Kathleen Mathews said to exert deadly influence over family

EDITOR’S NOTEInformation and scenes from the decades-old crime described below are drawn from St. Johns County, Fla., court documents, news accounts and public records on marriage and death certificates. Details about recent alleged crimes involving the Mathews family derive from Tennessee state and federal court testimony, state and federal court documents from Tennessee and Colorado, newspaper archives and interviews.

TIMELINE

Here is the sequence of events in Kathleen Mathews’ life and allegations involving her son, Jesse, and others according to FBI affidavits, Florida, Colorado and Tennessee state court documents, school records, Florida Times-Union and Times Free Press newspaper archives:• Dec. 31, 1953: Kathleen is born in Havre de Grace, Md. Given up to foster care along with sister.• 1972: She lies that she was sexually assaulted by six black males. Later tells boyfriend Charles Marlin Thornton the tale, inciting him to attempt escape from prison to exact revenge. He fails and receives more time.• June 1979: She works for a short time at Sawyer Air Conditioning Co., owned by Albert Sawyer, in Jacksonville, Fla.• Dec. 22, 1979: She marries Charles Thornton shortly after his release from prison. It is her third marriage. She tells him of an alleged sexual assault by Albert Sawyer, a story she later admits is false.• Jan. 21, 1980: She drives with Thornton to the Sawyers’ home in St. Johns County, Fla., where Thornton shoots Sawyer to death.• Feb. 25, 1980: She is arrested with husband on murder charges. (On Aug. 27, 1980, Thornton is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.)• Nov. 14, 1980: Kathleen pleads guilty to manslaughter and is sentenced to 15 years. She serves less than eight, half of that on a work-release program.• Dec. 1, 1982: She admits in a hearing she has control over Charles and that she had sexual relations with Albert Sawyer but was not raped.• June 4, 1983: Charles dies of natural causes while awaiting execution.• 1984: Kathleen put in prison work-release program, meets and marries Ray Vance Mathews, her fourth husband.• May 10, 1985: Jesse Ray Mathews born in Jacksonville, Fla.• 1997-98: Mathews family moves to Colorado.• Sept. 6-16, 2002: Jesse, 17, commits armed robberies in Colorado Springs, Colo. Pleads guilty to armed robbery and is sentenced to 20 years. He is eligible for parole in 2010.• 2008-09: Kathleen, Ray and daughter, Rachel Mathews, move from Colorado to Tennessee, then to Asheville, N.C.• June 11, 2010: Jesse transferred to a minimum security prison; shortly afterward he is paroled and transferred to halfway house.• Feb. 12, 2011: Jesse suspected of robbing the Cash American pawnshop in Colorado Springs, taking 16 firearms, about $10,000 and jewelry while still in custody at halfway house.• Shortly after: Mathews wires money to Rachel to buy a plane ticket and fly to Colorado. For the next several days, Rachel and Mathews’ girlfriend, Amber Vlasak-Hudson, move him from hotel room to hotel room. Eventually, Jesse and Rachel buy bus tickets from Colorado to Nashville. Rachel’s boyfriend, James Poteete, picks them up and, for $1,000, drives them to Asheville, where their parents live.• March 27: Jesse and a new, unnamed girlfriend, an employee at Microtel Inn, attend the R.K. Shows gun show at the National Guard Armory in Chattanooga. Jesse calls Ray, who brings 10 to 12 firearms to the girlfriend’s home. She and Mathews return to the show, where he trades three firearms for an M-4 assault rifle.• April 2: Police say Mathews attempts to rob U.S. Money Shops on Brainerd and fatally shoots Chattanooga Police Sgt. Tim Chapin using weapons stolen from the Colorado pawnshop.• April 4-6: Poteete, Rachel and Kathleen try to hide guns, including four stolen in Colorado, from investigators. Poteete, Rachel, Kathleen and Ray confess to police that they knew Jesse escaped from the halfway house and robbed businesses in Colorado; that they assisted him as he ran from law officers; that they hid information from investigators; and they gave Mathews firearms even though he is a convicted felon.• April 8: Ray, Kathleen, Rachel and Poteete are arrested.• Aug. 10-Sept. 21: Rachel and Poteete plead guilty to three counts and Kathleen and Ray plead guilty to four counts. Federal prosecutors in Colorado indict Vlasak-Hudson.• Oct. 11: Jesse’s next scheduled court appearance.• Nov. 14: Rachel and Poteete scheduled for sentencing.• Dec. 19: Kathleen and Ray scheduled for sentencing.