Pair Who Killed Banning Father of Two Sentenced

Photo courtesy of the Riverside Sheriff’s Department

By City News Service

A woman and her ex-boyfriend who killed a father of two out of a misplaced notion he molested her young daughter were sentenced Friday.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni imposed a sentence of 29 years to life in prison for Amy Lou Daniel and life in prison without the possibility of parole for Brian Thomas Matheis.

The pair, both 32-year-old Banning residents, were convicted in June of the Aug. 22, 2012, slaying of Joshua Lee Fredieu.

PREVIOUSLY

• Banning Police ID, Arrest Suspects in 2012 Murder
• Booking Photos, More Details Released in Banning Murder

Daniel was found guilty of first-degree murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, while Matheis was convicted of the same counts, as well as a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait.

Fredieu, 32, was found dead at the wheel of a Honda sedan that crashed into a chain-link fence at Plaza and South Florida streets in Banning. The victim died from a single gunshot to the back of the head.

According to court papers, Matheis -- while locked up at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on an unrelated charge -- told a fellow inmate he shot Fredieu because he believed the victim had molested Daniel’s 4-year-old daughter.

The girl had slept over at Fredieu’s residence to play with his children, and when Matheis and Daniel picked her up the following morning, she was naked, having trouble urinating and her privates were irritated, according to investigators.

A witness later told police she overheard Daniel “trying to coach (her daughter) into stating that Fredieu must have touched (her) inappropriately,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in 2013.

“It appeared that Fredieu had done nothing to her -- yet Daniel persisted in coaching (her) until she said something to the effect that Fredieu wiped her the wrong way after using the bathroom,” according to the document.

Daniel took the child to Loma Linda University Medical Center for an exam, but medical staff found no evidence of sexual abuse, and Daniel did not wait around to be questioned by child welfare workers, according to police.

Court papers allege that Daniel “planned out” the deadly shooting and arranged to have Fredieu give Matheis a late-night ride to a convenience store. Matheis hid a .25-caliber handgun in his sweatshirt and waited for Fredieu to drive into a dark area before confronting him with the pistol.

Matheis confided to his cellmate at the Banning jail that he told Fredieu, “I know what you did to my daughter,” then shot the victim in the back of the head while he was driving, according to the affidavit. The car struck a fence, knocking it over, before coming to a stop.

Matheis and Daniel fled to Minnesota but returned a short time later. Murder charges were filed against the couple in June 2013.

At the time of his arrest, Matheis was serving a nine-year prison sentence for an act of domestic violence that happened shortly after the killing.

Daniel also has a 2005 conviction for check fraud.