MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Krista Kale sat at her kitchen table, joined by her younger sister, her niece, her older sister's boyfriend's son, and his uncle. They were brought together by tragedy.
At the center of the table, there was a picture of Kale's older sister, Patty Matejcek, and her boyfriend, Sean Harrison.
"We knew this day was going to come, if he was not behind bars," Kale said Patty's son, 36-year-old Thomas Matejcek.
Kale said her family's warnings were not enough.
“I was not notified at all," Kale said of Matejcek's arrest. "I found out by the news."
Man in custody after 2 people found dead in Manatee County mobile home
Matejcek was later indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, accused of killing his mother and Harrison.
In 2020, Matejcek left Michigan and came to Florida.
"Within 24 hours of being here, he strangled Patty. Put a pillow over her head, threatened to kill her. Said, 'I hope you die,'" Kale said.
Manatee County court records of his arrest confirm Kale's account.
Then in May 2023, Matejcek was arrested again for attacking his mother and Harrison.
"Kicked in the door... knocked him to the ground, stomped on his head," Kale said. "And then he went after Patty.”
Court records said Matejcek broke his mother's hip. The report noted he "poses an obvious danger to these victims."
Kale had a no-trespass order against Matejcek, her nephew, who has a history of mental illness.
“We were constantly in fear," Kale said. “We got in the habit of double locking the door when we knew Tom was loose."
Kale said she found a letter that Patty had written to her son, Thomas.
"It says, ‘I love you and my heart is broken by what you did to me'," she read. "I only want the best for you: happiness, drug-free, and working."
Kale told the I-Team her family believed Matejcek would remain in jail after he was charged with burglary with assault.
“It’s listed as a life sentence," Kale said.
Kale said Patty didn't want her son locked up for life.
"We did want him to get help," she said.
September 15, Kale emailed an assistant state attorney and said, "Is it going to take Tom killing someone to get him away from the public? Patty & Sean are scared to death that he will be back out."
"We were never ever updated," Kale said. "We were not notified that he was released, we were not notified that he was incompetent."
Kale also contacted the I-Team three days after she emailed the state attorney's office and said, "Tom is a danger to us... plus he is a danger to himself and the general public."
She also wrote, "Our state needs to take mental health more seriously before people like Tom kill someone."
Court records revealed that during that time, Centerstone Behavioral Hospital and Addiction Center emailed the public defender's office, telling them they didn't know where Matejcek was. Sarasota Jail had released him.
Less than two months later, his family's worst fears came true.
"I called them both. Both their phones were off. I immediately knew something was wrong. I open my phone, I see a picture of Tom, his mugshot," Kale said.
A neighbor had called 911.
“To think of what they went through when Tom walked in that door. And what transpired and for a neighbor — this was two streets over, heard her screaming. That is what I feel every time I get upset and every time I want to cry," Kale said.
Matejcek was court-ordered to live at Mary Jennings Group Home as part of a conditional release. He showed up for "several hours but had left and never returned," according to court records.
Though he was deemed incompetent, the court order stated, "The defendant understands the conditions of the release listed and agrees to comply with them."
Those conditions included treatment for his mental illness, including taking medication and not using weapons.
"It’s very rare that that would happen," Felix Vega, a former state prosecutor who reviewed the case, told the I-Team. “That raises a ton of questions for me in what the court was considering and what arguments were made in order to advocate for that conditional release."
Vega said, in most of his experience, people who are found incompetent will be sent to the Florida State Hospital for rehabilitation.
"They will then be evaluated again in six months," Vega said.
In a court order, the judge wrote, "The defendant does not meet the criteria for commitment to a treatment facility."
The statute cited outlines one of the criteria as "a substantial likelihood that in the near future, the defendant will inflict serious bodily harm on herself or himself or another person."
The I-Team spoke with State Attorney Ed Brodsky to give him and his office every opportunity to answer questions. He said ethically, he cannot speak about a pending case.
Kale said she wants to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else's family.
“The whole thing is broken. They didn’t follow through, they didn’t do their due diligence, and they surely did not protect my sister and Sean. Did not. And now we have lost two awesome, beautiful people. Because of the court system. It’s not right. It’s not right whatsoever," Kale said.
She said her nephew also shouldn't have ended up in jail.
"Tom should have gotten his help," Kale said.
The I-Team contacted the public defender's office for comment but has not yet heard back.
"Nobody deserves this," Harrison's son, Sean, told the I-Team. "We're all hurting."
Speaking about Matejcek, he said, "We all struggle, he has a lot more struggles than we do, obviously, but I just pray for peace and comfort in his life, and I just pray that he comes to find Jesus and find God.”
Kathy White, Patty's youngest sister, said the whole system needs to be fixed. For other families.
"We can’t fix ours. But how many more were before us?” she said.
White's daughter, Alisha Burnett, said she thinks Matejcek was a victim as well.
"Patty and Sean’s story — it’s over. It’s done. But the story that needs to continue now is, mental health in this country is a big problem," Burnett said. "We have got to start giving people who are having mental health issues and are in crisis, we’ve got to get them help. That's the only way that any of this is going to stop."
Kale told the I-Team she's not going to get this go.
"I don’t care if it takes until my dying day. I will make sure that Sean and Patty have not died in vain," Kale said.
Matejcek's arraignment is scheduled for December 15.
This story started with a tip. If you have something you'd like the I-Team to investigate, email kylie.mcgivern@wfts.com.
