Family Calls, Police Bodycam, and the First Self-Defense Narrative

Day 3 of Tracey Grist’s trial focused on what was said in the hours after Matthew Restelli was killed and what officers encountered when they arrived at the home. Jurors heard more from Matthew’s family, watched additional bodycam footage, and got a look at how the self-defense claim was described at the scene. The day also introduced testimony about 3D forensic mapping used in the investigation.

Diane Restelli described the calls after Matthew’s death

Diane Restelli returned to the stand and resumed her testimony about the calls that came after Matthew Restelli was killed. She told jurors that Tracey Grist informed her, “Matt is dead.”

A phone call involving Grist and Matthew’s death was played in court. Jurors also heard another call in which Mark Restelli was on the line when Grist informed the family that Kevin Ellis had been arrested.

Diane Restelli also testified that when she later spoke by phone with Kathryn Restelli, she could hear Grist in the background coaching Kathryn’s responses. That testimony added another layer to the state’s effort to show Grist was involved not only before the shooting, but also in shaping what was said afterward.

She also questioned why a gun was involved at all. Her testimony highlighted a basic point the jury will have to weigh as the case continues: whether this was truly self-defense, or a shooting prosecutors say was staged to look justified after the fact.

Officers described what they saw inside the home

Officer Anthony Neil of the American Fork Police Department testified that when he entered the home, he saw a man lying face down and another man standing over the body with his arms folded. He said he separated Tracey Grist from Kevin Ellis after Ellis told officers he had the firearm. Jurors were shown bodycam footage from that response.

That testimony added more detail to the immediate scene inside the home and to Ellis’s presence there after the shooting. It also gave jurors another firsthand law enforcement account of how people in the house were positioned when officers entered.

Jurors saw Kevin Ellis bodycam and heard the self-defense claim

Detective Wyatt Nicosia testified as bodycam footage involving Kevin Ellis was played for the jury. According to the testimony presented in court, Ellis’s attorney said Matthew Restelli had been shot in self-defense.

Jurors also heard the victim described by Ellis’s attorney as an “armed intruder wielding a knife” who entered the house without permission. That language put the defense version of the shooting directly in front of the jury and showed how quickly the self-defense explanation took shape.

That point matters because prosecutors have argued from the start that the knife was part of a staged scene, not proof that Matthew Restelli posed a deadly threat when he entered the home.

Grist’s interview was played for the jury

K9 Officer Kolten Fraughton testified as bodycam footage of Grist’s police interview was shown in court. In that interview, Grist said she heard gunshots and ran to check on her daughter.

She told investigators she saw Matthew Restelli lying face down on the ground and said she called 911. The interview gave jurors a chance to hear Grist’s own account of what she says happened in the house after the shots were fired.

As the trial continues, jurors will likely be asked to compare that account with the physical evidence, the family’s text messages and calls, and the testimony from other witnesses.

The jury also heard about 3D forensic scanning

Sgt. Jen Faumuina with the Utah Department of Public Safety testified about “Pharoah Scans,” describing them as advanced 3D laser scanning technology used in forensic investigations.

That testimony introduced jurors to the kind of scene-mapping technology investigators used in the case. Even if the day was more focused on calls and bodycam footage, the scan evidence may become important as attorneys argue over positions inside the house, movement through the scene, and whether the physical layout matches the competing stories jurors have heard.

Why Day 3 matters

The third day pushed the jury deeper into the aftermath of the shooting and into the question of who controlled the narrative once Matthew Restelli was dead. Diane Restelli’s testimony about Grist’s calls and alleged coaching gave prosecutors more material to argue consciousness of guilt and coordination after the shooting.

At the same time, jurors heard the self-defense framing more directly through bodycam-related testimony and saw more of how officers encountered Kevin Ellis and Tracey Grist at the scene. The case is still moving along two tracks at once: what happened in the house, and what the family said and did after it happened.

What comes next

By the end of Day 3, jurors had heard more about the calls made after the shooting, Grist’s own interview, and the defense description of Matthew Restelli as an armed intruder. Future testimony will likely continue testing whether the physical evidence supports that account or the prosecution’s claim that the scene was staged.

The central question remains the same: not whether Kevin Ellis shot Matthew Restelli, but whether Tracey Grist helped set the events in motion and then helped shape the story that followed.