Where Is Kathryn Restelli Now? What Happened to Matt Restelli’s Wife

Kate Restelli: Where Is Matt Restelli’s Wife Now? Her Prison Sentence Explained.

Kathryn “Kate” Restelli is serving a prison sentence in Utah after admitting her role in the killing of her husband, Matthew “Matt” Restelli, in July 2024. Once described as a wife and mother caught in a collapsing marriage, Kathryn later became a central figure in the case after prosecutors established that she had been involved in a plan that ended with Matt being killed at her mother Tracey Grist’s home in American Fork. Her story has since moved from a troubled family situation to courtrooms, plea agreements and testimony against members of her own family. 

Kathryn, born on December 15, 1987, married Matt Restelli around 2017, and the couple had two children. Their marriage reportedly became increasingly difficult as financial problems placed pressure on the family. By early 2024, Kathryn was confiding in her mother, Tracey, about the relationship. In one January conversation, Kathryn reportedly wrote that she wanted out of the marriage after repeated arguments. 

Tracey responded with a comment about driving to California and strangling Matt. Kathryn later said she understood that remark as a figure of speech rather than something her mother would actually carry out. That interpretation would become increasingly difficult to separate from what happened months later.

By June 2024, the marriage had deteriorated further. Kathryn left California and moved to Tracey’s American Fork home with her two children, without telling Matt beforehand. According to the account presented in the case, discussions about killing him followed, with Tracey allegedly suggesting a knife could be used to make the incident appear to be self-defence. It was hardly the sort of family advice anyone would expect over a cup of coffee, and the situation soon became far more serious.

Matt wanted Kathryn and the children to return home, and Kathryn eventually encouraged him to travel to Utah to collect them. Prosecutors said she gave him the impression that she was willing to reconcile or return to California, keeping him calm as he made the journey to Tracey’s property on July 12, 2024.

Matt arrived at the house at about 10pm. Kathryn said she had given the children melatonin gummies so they would be asleep before he arrived and was upstairs when she heard several gunshots. Prosecutors said Tracey had prepared the house for the planned attack, while Kathryn’s brother, Kevin Ellis, confronted Matt and shot him. Kathryn later said Kevin and Tracey placed a knife in Matt’s hand afterwards in an attempt to make the incident look as though Kevin had been defending himself.

Police subsequently arrested Kathryn, Tracey and Kevin in connection with Matt’s killing. What initially appeared to be a deeply troubled marriage therefore became a much wider criminal case involving three members of the same family.

Kathryn eventually accepted responsibility in court. On July 16, 2025, she pleaded guilty to murder, conspiracy to commit murder and felony discharge of a firearm. Two domestic-violence charges involving a child and an obstruction-of-justice charge were dismissed under the plea agreement. Kathryn also agreed to testify for prosecutors against both her mother and brother.

Her sentencing took place in September 2025. Matt’s mother, Diane Restelli, addressed Kathryn in court and spoke about the loss of her son and the effect it would have on his children as they grew older. Kathryn also apologised to Matt’s family, friends and community, saying she was heartbroken for the people affected by what had happened.

The sentence left Kathryn facing one to 15 years for murder, one to 15 years for conspiracy to commit murder, and five years to life for felony discharge of a firearm. Rather than ending her involvement in the case, however, the plea deal meant she would remain an important witness.

In January 2026, Kathryn testified against Kevin Ellis during his murder trial. She gave jurors her account of what happened on the night Matt died and described Kevin’s involvement in the plan. Her testimony later continued in April 2026, when she appeared against her mother, Tracey Grist. Kathryn told the court that, looking back, she realised she should have done more to stop what was happening.

There is an uncomfortable irony in Kathryn’s story. She originally turned to her mother while trying to escape a marriage she said had become unbearable, yet that family relationship ultimately became intertwined with the events that ended her husband’s life. Her decision to cooperate with prosecutors does not erase her own admitted involvement, but it did make her testimony an important part of the cases against her relatives.

As of September 2026, Kathryn “Kate” Restelli, aged 38, remains incarcerated at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. Her current reality is a prison sentence that grew out of a family conflict that escalated far beyond a marital dispute. The case also leaves a difficult question hanging over everything: whether the tragedy could have been stopped earlier if someone had stepped away from the plan. What do you make of Kathryn’s decision to testify against her mother and brother after accepting her own role?