In an absolutely wild and horrifying series of events that sound like they were written by a very disturbed soap opera writer, former youth pastor Matthew Lee Richards took family drama to a level nobody asked for. The guy had one job—preach the good word and be a loving father—but instead, he went full horror movie villain.
On a fateful night in September 2023, Richards’ family was minding their business, probably dreaming about normal things like pizza and soccer practice, when dear old dad decided to go all Jason Voorhees on them. His own kid even hit him with the heartbreaking, “Dad, why do you have the knife?”—which, honestly, should have been the moment for a life-changing epiphany. Instead, he pressed forward with his incredibly bad decision-making skills.
And as if that wasn’t enough? He set the house on fire. Sir, you have really misunderstood the “go big or go home” philosophy.
The Courtroom Breakdown: Cry Me a River, Build Me a Bridge, and Walk Yourself to Jail
Fast forward to sentencing, and Matthew is now doing the emotional Olympics in a Kansas courtroom, sobbing like someone just told him Chick-fil-A was permanently closing. He gave a dramatic monologue about shame, fear, and regret, which—yeah, buddy, we’d hope you feel that way. Turns out, attempting to murder your family and torch the house isn’t something you can just say “oopsie” about and move on.
“To my wife and kids, I’m sorry,” he blubbered, as if sorry even begins to cut it. “I will live every day knowing I caused that trauma.” You don’t say? You mean the stabbing and arson didn’t create pleasant memories? What a shocker.
The Family’s Plea for Mercy: This Ain’t a Hallmark Movie, Y’all
Now, here’s where things get even wilder—his own family, including his wife and sister, went to bat for him in court. His mother gave an Oscar-worthy performance about how he’s still her little boy, and his sister had the audacity to describe him as a “good guy who did a bad thing.” Ma’am. A bad thing is forgetting your anniversary, not stabbing your kids and setting your house on fire.
She also argued that the kids need their dad around. Uh, ma’am, I think they might need therapy more.
The Verdict: 29 Years of Thinking About Your Life Choices
The judge, thankfully, wasn’t buying this attempt at a “Whoopsie, My Bad” defense. Richards was sentenced to 29 years and five months, which—let’s be honest—feels light for a guy who went on a real-life horror rampage. But hey, at least he’ll have plenty of time to read the Bible he apparently forgot to follow.
This entire situation is a tragic, terrifying, and deeply messed-up reminder that some people should really not be in charge of guiding others spiritually—or, you know, owning knives.
