✉️ The Snow Tracks Murder: A Secret Buried in Words
What do an almost-governor, a novel, and a body have in common? No, it’s not the setup for a bad joke. It’s the life and downfall of Steven Pankey.
In December of 1984, twelve-year-old Jonelle Matthews performed at her school's Christmas concert before getting a ride home with friends, after which she vanished into the winter night. Her case was among the first of missing children to be publicized on milk cartons, leaving a lasting impression on American families during breakfast. For many years, the case remained unsolved until 2019, when pipeline workers discovered Jonelle's remains in a field in the countryside. She sustained a gunshot wound to the head.
But years before that discovery, Pankey — a failed political candidate — couldn’t resist inserting himself into the story. He wrote letters to police and reporters, and in one chilling passage, claimed someone had “disturbed the snow with a rake” outside Jonelle’s home. Investigators had never released that detail, holding it back as a test fact only the killer could know (NBC News, 2020). At trial, those words spoke louder than DNA or fingerprints. In October 2022, a jury convicted him of felony murder and kidnapping. Judge Timothy Kerns told the courtroom, “The Matthews family has waited nearly four decades for this day” (Colorado Sun, 2022).
When Pankey finally went to trial, prosecutors leaned on his own words. No DNA. No fingerprints. Just his compulsion to write himself into the story. In October 2022, after a retrial, a jury convicted him of felony murder and second-degree kidnapping. Judge Timothy Kerns sentenced him to life in prison, noting that Jonelle’s family had waited nearly four decades for justice (Colorado Sun, 2022).
Jonelle's story is consistent with a harsh trend. This case is, regrettably, consistent with the upsetting truth that children are infrequently harmed by strangers. FBI data from 2017 indicates that strangers murdered just 9.7% of child homicide victims; the rest were harmed by people the child knew (OJJDP/BJS data, 2024) injepijournal.biomedcentral.com.
And yet, what makes Pankey’s case so unsettling is not only that he killed, but that he wrote. He isn’t alone in that compulsion. Many killers could not resist turning their crimes into stories. In Austria, Jack Unterweger became a celebrated prison author, praised for his literary talent, even as he secretly strangled women after his release. In Canada, Mark Twitchell drafted a screenplay about luring a man to his garage, then carried out the exact same plot in real life. Their writings blurred the line between fiction and confession, between art and evidence.
📚 Fiction vs. Reality — Killer Plotlines
Krystian Bala is a Polish author whose novel, Amok (2003), contains a fictionalized murder that mirrors the real-life murder of Dariusz Janiszewski, replete with grotesque details like the way the victim was bound. A detective connected the dots, and Bala was convicted in 2007. Wikipedia
On the Page: In Amok (2003), a character murders a man, binds his hands, and throws his body in a river.
In Reality: The real victim, Dariusz Janiszewski, was found bound and drowned in a river. Detectives later connected the uncanny parallels to Bala’s novel, which became evidence in his conviction.
🔗 Source: Wikipedia – Krystian Bala
Mark Twitchell, a Canadian filmmaker, wrote a document called SKConfessions, which described luring, killing, dismembering, and disposing of a victim; he later committed these acts against John Altinger. This document was pivotal in his 2011 first-degree murder conviction. Wikipedia
On the Page: His unfinished screenplay described luring a man to a garage and killing him under the guise of a date.
In Reality: John Altinger was lured to Twitchell’s garage and murdered in almost identical fashion. The SKConfessions document on his laptop laid out the “plot.”
🔗 Source: Wikipedia – Mark Twitchell
Gerard John Schaefer was an American author who invented the "killer fiction" genre, penning graphic tales of abduction, torture, and murder of young women, narratives that strongly resembled crimes to which he later confessed. His works, Killer Fiction and Beyond Killer Fiction, blended art and confession in disturbing ways. Wikipedia
On the Page: His short stories described abducting, binding, and torturing young women, written in disturbingly gleeful tones.
In Reality: Convicted of two murders and suspected in dozens more, Schaefer’s fiction was later published as Killer Fiction — blurring confessions and fantasy.
🔗 Source: Wikipedia – Gerard John Schaefer
Carl Panzram, a well-known American serial killer, penned brutal prison memoirs, frankly confessing his crimes and laying out his philosophy with disturbing honesty. Published as Killer: A Journal of Murder, his writings revealed an unrepentant and violent worldview. Wikipedia
On the Page: In prison, he wrote a memoir filled with violent “adventures,” boasting of rape, murder, and arson.
In Reality: Panzram admitted to killing at least 21 people. His writings, later published as Killer: A Journal of Murder, revealed an unrepentant worldview.
🔗 Source: Wikipedia – Carl Panzram
Jack Unterweger, an Austrian murderer, gained notoriety as a writer during his time in prison. After being paroled based on his literary fame, he resumed killing—using fiction as both art and camouflage. Wikipedia
On the Page: Wrote plays, stories, and an autobiography while in prison, featuring prostitutes and strangulation themes. His work earned him literary fame and parole.
In Reality: After his release, Unterweger murdered women across Austria, Germany, and the U.S. — often by strangulation, echoing his fiction.
🔗 Source: Wikipedia – Jack Unterweger
Krystian Bala (Poland), Mark Twitchell (Canada), Gerard John Schaefer (USA), Carl Panzram (USA), and Jack Unterweger (Austria) are killers who blurred the boundaries between fiction and reality, using their writing to embellish truths known only to them, rather than simply to tell stories.
Steven Pankey's defining characteristic was not his political ambition. The rake marks exposed him in the snow and in his words.
Reflection
Why do killers write about their crimes? Is it arrogance — a belief they’re smarter than investigators? Or is it something darker, a compulsion to be recognized, even if it means exposure? When murderers turn to the page, they reveal a dangerous truth: sometimes the pen really is deadlier than the sword.
Sources
Jennifer Brown, The Colorado Sun: “Former Greeley man Steven Pankey sentenced to life in prison in Jonelle Matthews murder” (Oct. 31, 2022).
NBC News: “Ex-Idaho gubernatorial candidate indicted in 1984 Jonelle Matthews murder case” (Sept. 15, 2020).
Bureau of Justice Statistics / OJJDP (2024): Data on child homicide perpetrators: “9.7% of child victims were killed by strangers” (Injury Epidemiology Journal).
Wikipedia: “Krystian Bala” — author of Amok, convicted of murder in Poland.
Wikipedia: “Mark Twitchell” — Canadian filmmaker, convicted after his SKConfessions document surfaced.
Wikipedia: “Gerard John Schaefer” — Florida killer whose fiction mirrored his crimes.
Wikipedia: “Carl Panzram” — memoirs published as Killer: A Journal of Murder.
Wikipedia: “Jack Unterweger” — Austrian writer and serial killer whose parole led to more murders.