PROVO, Utah (Court TV) — A woman convicted of masterminding the killing of her son-in-law stayed silent in court as both the victim’s family and the judge called her dangerous.
Tracey Grist appears at her sentencing on June 10, 2026. (Court TV)
Tracey Grist, 61, was convicted on charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice and domestic violence in the presence of a child in April. On Wednesday, she became the third defendant to be sentenced in the death of her son-in-law, Matthew Restelli, 42.
The victim was shot to death at Grist’s home after prosecutors said he was lured there under the premise of picking up his children and his wife, Kathryn Restelli. Kathryn Restelli, Grist’s daughter, pleaded guilty to plotting with her mother and her brother, Kevin Ellis, to kill her husband once he walked through the door so that she wouldn’t have to return to California with him. Ellis was convicted and sentenced to consecutive prison terms for his role as the gunman.
“You are clearly the mastermind of a plot that led to your son-in-law’s death,” Judge Roger Griffin said at Wednesday’s sentencing. “A man who simply thought he was coming to Utah to pick up his wife and children.”
“At Kathryn’s sentencing, I talked about the black widow that trapped my brother in a web of lies and abuse,” the victim’s brother, Jonathan Restelli, said on Wednesday. “The black widow that slowly injected venom and devoured my brother. At Kevin’s sentencing, I talked about brotherhood and betrayal. Matt welcomed Kevin and his family as a brother and Kevin repaid that trust by shooting him in the back. Today, I want to talk about the source of the root of the poisonous tree. The literal elephant in the room. The demon sitting before this court.”
Jonathan Restelli accused Grist and her defense of trying to attack the victim in the case. “While my brother’s life was being dissected in this courtroom, very little was said about Tracey. Very little was said about the lifetime of destruction that came before this murder. The lies, the manipulation, the stealing, the exploiting, the using of friends, the using of family. The fact that you, Tracey, are a prostitute for a living, was off-limits to talk about during this trial. But nothing was off-limits to talk about my brother. In fact, the day you got arrested for mass murder, you were with a John in your so-called ‘massage studio.’ You also got charged with prostitution that day.”
Jonathan Restelli also accused Grist of stealing from Kathryn and Matthew Restelli on their wedding night, saying that she was in charge of the wedding gift money that mysteriously disappeared. “That is just low,” he said.
Griffin described the crime as “one of the most senseless” he had seen in his more than 30 years as a member of the Utah State Bar or in the 12 years he has been a judge. “In this Court’s view, if you’re so callous and uncaring as to plot the death of your son-in-law simply because your daughter did not want apparently to deal with the divorce courts in California, the Court has grave concerns that if you were ever released back into the community that you would take similar actions against those who testified against you in trial, or other family members, or members of our community for equally baseless reasons that they simply crossed you.”
To that end, Griffin sentenced Grist to the maximum penalty on each count, to be served consecutively. In all, he sentenced her to one to 15 years for conspiracy, one to 15 years for obstruction, 15 years to life for murder and up to five years for each of the domestic violence charges. “I fully anticipate you will never be released from prison while you are alive,” Griffin said. But to ensure the message came across, the judge made sure to include a comment on the record to “indicate that this Court recommends that you never be considered for parole.”
Any parole considerations will ultimately be up to the Board of Pardons and Parole.
