- CONTINUE READING BELOW -
A former children’s pastor pleaded guilty to multiple charges after he stabbed his wife and children and then set his home on fire in an attempt to conceal his financial woes.
The horrifying incident took place in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2023, in Shawnee, Kan. Matthew Lee Richards was subsequently charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm.
- CONTINUE READING BELOW -
On Tuesday, Richards, 41, entered guilty pleas to two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the case, according to KMBC.
At the time of the attempted murders, Richards was a children’s pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee and also working at Christ Preparatory Academy in Lenexa, per the Kansas City Star.
Richards was initially taken into custody after officials arrived at his home “for a report of a disturbance and a house fire,” according to a press release by the Shawnee Police Department at the time. In the basement, firefighters came upon the fire and quickly extinguished the flames, per the release.
Richards’s wife and children — including a 19-year-old and four younger children — sustained “laceration injuries of varying degrees,” the release states. One child had an abdominal cut so severe it “exposed internal organs,” per KCTV.
One of the children reportedly told police they’d all been in bed when Richards began stabbing them, according to KCTV.
Documents reviewed by KMBC indicate that after being taken into custody and examined by medical personnel, Richards told investigators, “I stabbed my family.”
He reportedly claimed he’d planned to kill his family because they were due to be evicted that very same day, and he hadn’t told his wife about the dire financial straits they were in. He apparently believed his family would prefer to die than deal with eviction or debt.
According to Fox News, Richards’s biography on the Crossroads Christian Church website — which has since been taken down — portrayed him as “a big kids [sic] who loves teaching little kids about Jesus.”
“He has been married to Stephanie since 2003 and they have 4 boys and 1 girl. He and his family have three rules: 1. Love God, 2. Love People, 3. Love Sports (especially the Jayhawks and Sporting KC),” the brief biography read, according to the outlet. “Matt and his family have been at Crossroads since August 2016 and look forward to many more years helping teach and reach those in the Shawnee area.”
In a statement after the incident, the church said it was “shocked, sickened, and saddened by [the] events involving our former children’s pastor.”
Richards is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26, 2025.