{"id":2419341,"date":"2025-04-03T09:35:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pastor-who-tried-to-murder-family-breaks-down-in-court-reads-entirety-of-psalm-51\/"},"modified":"2025-04-03T09:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:37:14","slug":"pastor-who-tried-to-murder-family-breaks-down-in-court-reads-entirety-of-psalm-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pastor-who-tried-to-murder-family-breaks-down-in-court-reads-entirety-of-psalm-51\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor Who Tried to Murder Family Breaks Down in Court &#8211; Reads Entirety of Psalm 51"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpastor-who-tried-to-murder-family-breaks-down-in-court-reads-entirety-of-psalm-51%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2419341&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>matthew Lee Richards, a youth pastor and father of five from Kansas, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/weissmann-lashes-out-at-trump-over-manafort-stone-pardons-cooks-up-new-plot-to-prosecute-them-for-perjury-and-obstruction\/\" title=\"Weissmann Lashes Out at Trump Over Manafort, Stone Pardons \u2013 Cooks Up New Plot to Prosecute Them for Perjury and Obstruction\">sentenced<\/a> to nearly 30 years in prison after being convicted of attempting to murder his wife and children. Following a plea deal, Judge Jason Billam sentenced Richards to 353 months for two felony counts of attempted first-degree murder. The charges stemmed from an incident in September 2023, were he stabbed his wife and children and afterward set their home on fire, leading to severe injuries for several family members.<\/p>\n<p>In court,Richards expressed remorse,reading from the Bible and apologizing to his family.He admitted to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">concealing financial troubles<\/a> that contributed to his actions, suggesting he believed it would be better for his family to die than to face the truth about their situation. He reflected on the disgrace brought upon himself and his family and acknowledged the need for private apologies. His reading from Psalm 51, which addresses themes of sin and repentance, underscored his feelings of shame and desire for redemption.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A youth pastor and father of five in Kansas convicted of attempting to murder his wife and children and setting his home on fire read from the Bible during a public apology.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson County District Court Judge Jason Billam sentenced Matthew Lee Richards last week to 353 months in prison for two felony counts of attempted first-degree murder, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/johnsoncountypost.com\/2025\/03\/28\/ex-shawnee-youth-pastor-sentenced-256108\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from the Johnson County Post.<\/p>\n<p>The sentence, which amounts to more than 29 years, came after a plea deal.<\/p>\n<p>Richards was initially charged in September 2023 with five counts of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/man-charged-with-shooting-security-guard-in-laguna-hills\/\" title=\"Man accused of shooting security guard in Laguna Hills.\">attempted premeditated murder<\/a>, as well as one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm, the Post added.<\/p>\n<p>Richards had stabbed his wife and five children.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Three of the children, along with his wife, were hospitalized with severe injuries.<\/p>\n<p>The couple&rsquo;s other two children, a 19-year-old son and one other child, were also hospitalized with less severe injuries.<\/p>\n<p>The former youth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/pastor-arrested-horrific-discovery-church-bathroom-ultimate-violation-trust\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pastor<\/a> at Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee, Kansas, admitted to police, &ldquo;I stabbed my kids, detective. I stabbed my wife.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>One of the children later told officers that the family members were all in bed when their father started stabbing them, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kctv5.com\/2025\/02\/11\/man-convicted-attempted-murder-over-year-after-stabbing-family-setting-home-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from KCTV-TV.<\/p>\n<p>Richards was taken to the hospital with injuries from smoke inhalation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/bible-app-downloads-soar-american-readers-flock-scripture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richards<\/a> had been concealing financial troubles from his wife and family, who were unaware they were about to be evicted from their home.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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,&rdquo; an affidavit said, per the Post.<\/p>\n<p>When asked in court to deliver a statement, Richards read from Psalm 51, which ancient Israel&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/groundbreaking-discovery-king-davids-city-found-exactly-where-the-bible-said-it-was\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">King David<\/a> wrote after sleeping with Bathsheba and facilitating the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite.<\/p>\n<p>The passage deals with mourning over sin and restoration after repentance.<\/p>\n<p>Richards apologized to his family before reading the passage from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/bible-doubters-shaken-core-stunning-find-israeli-desert\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bible<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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,&rdquo; Richards said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Judge Locks Up Pastor Who Tried to Kill His Family\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mZgafNLWJ_A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;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,&rdquo; he continued.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;To my wife and kid and the rest of my family, I&rsquo;m sorry for the multiple levels of destruction and pain,&rdquo; Richards said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;While I do offer a short apology today, the most important words in apologies will one day &mdash; hopefully soon &mdash; be d and should be d in private moments. I need to make those apologies to the people I love and hurt the most in private and when they&rsquo;re ready.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Richards added that &ldquo;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.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A youth pastor and father of five in Kansas, Matthew Lee Richards, was convicted of attempting to murder his wife and children and setting their home ablaze. During a public apology, he read from the Bible. Judge Jason Billam sentenced him to 353 months in prison for two felony counts of attempted first-degree murder. This sentence follows a plea deal after he was initially charged with multiple counts of attempted premeditated murder and aggravated arson in September 2023. Richards had stabbed his wife and children, three of whom were hospitalized with serious injuries. He admitted to police that he attacked them while they were asleep, citing financial troubles as a motive for his actions. In court, he expressed remorse for the pain caused by his actions and read from Psalm 51 about repentance and restoration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2419342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Kansas-pastor-murder-sentence.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[52755],"class_list":["post-2419341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-pastor-courtcase-psalm51-familydrama-legalissues"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Kansas-pastor-murder-sentence.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2419341"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2419345,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419341\/revisions\/2419345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2419342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2419341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2419341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2419341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}