A former Shawnee youth pastor will spend more than 29 years in prison for attempting to kill his family and set his house on fire in 2023.
On Wednesday in Johnson County District Court, Matthew Lee Richards was sentenced to a total of 353 months in prison for two counts of attempted first-degree murder, both level 1 felonies, the most severe level of felony in Kansas.
The sentence was handed down from Judge Jason Billam and include 188 months for the first murder charge and 165 months for the second count. The sentences will be served consecutively.
The two counts were part of a plea deal that amended a series of charges the Johnson County District Attorney’s office levied against Richards in September 2023.
The original charges included five counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm. Richard pleaded guilty to the charges in February.
What happened?
In the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2023, Shawnee Police were called to the Richards family home at 6602 Goode Dr. following several 911 calls about a house fire and reports of someone chasing people with a knife, according to a probable cause statement.
When police arrived, they discovered three victims with stab wounds waiting for help outside the house, the report stated. They also found Richards inside the house.
Richards’ wife and three of their five children were transported to area hospitals with life-threatening stab wounds.
Another child and the couple’s 19-year-old son were also hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
After police ordered Richards to come outside of the home, he complied and was transported to an area hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation. He was later taken into custody and charged.
Firefighters ultimately extinguished the fire, which originated in the basement around a pile of clothing and wood, according to the affidavit.
Richards was in financial trouble
When speaking to police, Richards said he had been dishonest with his wife about their finances and that they were expected to be evicted the day of the crime, according to the criminal affidavit.
None of his family members had their belongings packed, and all were unaware of the situation the night Richards attacked them.
To avoid eviction, Richards created a plan to burn down their house earlier in the evening, the affidavit said. After he set the fire, he grabbed a knife and began attacking his family.
“I stabbed my kids, detective. I stabbed my wife,” he told police, according to the affidavit.
Richards told police that he doesn’t remember stabbing the children but does recall one of his sons asking him, “Dad, why do you have the knife?”
“The defendant admitted to having the thought that it would be better if they all died rather than for his kids to have to deal with the trauma of finding out the truth and for his wife to find out the truth,” the affidavit said.
Richards was a youth pastor at the time
At the time of the fire and attack on his family, Richards was the children’s pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee.
After Richards was charged, Kurt Witten, the church’s senior pastor, released a statement on Facebook, saying the Crossroads Church family was “shocked, sickened, and saddened” by Richards’ alleged crimes.
“This is a tragedy beyond what any of us could have imagined,” Witten’s statement read. “We give our full cooperation and support to the Shawnee Police Department and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department as they conduct their investigation.”
The church also stated it was offering its support to the Richards family and asked its members to stand with them and pray for them.
Richards was also employed at the time as an English teacher at Christ Prep Academy, 15700 W. 87th Street Pkwy., in Lenexa.
Richards’ relatives gave statements this week
Richards’ wife attended Wednesday’s hearing, but neither she nor any of the Richards’ children gave statements during the proceeding.
Richards’ mother, Catherine Clapham and sister, Mary White, spoke in court, asking for mercy from the judge.
White asked that the judge consider Richards’ unspecified mental illness, as well as the amount of time he’s facing in prison, away from his children.
“I think being gone that long, away from everybody, would do more harm than good,” she said.
When White and Clapham spoke, Richards did not look at them and kept his head down as he cried.
Richards described disgracing his family, friends
When asked to give a statement by Judge Billam, Richards stood up and struggled through his speech, choking back tears.
“Through my actions, I brought disgrace, shame, humiliation and dishonor on myself, our family, kids in classrooms and on the soccer field, trusted friends in my community,” he said. “This came from my own shame that kept me from revealing my faults and sins because I was afraid of the truth. I was afraid to ask for help.”
Speaking on his potential punishment, Richards said the shame he endures has been painful.
“I will live every day knowing I caused that trauma and disgrace,” he said. “That punishment is far worse than any … length of time in prison I can be in.”
Richards apologized to his family.
“To my wife and kid and the rest of my family, I’m sorry for the multiple levels of destruction and pain,” he said. “While I do offer a short apology today, the most important words in apologies will one day — hopefully soon — be shared and should be shared in private moments. I need to make those apologies to the people I love and hurt the most in private and when they’re ready.”
Richards closed by quoting Psalms 51, stating that he hoped to be like David, the passage’s subject, and receive forgiveness.
“I will live everyday with that disgrace. But I hope to be like David and choose to try and use the failures to continue to improve myself and then, help those I have disgraced to recover along with me,” he said.
Judge sentenced Richards to prison
Judge Billam noted that he spent a half of a day mediating the plea deal between Richards and his wife.
“We got most of the way to the plea that’s here today,” he said. “There wasn’t one aspect of that time that I spent reviewing the case or meeting with the parties that wasn’t emotional.”
With all of that considered, Billam said he was sticking to the plea deal that both parties agreed to.
After the court adjourned, Richards said “I love you” to his mother and sister and exited the courtroom.
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