Bio

David Eugene Matthews was born on September 6, 1948, in the United States. By 1981, Matthews was married to Mary “Marlene” Matthews, but the relationship had broken down and the couple was living apart. Court records described Mary as his estranged wife, showing that serious domestic conflict existed before the murders.

At the center of later appeals was Matthews’s mental and emotional state during this period. Defense lawyers argued that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the crimes. That issue became one of the most important legal questions in the case and continued to be debated for decades after his conviction. Before the murders, Matthews had no widespread public notoriety. His name entered Kentucky legal history only after a violent family tragedy in Louisville on June 29, 1981.

Murder Story

On June 29, 1981, David Eugene Matthews went to the Louisville home connected to his estranged wife, Mary Matthews. During the events that followed, prosecutors said he burglarized the residence and then carried out a double shooting.

Mary Matthews was killed by gunfire. Her mother, Magdalene Cruse, was also shot. Reports stated that Cruse was shot in the back of the head and later died after prolonged suffering from the injury.

The killings shocked the Louisville community because both victims were members of Matthews’s own family circle. The case was prosecuted as a deliberate domestic double murder committed during the course of another felony.

Matthews was tried in Jefferson County, Kentucky. On October 8, 1982, he was convicted of the murders. On November 11, 1982, he was sentenced to death.

Years later, the case returned to court through federal appeals. In 2008, a magistrate judge recommended that the death sentence be overturned and that Matthews receive a new trial, citing constitutional issues involving jury instructions and the handling of his extreme emotional disturbance defense.