Matt Restelli Case Update (Sept. 2026): Wife, Brother-in-Law, Mother-in-Law in Prison

Matt Restelli drove from California to Utah in July 2024 believing his marriage might be salvageable. His wife, Kathryn, had taken their children to her mother's house in American Fork, and she'd told him to come.

Minutes after he walked into that house on July 12, he was dead. Nearly two years later, three members of her family are in prison for it. That's the story NBC picked to open Dateline's 35th season.

Quick answer: Everyone charged in Matt Restelli's death has now been convicted and sentenced. His wife, Kathryn Restelli, pleaded guilty in July 2025. Her brother, Kevin Ellis, who fired the shots, was convicted of murder by a jury and sentenced March 31, 2026. Their mother, Tracey Grist, was convicted in April 2026 and got maximum, back-to-back terms on June 10. Dateline's two-hour "The Family Plot" aired Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

What happened to Matt Restelli?

Police in American Fork, in Utah County, were called to a shooting at Grist's home on July 12, 2024. Restelli had been shot several times and died at the scene. The couple's children were in the house, which is why every defendant also faced domestic-violence-in-the-presence-of-a-child counts.

Ellis was arrested that day. He told detectives he fired because Restelli had a knife, and his lawyer said Restelli had turned up uninvited.

Detectives didn't buy it. According to charging documents reported by FOX13 and KSL, the knife looked as if it had been placed in Restelli's right hand after he was already dead. Kathryn Restelli and Grist were arrested days later.

Who was charged, and what did each one get?

All three sentences came from the same judge, Fourth District Judge Roger Griffin. Only one of the three defendants took a plea deal, and she ended up as the key witness against the other two.

Why did prosecutors call it a family plot?

Because Kathryn Restelli said so under oath. In her plea she admitted luring her husband to Utah with talk of reconciling, tracking his truck on the drive and staying in touch to keep him calm, KSL reported.

She also admitted knowing the family meant to use a gun and then put a knife in his hand to make it look like self-defense. At her mother's trial she testified she'd wanted to back out and that Grist pushed ahead anyway.

Prosecutor Adam Pomeroy told jurors Grist was the center of the plan: her daughter supplied the motive, her son the means. Grist testified in her own defense and denied any role. The jury deliberated about five hours.

Where are Kathryn Restelli, Kevin Ellis and Tracey Grist now?

• Kathryn Restelli is serving consecutive prison terms. The firearm count alone carries five years to life, and she got credit for 316 days already served.
• Kevin Ellis received the maximum on four counts, all to run back to back. At sentencing, Griffin called the killing something coldly planned rather than a moment of passion.
• Tracey Grist received 15 years to life for murder, plus the maximum on every other count, stacked consecutively. Griffin described her as the plan's mastermind.

Utah's Board of Pardons and Parole, not the judge, decides when anyone serving an indeterminate term actually gets out. None of the three has a parole date on public record that we could find.

👉 The short version for anyone who hasn't followed it: the man who pulled the trigger was the only one acquitted of conspiracy, and the person who planned it got the longest stack of time.

What did Dateline's "The Family Plot" cover?

NBC's listing says the case first looked like self-defense and "soon became much more complicated." Josh Mankiewicz reports the two hours, the first of what NBC says will be more two-hour episodes this season.

The interview list leans heavily on both families. On Matt's side: his brothers Paul and Mark Restelli and his mother, Diane. On Kate's: her sister Taralyn Fischer and her father, Stan Ellis, Grist's ex-husband.

Detective Joseph Nordin of American Fork police, three prosecutors (James Watabe, Adam Pomeroy and David Brown), Ellis's defense lawyer Scott Williams, a former friend of Kate's and Grist's former best friend round it out. That's a lot of people who knew the family well, which usually means a long stretch on the marriage before the shooting.

When and where can I watch it?

It aired Friday, Sept. 25, 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, 8 to 10 p.m. Central on NBC, and went up on Peacock the next day. 20/20 opened its own season in the same 9 p.m. hour on ABC, so streaming is how you get both.

Night-by-night listings for all three shows are on our True Crime TV This Week page, and the running answer for NBC is on the Is Dateline new tonight? page. Antenna and streaming options are in the viewing guide.

Which other cases on this site look like this one?

A spouse lured to a planned death that was staged as something else is, sadly, a familiar shape. 20/20's Sept. 18 hour was the Florida version, and our Mike Williams file tracks where Denise Williams and Brian Winchester are now.

Another Utah household case in our files, and a 48 Hours subject, is the Kouri Richins case. And Dateline's last new hour before the break, on an Indiana poisoning, is covered in the Harold Allen case update. Everything else is in Case Updates.

FAQ

Was Dateline new on Friday, Sept. 25? Yes. "The Family Plot" was the season 35 premiere, two hours starting at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Did Kate Restelli go to prison? Yes. She pleaded guilty in July 2025 and was sentenced that September to consecutive terms of at least six years and up to life.

Who shot Matt Restelli? Her brother, Kevin Ellis. A jury rejected his self-defense claim and convicted him of murder; he's serving 15 years to life plus consecutive terms.

What happened to Tracey Grist? A jury convicted her on every count in April 2026, and on June 10 she received the maximum sentence on each, to run back to back.

Sources

• NBC release via BroadwayWorld — Dateline season 35 premiere, "The Family Plot"
• KSL — Kathryn Restelli's guilty plea (July 2025)
• KSL — Kathryn Restelli sentenced (Sept. 2025)
• KSL — Kevin Ellis sentenced (March 2026)
• KSL — Tracey Grist verdict (April 2026)
• KUTV — Grist given maximum sentence (June 2026)
• FOX13 — arrests and the knife evidence (July 2024)
• ABC4 — maximum sentence for Kevin Ellis

Episode listing data via TVmaze.

By the True Crime On Air desk · Updated Sept. 24, 8:24 a.m. ET