In the quiet, rural community of Guffey, Colorado, the new year of 2001 was shattered by a brutal and senseless act of violence. JoAnna S. Dutcher, a 58-year-old female, her husband Carl, 60, and their 15-year-old grandson, Anthony 'Tony' Dutcher, were found slain in their home on New Year's Eve 2000. The shocking discovery was made on January 3, 2001, after one of the Dutchers' sons grew concerned when he couldn't reach his parents by phone and asked authorities to check on them.
Inside the home, investigators found Carl and JoAnna had been shot multiple times. The body of their grandson, Tony, was later discovered on a hillside about 200 feet from the residence.
The investigation into the triple homicide soon unveiled a bizarre and disturbing plot orchestrated by a high school student. The mastermind was identified as Simon Ewing Sue, who prosecutors said ordered the killings to test the loyalty of members of a small, secretive group he led, which had paramilitary undertones. Sue, who was out of the country at the time of the murders, had convinced two of his teenage followers, Jonathan Matheny, 17, and Isaac Grimes, 15, to carry out the attack.
The motive behind the heinous crime was as twisted as the act itself. Prosecutors argued that Sue had chosen the Dutchers as targets, in part, due to alleged racist comments made by Carl Dutcher. The murders were framed as a test of allegiance for Grimes and Matheny. On that fateful New Year's Eve, the two teenagers went to the Dutcher's home, where their grandson Tony was visiting for the holidays. Isaac Grimes, who was a friend of Tony's, lured him to a fort they had built on the property and slit his throat. Meanwhile, Jonathan Matheny shot and killed JoAnna and Carl Dutcher inside their home with a rifle.
The investigation initially moved slowly, but a breakthrough came when investigators re-interviewed Isaac Grimes. An inconsistency in his alibi led to a confession where he admitted to his role in the murders and implicated Matheny. Subsequently, Simon Sue was also arrested for his role in orchestrating the killings. All three teenagers were charged and ultimately convicted for their involvement in the triple homicide. Isaac Grimes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Jonathan Matheny was sentenced to 66 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and violating organized crime laws. Simon Sue, the mastermind, received a 53-year prison sentence. Another teenager, Glen Michael Urban, was sentenced to two years in jail for being an accessory to murder after he destroyed the weapons used in the slayings.
