When Matthew Moore shot and killed his ex-wife Amy and himself in late May, the death of a beloved teacher and the orphaning of their three children rocked Bloomington-Normal. It led to a grief and guided reflection session at Amy’s school and to increased community dialogue on domestic violence.
WGLT collected public court records and requested additional documents from the murder-suicide investigation, earlier police reports, and documents from the Unit 5 school district in the days after the murder under the Freedom of Information Act.
Recently received records enlarge on previous accounts of Matthew’s volatility. They show a progressive deterioration in Matthew’s mental state and rising erratic behavior as the couple’s divorce proceedings progressed from 2022 to the finalization of the divorce about a week before the killings.
There are hints that even as his life became more chaotic and the end of his marriage approached, Matthew attended to the details of his plan to kill Amy. Reports show he traveled to Iowa to buy the handgun he used two months before the killings, leaning on less restrictive laws on private gun sales than Illinois.
The accounts show the McLean County State’s Attorney’s Office four times declined to pursue charges against Matthew Moore for violating orders of protection, despite the escalating behavior noted by police and Amy’s family.
The records might not indicate a fault at any single point in the long chain of decisions that could have emboldened Matthew Moore or curbed him. What they do demonstrate is that the legal system is a vast mill. The cogs and routines of the machine can be impersonal. And while documenting the details, people in the system may miss a pattern, sometimes with horrific and fatal consequences.
The following is a partial timeline to offer context to Matthew Moore’s escalation against Amy Moore and her relatives. This was compiled by WGLT staff based on police reports, court documents, and other sources.
7/28/22: Divorce papers filed, indicating Matthew stranded the family in Wisconsin. Emails in early August characterize Matthew's behavior as erratic.
8/10/22: Amy files for an emergency order of protection. Matthews FOID card is revoked the next day.
9/27/22: Police responded to Grove Elementary School and took Amy’s statement about alleged online harassment, including Matthew posting copies of the emergency order of protection against him online. They found two posts “that may rise to the level of violating the OP.” Police reports say the state’s attorney’s office declined to pursue charges.
1/20/23: Matthew’s father dies.
2/3/23: Court records show Amy and Matthew attempting mediation.
7/12/23: Police responded to a report of disorderly conduct. Matthew posted a picture on social media of a check written by Amy’s relatives reimbursing him for home maintenance, including their checking account and routing number. The images included a note reading, “Being a contractor is great. Especially for family.” Police explained the process of obtaining an order of protection and closed the case.
7/14/23: Police records show Amy’s attorney emailed Matthew’s attorney: “Your client is demanding the kids this weekend. He had them last weekend and this weekend is Amy’s parenting time. He is threatening to call the police. Please get your client under control.” Court records show a motion for a mental health evaluation.
7/18/23: Police dispatched on a domestic dispute related to Matthew attempting to get Amy fired or reassigned. Emails acquired from Unit 5 confirmed this.
8/9/23: A new order of protection limits Matthew's access to his children. Three days later, police in Normal made a report on a possible violation of the order of protection. This involved Matthew joining a baseball parents' group chat at Chiddix Jr. High School. Police told the state's attorney's office that one of Matthew's messages on the group chat could be considered an OP violation. No charge was filed.
8/13/23: Tires of vehicles at Amy's home and the home of a relative were slashed. Matthew was later charged with a felony for this. Amy expressed concern that Matthew was tracking her location. Police noted "multiple previous reports between Amy and Matthew. These reports document a rise in Matthew's erratic behavior."
8/17/23: Officers at NPD reported on follow-up interviews:
"According to (redacted), his disdain for (redacted) has been growing because they are supporting her through the lengthy divorce process they have been going through. This clearly leads to the motive of why he slashed their tires.”
“The other victims at (redacted) are terrified that Matthew will return and harm them. They clearly would like to pursue charges against Matthew for what he did to their vehicle. At this point and are absolutely terrified as Matthew’s level of aggression is escalating."
An officer’s supplemental report indicates Matthew is “a danger to society as well as his family.”
“I have 4 victims in this case, and he has caused thousands of dollars in damage as well as clearly violating his order of protection,” the officer wrote. “Matthew is clearly stepping up his levels of violence and operating in the darkness at night clearly escalating his levels of violence.”
8/21/23: Police reports indicate "the (State’s Attorney’s) office declined to pursue charges in reference to this report. (The Chiddix baseball team chat incident). This report can be administratively closed."
10/18/23: Matthew was arrested for the tire-slashing incident, charged with criminal damage to property.
3/28/24: Matthew pleaded guilty to the felony tire-slashing charge. He’s sentenced to pay restitution, serve 30 months probation, and complete 30 hours community service. He’s ordered to undergo mental health and substance abuse screenings. Prosecutors declined their fourth opportunity to address a potential OP violation.
5/22/24: Final divorce papers are filed.
5/29/24: According to police, Matthew illegally enters Amy's home, shoots her and shoots himself. Matthew died at the scene. Amy was transported and later died at the hospital.
The lead-up
WGLT compiled the above timeline that chronicles Matthew Moore’s unraveling in the two years between when the divorce was filed in 2022 and when it was finalized, just days before the murder-suicide.
After he and Amy started down the path to divorce in 2022, Matthew lived in a succession of apartments. According to court records, he left some of them amid disputes with property owners. Country Financial confirmed he left a job there about nine months before the killings. He had posted online about real estate and development projects. But Designated Managing Real Estate Broker Ed Neaves at Berkshire Hathaway told WGLT Matthew had joined the firm only briefly and for just one project: to build and sell a house with a partner. Neaves said such an arrangement is not uncommon and is used to gain access to listing services.
Previous reporting indicated Matthew Moore had a mental illness. Police reports show officers found five different prescription bottles in his final apartment in downtown Bloomington. Among them were antipsychotic, anti-anxiety and anti-insomnia medications. The court intervened on more than one occasion, ordering a mental health evaluation in March 2024. Amy told police Matthew had bipolar disorder and was manic, concerned about the stress caused by their divorce and the death of Matthew’s father.
Matthew’s finances were in shambles. Court records showed he owed Bank of America $18,000 in credit card debt. Police reports indicate his checking account at Heartland Bank and Trust was overdrawn. Another court document indicates Brookridge Heights Apartments had sued him for unpaid rent and utilities. And court records show he still owed restitution as part of his guilty plea for slashing the tires of what police said were Amy and a relative’s vehicles.
The orders of protection
Repeatedly during this two-year period, Amy sought orders of protection. Such orders limit or prohibit contact at various levels between the protected person and the subject of the order. This can include mandatory minimum distances in public, no-go zones such as schools, places of work and residences. They involve an initial request for an emergency order followed later by a judge’s more complete consideration of factors before a longer term order is issued.
Four times, officers forwarded reports of potential violations of orders of protection by Matthew Moore to the McLean County State’s Attorney’s Office. Three of those were not physically violent in nature: online social media posts denigrating Amy, an email to Unit 5 in which Matthew tried to get Amy fired or reassigned, and efforts to contravene the protective order involving a junior high school sporting event. Police documented in reports that prosecutors did not move ahead with those.
"The (state’s attorney’s) office declined to pursue charges in reference to this report. This report can be administratively closed," wrote police about one of the incidents.
The fourth instance involved the tire slashing. A supplemental police report stated Matthew is “a danger to society as well as his family.”
“I have 4 victims in this case, and he has caused thousands of dollars in damage as well as clearly violating his order of protection,” the officer wrote. “Matthew is clearly stepping up his levels of violence and operating in the darkness at night, clearly escalating his levels of violence.”
Prosecutors charged Matthew with a class 4 felony for the damage. They did not charge him with violating an order of protection. Matthew pleaded guilty, received probation and served no jail time.
Domestic violence advocates often note an order of protection is a piece of paper. Its effectiveness depends on enforcement. In Illinois, courts may sentence up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine for violating an order of protection. Second offenses can be charged as a class 4 felony, which carries 1-3 years of incarceration and a possible $25,000 fine.
“If you have proof that four consecutive times an order was violated and nothing was done of it, there’s enormous cause for concern that we’ve set things up in a way that the victim was unprotected,” said Dawn Beichner-Thomas, a professor at Illinois State University with expertise in domestic violence.
Beichner-Thomas said domestic violence homicide is unusual without prior physical violence, but the fact that a protective order was in place is evidence of an existing threat.
“A slashed tire could be classified as a property crime if we don’t understand the context,” she said. “We should be more concerned about the fact that somebody for whom there’s an order of protection precluding them from contact with the person, from entering that person’s property and from being in a person’s driveway — that should be concerning to all of us when we know that there was a certain level of evidence required to establish the order of protection.”
On the other hand, proactive enforcement could be difficult, posing resource and capacity challenges to prosecutors and the courts. The McLean County circuit clerk said there were 335 emergency orders of protection filed last year in the county. Judges approved 126 longer term orders last year. The clerk’s office says there are currently 288 plenary orders of protection in effect.
WGLT reached out to McLean County State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds last Wednesday to discuss how her office assesses cases of potential violations of orders of protection, the resources devoted to domestic violence enforcement, the caseload in that category, and the Moore case itself. As of this writing, Reynolds said she wanted to have an opportunity to sit down with the family before she answered WGLT questions and provide them with all the information she has so they aren’t reading it for the first time in the media. WGLT has kept the family apprised of the story arc. Reynolds said some of the people involved are no longer with her office.
The plan
On the night of the murder, police learned Matthew took an Uber from his apartment in Bloomington to a location near Amy’s house in Normal. Uber records also show Matthew had requested and canceled a late-night ride to the same location nine days before the murder. He wrote an email to Amy’s parents and scheduled it for delivery on the morning after the killing.
Police talked with the Uber driver about the ride on May 29.
“(redacted) told me he was picking up on a vibe and felt like something was off. Could not articulate further what he meant about something being off or the vibe he picked up on,” wrote investigators.
Minutes later, police reports show Matthew removed a grate and used a hammer to break through an egress window to Amy’s basement.
The gun
When orders of protection are filed in Illinois, when felony charges are filed, and when mental health issues involving hospitalization arise, state police are supposed to revoke or suspend Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) cards. Investigators found this suspension did happen. Yet Matthew Moore still managed to buy a gun before he used it to end Amy’s life.
Investigators found State Police suspended Matthew’s FOID card on Aug. 11, 2022. That’s less than two weeks after Amy had filed for divorce and a day after she first asked for an order of protection.
Police documented that in July 2023, Matthew filed the required paperwork, showing he had transferred three handguns to another person. On the form, he told authorities his FOID card was lost or destroyed. At the same time, Matthew asked state police to reinstate his FOID card, saying the emergency order of protection was vacated. Troopers did not act on that request, police found.
Matthew had not disposed of the card.
“It’s functionally an honor system,” said Shelby Hoffman-Binder of The Network, an umbrella group of more than 40 domestic violence survivor agencies, during a recent forum on domestic gun violence in Illinois. “Prohibition without enforcement is not enough to keep survivors safe.”
On March 19, 2024, Matthew drove to Des Moines, Iowa, and bought the pistol and ammunition he used in the murder, wrote investigators. The weapon was originally purchased in December from a gun store in Urbandale, Iowa. The buyer told NPD investigators he did not care for the gun and listed it for sale online.
“(redacted) told me he was skeptical at first since Matt was from Illinois and he was in Iowa,” a police report reads. “However, when (redacted) met with Matt in person and saw that he had a nice car, looked nice and had an IL FOID card, he was no longer concerned.”
Investigators said Matthew produced and provided his Illinois FOID card to the seller in Iowa that he previously indicated was lost or destroyed. The FOID card had an issue date of 4/28/17 and expiration date of 5/01/24.
At some point, Matthew also obtained a concealed carry license. Investigators did not indicate when Matthew applied for concealed carry. They only noted “02/27/24 Matthew’s CCL marked as suspended.” By the way, CCL cancellation is supposed to happen at the same time the regular FOID is suspended or revoked, not more than a year and a half later.
The seller provided police with a receipt showing Matthew paid $425 cash for the pistol and ammunition. The seller recalled Matthew mentioning he was in Iowa working for a contractor and was considering moving to the state, said investigators.
Federal law strips gun ownership rights from people under domestic violence orders of protection. It does not require individual sellers like the one who sold Matt a gun to do background checks on buyers. Such a check should have turned up Matthew’s suspended FOID status.
Some states require private sellers to do background checks, using an intermediary service. Some even require such one-to-one purchases be completed at a federally licensed firearm dealership, which require background checks. Iowa law says sellers “may not knowingly transfer firearms to anyone who is prohibited by state law from owning them.”
The purchase would have been more difficult for Matthew to make in Illinois, where the law has required universal background checks on gun buyers in Illinois since 2021. There are more than 2.2 million gun owners in Illinois.
“The fact that he went to another state shows that at a federal level we need to do something different,” said Sarah Breeden, legislative lead for the gun safety group McLean County Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “And the idea that he could take a FOID card from Illinois, whether it’s expired or not, and buy from another individual shows that we need to have background checks on all gun sales.”
Breeden said the oft-mentioned “gun show loophole” is an example of the larger issue. It refers to places where there is a large concentration of weapons for purchase. The seller in this case advertised the availability of the handgun online.
“I think if we had a law, federally speaking, it wouldn’t come down to vibes. It would come down to steps you actually have to take to make sure it’s legal for that person to purchase a gun,” said Breeden.
Moms Demand Action champions other potential legislation such as Karina’s Law, that would require police agencies to go to the houses of gun owners and confiscate their weapons when orders of protection are put in place. A recent statewide report on domestic gun violence found access to a gun increases the risk of intimate-partner homicide by 500%.
“Gun violence is a multifaceted issue. You’ll hear people name off different reasons a gun violence incident has occurred. Because it’s a multifaceted issue, it requires multifaceted solutions,” said Breeden.
Breeden said the government needs to fund programs that address mental health. And when domestic violence is in play, the solution may be different. When poverty and desperation is the underlying factor, Breeden said that needs to be addressed.
“Ultimately, what it comes down to is this is a uniquely American problem. It’s a public health issue,” said Breeden. “And unless and until we address it as such, with such unfettered access to guns, even in states that have strict laws like we do, because you can go to another state, we’re going to continue to have these problems.”
WGLT reached out to Normal Police Chief Steve Petrilli for comment. He declined an interview.
“The investigation is still pending,” said Petrilli.
In an earlier story Amy's brother Tom Burns said Amy did not get the support she needed.
"I think for sure the entire system let her down," said Burns. 'This is something that, with the number of incidents we’ve had over the years, they should’ve never been in the same room at the same time, ever. It should have been impossible for that to happen.”
Editor's note
Why are we covering this?
Amy Moore was a beloved member of the community. As a parent and schoolteacher, she touched many lives. That’s apparent from the community response which followed her death.
Domestic violence, as the story explains, is an all-too-common occurrence. As a result, domestic violence is rarely covered by the news media except when it leads to someone losing their life.
Our intention was to find out what preceded the killing, to assess how or whether these incidents can be prevented.
WGLT’s Public Reporting Policy can be found here.
How did we cover this?
WGLT’s reporting was informed largely through public police and court records that we requested and in some cases had to push to get. Those documents helped us establish a timeline of events and indicate – as is almost always the case in domestic violence — the shooting was not an isolated incident.
Why now?
Investigations take time. Securing public records also takes time. The Normal Police Department said it’s still in the midst of its investigation.
