

[darkstar105]

Reminds me of the Lori Hacking case.

 

[DeDee]

Shawnee children's pastor attacked family, set house on fire to hide financial troubles, documents say

Matthew Lee Richards, 41, is charged with 5 counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm.

www.kmbc.com

. police received several 911 calls about a house fire < > a child called 911 to say their father was chasing them with a knife

. found three victims with stab wounds waiting for help outside

. an adult female < > and two children were rushed to an area hospital in critical condition with life-threatening stab wounds.

. the family had been in bed "when dad came around stabbing everyone"

. the family was expected to be evicted that very day. They hadn't packed and were unaware of the situation

He is being held on $5 million bond.

 

[DeDee]

Matthew Lee Richards, 41, of Shawnee, allegedly went room to room before dawn on Sept. 16, attacking his family members with a knife after starting the fire in the basement.

Richards faces five counts of premeditated attempted first-degree murder and one count of arson.

[Descriptions of the injuries suffered]

Civil court records show a foreclosure petition was filed for the home in the 6600 block of Goode Drive in November. It shows Richards and his wife owed $155,429 on their mortgage at the time.
The case was later dismissed. Online property tax records in Johnson County listed Richards and his wife as co-owners of the home as of 2022. As of Monday, a different person was listed as the owner.

... next hearing < > is scheduled for Friday.

Facing eviction, Johnson County youth pastor stabbed family and set fire: affidavit​

Clearly, this attack upon the family was premeditated. He confessed to police. What will a defense lawyer do about that?

 

[crimenerd]

This is somewhat local to me. I have no idea what this man could have been thinking. How did he think he would get away with it, even if it went how he planned it in his head? My god. That poor family. They may never recover. All over money? I feel like something is missing.

 

[darkstar105]

This is somewhat local to me. I have no idea what this man could have been thinking. How did he think he would get away with it, even if it went how he planned it in his head? My god. That poor family. They may never recover. All over money? I feel like something is missing.

I know! Even if the fire had burned the house down, wouldn't the stab wounds have been apparent?

 

[darkstar105]

"Police spoke with one neighbor who recalled hearing someone bang on the door and looking out to see the children, who said their dad had stabbed them."

Aha, so some of the children managed to run next door.

 

[crimenerd]

I know! Even if the fire had burned the house down, wouldn't the stab wounds have been apparent?

Absolutely. Detectives aren't stupid. I don't know how the wife wouldn't know about the foreclosure unless the husband had complete control over the mail, the telephone, the bills, etc. It takes a while to be evicted. I don't think the attacks happened due to an impending eviction. Maybe after all the lies were revealed, they were going their separate ways and he couldn't deal with it. Just speculating.

 

[cuffem]

Reminds me of the Lori Hacking case.

Wasn't there another case in Celebration, Fl. where the family had no idea about upcoming eviction and father killed the family. Anthony Todt. Although he had several different stories he told.

Thankful this family survived and hopefully heal.

 

[crimenerd]

Wasn't there another case in Celebration, Fl. where the family had no idea about upcoming eviction and father killed the family. Anthony Todt. Although he had several different stories he told.

Thankful this family survived and hopefully heal.

Yes! That's the one I was trying to come up with. These kind of cases haunt me for some reason.

 

[darkstar105]

Seems pretty common among family annihilators...the annihilator decides the rest of their family would be "better off" not ever finding out about the financial difficulties, so the annihilator decides to kill them all.
I'm reminded of the first chapter of the novel _The House of Mirth_ where the father sits the family down and explains that he's financially ruined. I mean, rather than killing them all.

 

[cuffem]

Also several cases where a family members murdered over either son/daughter not attending/graduating school or have a job they pretend to have, and parents cut them off or evicted them.

 

[crimenerd]

Also several cases where a family members murdered over either son/daughter not attending/graduating school or have a job they pretend to have, and parents cut them off or evicted them.

Yeah, adult children killing parents happens too. We need to realize that failing at something isn't the end-all/be-all. Life is about progress not perfection.

 

[airportwoman]

I've heard enough horror stories about youth pastors to know that if that phrase is in a news headline, it's not going to be a happy story.

I'm also guessing there's going to be a lot more to this story.

 

[Bodhi]

One of the victims is let out on the thread title. He stabbed his daughter as well.

How horrible!

 

[airportwoman]

One of the victims is let out on the thread title. He stabbed his daughter as well.

The linked story said he had 5 children, the oldest 19 years old.

 

[Bodhi]

The linked story said he had 5 children, the oldest 19 years old.

Yes, I read that. The title includes his wife and four sons as victims. The teenage daughter is was also stabbed. Maybe the title could be re-worded?

Most incidents like this don't end up with survivors. Thank goodness 3 of the victims have been released from the hospital and the mother and two other children are being treated. I wish them all well in their physical recovery and mental health.