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

[mickey2942]

I find cases like this absolutely fascinating. It makes me wonder, could my husband go crazy like this?! I couldn't imagine it. Probably this family didn't see this coming...

 

[starlightstarbright]

What is mind boggling is that it sounds like they only bought the house in 2022 and it’s already been foreclosed on by 2023. Now I’ve never experienced a foreclosure so no idea how long these things take, but if they had the money to be approved for the mortgage last year, moved in and never paid, where has all that money been going? MOO but my suspicion is that this horrible attack is about more than finances. It immediately makes me think that money was being diverted to something other than the mortgage that would perhaps be very shameful for a ‘youth pastor’ if discovered, and the threat of that discovery triggered this crime.

 

[lymom3]

What is mind boggling is that it sounds like they only bought the house in 2022 and it’s already been foreclosed on by 2023. Now I’ve never experienced a foreclosure so no idea how long these things take, but if they had the money to be approved for the mortgage last year, moved in and never paid, where has all that money been going? MOO but my suspicion is that this horrible attack is about more than finances. It immediately makes me think that money was being diverted to something other than the mortgage that would perhaps be very shameful for a ‘youth pastor’ if discovered, and the threat of that discovery triggered this crime.

I agree. A mortgage of $155000 would have a reasonable payment. I think that where the money went will be an important element in this case.

 

[Inthedetails]

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.

That novel has a grim ending, also due to finances.

In this case, I think he was more willing to face murder charges than have his family realize he was in financial ruin. Now he gets to do both.

I wish the victims as smooth a recovery as possible.

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

What is mind boggling is that it sounds like they only bought the house in 2022 and it’s already been foreclosed on by 2023. Now I’ve never experienced a foreclosure so no idea how long these things take, but if they had the money to be approved for the mortgage last year, moved in and never paid, where has all that money been going? MOO but my suspicion is that this horrible attack is about more than finances. It immediately makes me think that money was being diverted to something other than the mortgage that would perhaps be very shameful for a ‘youth pastor’ if discovered, and the threat of that discovery triggered this crime.

That's been on my mind too.

Whatever it is, it will come out now.

jmo

 

[Ontario Mom]

What is mind boggling is that it sounds like they only bought the house in 2022 and it’s already been foreclosed on by 2023. Now I’ve never experienced a foreclosure so no idea how long these things take, but if they had the money to be approved for the mortgage last year, moved in and never paid, where has all that money been going? MOO but my suspicion is that this horrible attack is about more than finances. It immediately makes me think that money was being diverted to something other than the mortgage that would perhaps be very shameful for a ‘youth pastor’ if discovered, and the threat of that discovery triggered this crime.

When I first read of this case, had the exact same thoughts. When money goes missing and there's nothing to show for it, it's usually one of 2 things: hobby or habit. Things that fall under those categories would be things like drug use, gambling, any kind of adult (legal or otherwise) online images/videos, in person adult "entertainment", etc.

All of which would be incredibly shameful for a youth pastor to be involved with, not to mention losing the family home over it. My heart goes out to his wife and kids.

 

[PaulaDC]

I find cases like this absolutely fascinating. It makes me wonder, could my husband go crazy like this?! I couldn't imagine it. Probably this family didn't see this coming...

A similar situation just happened to my daughter a couple months ago. I can't get over her not seeing it coming. She claims there was no arguments and I know their bills are up to date. She's in an apartment now paying for the burned house mortgage and the apt. while her
insurance sorts the situation out. As a Mother I'm totally infuriated and at a loss of words. My feelings towards the courts not taking this seriously is a whole issue in itself.

 

[TDoc72]

I wonder what he was doing while the kids were going to neighbors and then some of the victims were sitting outside when LE arrived. I mean, did he just give up killing them and sit there? It doesn’t sound like he was still chasing them around. I’m glad they’re all going to survive and I hope they find comfort and healing with their extended and church families.

 

[TDoc72]

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.

Yeah, it should say wife and 5 children.

 

[airportwoman]

A similar situation just happened to my daughter a couple months ago. I can't get over her not seeing it coming. She claims there was no arguments and I know their bills are up to date. She's in an apartment now paying for the burned house mortgage and the apt. while her
insurance sorts the situation out. As a Mother I'm totally infuriated and at a loss of words. My feelings towards the courts not taking this seriously is a whole issue in itself.

Wait, what? I get the impression that her husband tried to torch their house for insurance money?

As for him being foreclosed on a house he just bought last year, I wonder if he's done anything like that before.

 

[DeDee]

Wait, what? I get the impression that her husband tried to torch their house for insurance money?

As for him being foreclosed on a house he just bought last year, I wonder if he's done anything like that before.

Regrettably, Mr and Ms Richards no longer owned the home, according to the news released by MSM. Shawnee is a nice area near historic Overland Park.

We don't know how much the couple paid for the home or when it was purchased. It's currently valued at maybe twice what was owed last Nov. The family has attended the same church since 2016 so who knows when they moved into the house. MR taught 7th grade Eng since 2020 so it sounds like for the past 3 yrs he's held two jobs. Teachers with a Master's Degree earn more but he taught at a small Christian academy. Did their mother work outside of the home?

I'm not sure this man misused income. He just didn't earn enough for a family of 7 to keep up with their lifestyle. As with any race, once you fall behind, it's hard to catch up. This man's financial crisis began at least a year ago, that we're aware of, and he wasn't able to make it work and he didn't reach out for help from his church or from his own wife. Instead, he chased her with a knife into their garage while a child watched.

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.

A salvage crew already picked up the items from the house that belonged to the family. I hope the survivors are where love and opportunity abounds so they can begin to cope with their new normal.

 

[katydid23]

I wonder what he was doing while the kids were going to neighbors and then some of the victims were sitting outside when LE arrived. I mean, did he just give up killing them and sit there? It doesn’t sound like he was still chasing them around. I’m glad they’re all going to survive and I hope they find comfort and healing with their extended and church families.

I thought he set the house on fire? Did he think they'd die in the fire before help arrived?

 

[DeDee]

I thought he set the house on fire? Did he think they'd die in the fire before help arrived?

Richards told police that he came up with the idea the evening before. He started stabbing them in their sleep at 3:45am. Apparently, he was in a desperate frame of mind at the time and wasn't able to fully carry out the plan, thankfully.


Responding officers heard a small explosion that bowed the garage doors out before fire crews quickly extinguished a fire in the basement.

Richards allegedly set fire to wood and clothing in an attempt to burn down the house, according to the affidavit.

Pending eviction prompted Shawnee youth pastor to stab family, burn house

 

[Ontario Mom]

I'm not sure this man misused income. He just didn't earn enough for a family of 7 to keep up with their lifestyle. As with any race, once you fall behind, it's hard to catch up. This man's financial crisis began at least a year ago, that we're aware of, and he wasn't able to make it work and he didn't reach out for help from his church or from his own wife. Instead, he chased her with a knife into their garage while a child watched.

If he wasn't keeping current with the mortgage payments to the point of foreclosure, you do have to wonder where the money was going that should have been going to the mortgage payment.

I can only guess that he was more ashamed of himself than anything else for being a fraud (my guess is, they'll find stuff on his computer and/or phone that will make this much worse, if possible), and tried to prevent his wife and kids from knowing what an irresponsible liar he was, so brutally killing them all and setting the house on fire made more sense.

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

If he wasn't keeping current with the mortgage payments to the point of foreclosure, you do have to wonder where the money was going that should have been going to the mortgage payment.

I can only guess that he was more ashamed of himself than anything else for being a fraud (my guess is, they'll find stuff on his computer and/or phone that will make this much worse, if possible), and tried to prevent his wife and kids from knowing what an irresponsible liar he was, so brutally killing them all and setting the house on fire made more sense.

jmo

It's just wasted pride as I am willing to bet that his wife, family, community would be totally understanding that a family would need to downsize and economize. It's no shame to budget and live simply in order to pay bills - in fact, that is admirable! Pride (if not other vices) led to his downfall.

jmo

 

[airportwoman]

Private schools, especially small religious-oriented schools, generally pay much less than public schools.

I have a feeling this story is going to go a lot deeper than the assault, and the foreclosure. Among other things, the church and school are probably heavily scrutinizing their finances.

 

[airportwoman]

Any updates on this story?

 

[DeDee]

I don't see anything in MSM but I recall the wife and mother was in the hospital in critical condition so I wonder if she's been released. Two of the children were stabbed in their "organs" but I don't see any update on anyone in the family.

Can't imagine growing up and someone asking about the scar over my organs: Oh, that's where my father stabbed me when he tried to kill us.

Bless the surviving family with hope, love and an abundance of everything they need.

 

[Charlot123]

Regrettably, Mr and Ms Richards no longer owned the home, according to the news released by MSM. Shawnee is a nice area near historic Overland Park.

We don't know how much the couple paid for the home or when it was purchased. It's currently valued at maybe twice what was owed last Nov. The family has attended the same church since 2016 so who knows when they moved into the house. MR taught 7th grade Eng since 2020 so it sounds like for the past 3 yrs he's held two jobs. Teachers with a Master's Degree earn more but he taught at a small Christian academy. Did their mother work outside of the home?

I'm not sure this man misused income. He just didn't earn enough for a family of 7 to keep up with their lifestyle. As with any race, once you fall behind, it's hard to catch up. This man's financial crisis began at least a year ago, that we're aware of, and he wasn't able to make it work and he didn't reach out for help from his church or from his own wife. Instead, he chased her with a knife into their garage while a child watched.



A salvage crew already picked up the items from the house that belonged to the family. I hope the survivors are where love and opportunity abounds so they can begin to cope with their new normal.

You are absolutely right. A youth pastor earns very little, so does a teacher in a small Christian school.

As to keeping it a secret till the last moment, I saw such a situation, only without violence. A person lost the job----> was ashamed to tell the family ----> hence, waited to tell about losing the leased apartment till movers emerged ---> family moved out in haste ----> (this when we thought, something was not right) ----> he got another job and a new insurance----> a new doctor diagnosed him with one of two types of cancer commonly associated with depression. I agree that all reasons that you have enumerated might be valid, but an underlying medical condition, infrequently, might cause bizarre, illogical changes of behavior. Let us wait what pans out.

 

[killarney rose]

I speak from experience with a family member. A youth pastors salary will be commensurate with the size of the church. In a large church he will earn a very comfortable salary. Not so much in a smaller church. In addition to the salary in a larger church there will be insurance, retirement, housing allowance and mileage paid as well.