What we know about Johnson County pastor accused of trying to kill family, burn home

A Johnson County father and husband accused of attempting to murder his family over the weekend had his first court appearance in a Johnson County court Monday afternoon.

Matthew Lee Richards, 41, was arrested Saturday after allegedly stabbing his wife and setting their Shawnee house on fire that morning, according to police. He and his wife have five children.

He’s being held at the Johnson County Jail on five counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm, according to a post by the Shawnee Police Department. The Johnson County District Attorney’s office declined to comment further on the charges Monday.

At 2:30 p.m. Monday, Richards joined his initial court appearance by Zoom. He hung his head as Judge John McEntee read his charges aloud and he was appointed a public defender.

Richards’ bond remains set at $5 million. His next court appearance is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 29, also via Zoom.

Children’s pastor in Shawnee

Richards until recently was a children’s pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee, according to Kurt Witten, a senior pastor who commented about the incident in a Facebook post Saturday.

Witten could not immediately be reached for comment Monday, but the church posted a second statement to its Facebook midday Monday saying the church community was “shocked, sickened, and saddened by Saturday morning’s events involving our former children’s pastor.”

According to the post, as of this weekend, Richards is no longer a pastor at the church.

“This is a tragedy beyond what any of us could have imagined,” the post read.

According to his bio on the church website, which was still up Monday morning, Richards and his family have been members of Crossroads since August 2016. The church website says he and his wife, Stephanie, are parents to four boys and a girl.

“He and his family have three rules: 1. Love God. 2. Love People. 3. Love Sports (especially the Jayhawks and Sporting KC),” the bio reads.

Church leadership said on Facebook Monday they are offering support and resources to Richards’ family members as well as grief counseling for children and families who belong to the church.

“The road to recovery will be long — physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually,” the post read.

“Please respect their privacy as they walk this incredibly challenging and painful road. Please join us as we continue to pray for and stand with them.”

Teacher in Lenexa

Richards also reportedly works as a teacher in Lenexa.

However, when contacted Monday morning, Christ Preparatory Academy in Lenexa declined to comment on the situation or confirm that Richards worked there. His profile appears to have been taken down from the school website.

However, a website archive database shows that as recently as March, Richards was listed as a seventh grade English teacher at the school, where he’d been since 2020 and where a few of his sons also attended school.

According to his staff profile, Richards has bachelor’s degrees in science of the Bible and science in education from Dallas Christian College, and he has a master’s degree in arts in children’s ministry from Dallas Baptist University.

“Matt is the Children’s Pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee. He has been in full-time ministry for nearly 15 years,” the profile reads. “Before going into ministry, Matt taught in an international school in Vienna, Austria and an inner-city school in Dallas, TX.”

“Matt also loves sports of all kinds but his favorite is soccer.”

The fire

The Shawnee police and fire departments were called at 3:47 a.m. to the 6600 block of Goode Drive on reports of a disturbance and a house fire.

The home is near Rhein Benninghoven Elementary and Shawnee Mission Northwest High School.

Firefighters found flames in the basement and quickly extinguished them.

Seven people were transported to area hospitals for treatment, including one suspect, police said at the time. All the victims had lacerations on their bodies.

The woman believed to be Richards’ wife and two of their children remained in an area hospital Saturday afternoon for treatment, police said. Two juveniles and a 19-year-old were released from the hospital the same day. The Johnson County DA’s office declined to comment on their conditions as of Monday afternoon.

On Monday morning, the garage of the house remained boarded up. A small memorial of stuffed animals, flowers and a streamer of colorful hearts surrounded a tree out front.

The Star’s Matti Gellman and Andrea Klick contributed.