Bio 

Ynobe Katron Matthews was born on April 14, 1976, in Texas. He grew up in Dallas and later attended school through the eleventh grade before dropping out. By early adulthood, he worked low-wage jobs, including as a night stocker, and was known to move between temporary living arrangements.

Public records describe a troubled young man with a growing history of violence, substance abuse, and criminal behavior. Before the murders that made him infamous, he had prior convictions that included drug possession and cruelty to animals. Prosecutors later portrayed him as a dangerous predator who targeted vulnerable women. 

By 1999 and 2000, Matthews had become linked to a series of sexual assaults and killings in Texas. DNA evidence and victim testimony later connected him to multiple attacks, leading authorities to classify him as a serial offender.

Murder Story

In 1999, the body of 21-year-old Jamie Glenda Hart was found along a rural road in Texas. She had been kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and fatally injured after a brutal attack. The crime remained unsolved for more than a year.

On May 27–28, 2000, 21-year-old Carolyn Casey attended a party at her apartment complex in College Station. Matthews, who lived nearby, was also there. Casey later returned alone to her apartment after becoming ill.

Hours later, firefighters responded to smoke coming from her residence and discovered her body inside. She had been manually strangled, partially undressed, and a fire had been set near her body in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence and stage a burglary.

Investigators recovered fiber evidence and DNA linking Matthews to the crime. After first denying involvement, he admitted being in the apartment and choking Casey during an argument, then confessed to setting the fire and altering the scene.

Further DNA testing connected Matthews to Jamie Hart’s murder and to multiple other rapes or attempted rapes. Prosecutors described a pattern of manipulation, sexual violence, and repeated choking of victims.

A Texas jury convicted Matthews of capital murder on June 15, 2001, and sentenced him to death. He later pleaded guilty in the Hart case and received life imprisonment. After waiving further appeals, Ynobe Katron Matthews was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, on January 6, 2004.