- Tracey Grist denies involvement in the killing of her son-in-law, Matthew Restelli, during her testimony Monday.
- Grist offered alternate explanations for evidence, contradicting testimony from her daughter at the start of her trial.
- Attorneys will present closing arguments Tuesday before they are handed the case.
PROVO — Tracey Grist said she was surprised when she saw her son-in-law in her kitchen, although she knew he had been driving from California to her American Fork home to bring his wife and kids back and would arrive around 10 p.m.
She testified in her murder trial on Monday that she hadn't heard him knock or ring the bell. Matthew Restelli asked where his wife was. Grist responded that she was upstairs and said she would have her come down. Grist said he then left the room.
"Within a … short period of a few moments, I heard gunfire," Grist said.
Restelli, 34, was shot and killed just after arriving at her home on July 12, 2024.
Grist, 60, is on trial for murder, a first-degree felony; conspiracy to commit murder and obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies; and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony.
Jurors will hear closing arguments on Tuesday before deliberating the case.
In the days of trial ahead of Grist's testimony, jurors heard from some of her children — including Kathryn Restelli, who testified that she conspired with her mother to kill her husband. She is currently serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Grist's son, Kevin Ellis — who was found guilty of murder but not guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in a jury trial in January — invoked his Fifth Amendment right and took his attorney's advice not to answer any questions during his mother's trial.
'No murder plan'
Grist said her daughter came to stay with her to have time to figure out the first steps of a divorce and planned to go back to California.
She testified to texts showing she and her son-in-law did not get along. When asked about a text she had sent to her daughter saying she would drive to California and "strangle" Matt Restelli, Grist said she sent it because she was frustrated.
"It was so ridiculous that's why I could say it like that, because it was so ridiculous. I would never do that," Grist said.
One of her children testified that Grist had said, "I'm gonna kill him," referring to Matt Restelli, but Grist testified, "that was a harmless expression of my frustration."
She told jurors, "There was no murder plan that I was a participant in."
Contradicting testimony
Grist denied any connection to a knife found in Restelli's hand that prosecutors say was placed unnaturally so the family could claim he was shot and killed in self-defense. She said it did not make sense to her that he would have come into her home with a knife.
She confirmed she canceled her friend's subscription to MyTacticalPromos, which sells that knife, but said she did not take anything from her friend's house.
Prosecutors say the three lured Matthew Restelli to Utah after his wife falsely told him she could not get a rental car to drive back on her own. Grist testified that the lie was to buy her daughter another week of planning.
Kathryn Restelli testified that her mom got the house ready for the shooting by moving toys out of the main area and taking down a screen by the front door. Grist said she was just making the house look nice for her son-in-law, and that removing the screen door would help with carrying luggage.
"I cleaned my house because it was a disaster," she said.
Grist said she was surprised by conversations played in court in which Kathryn Restelli was acting "lovey dovey" with her husband while he was driving to Utah. She said it was like two different people.
"You could have knocked me over with a feather, I was shocked," she said.
Grist said she encouraged her daughter to talk calmly with him, not to rile him up during the drive and to tell him he was welcome in their home.
After the killing
Grist said she saw her son-in-law lying where he had fallen, looking "lifeless," and Ellis told her "he had a knife." She said she went upstairs to talk to her daughter.
"I took Katie's face in my hands, and I said, 'Kevin shot Matt.' She started crying, and I said, 'Please, please, please stay up here,'" Grist said.
She testified that she went to check Restelli's pulse, and said her son told her to leave the knife in his hand, saying, "Be careful, he might still be moving." Although she testified that she did not feel a pulse, in her 911 call, Grist said she thought he was breathing.
When asked to explain why she waited six or seven minutes before calling 911, Grist said she froze.
"I was so stunned by everything that happened. I wasn't moving fast at all," she said.
'Completely not true'
She testified that she didn't hear any dispute or argument before the shots. Answering questions from her attorney, Dana Facemyer, Grist said if she had planned a conspiracy, she would have claimed to see the knife or heard fighting, but was instead being truthful.
In a phone call Ellis made from jail to a sister after he was convicted — a call played during Ellis' sentencing hearing — Ellis said he had warned his mom that the plot to kill Restelli was a bad idea and would change many lives.
When asked about that call, Grist said she believes Ellis was trying to shift blame to avoid losing his relationship with his siblings.
"It is completely not true, it's not true what he said on that call," she said.
Grist said she thinks her daughter, Kathryn Restelli, took a plea deal in order to spend the least amount of time incarcerated as possible and was "intimidated" by the evidence.
