"They’re not getting along, and all of a sudden this happens": Matthew Knight's testimony and involvement in Carmela Knight's case

One of the convicted conspirators in Carmela Knight's 2014 murder was her husband, David, who was named the mastermind behind the murder-for-hire plot. He reportedly hired an acquaintance, Graham MacDonald, to have his wife murdered to be able to start a new life with his girlfriend.

David's brother Matthew Knight testified during the murder trial that the hired killer confessed to him about the murder plot the night the victim was torched inside their garage. Matthew claimed that he immediately knew something was suspicious about the fire and Carmela's death:

"They're not getting along, and all of a sudden this happens. I made a lot of assumptions."

Matthew also admitted to helping MacDonald by giving him money and transportation out of the Durham Region a few days after the murder in an April 2017 plea deal. He consented to a statement of facts explaining his participation in the case as part of the plea negotiation process and claimed that he knew about his brother's plans beforehand.

NBC Dateline will further dive into the details of Carmella Knight's murder case in an upcoming episode titled Fire & Ice, on Friday, October 28, 2022, at 10 pm ET.

---

Matthew Knight was aware of his brother's intention to kill his Carmela Knight in advance

During a 2017 plea deal, Matthew Knight asserted that sometime before the murder, he learned that David and MacDonald were plotting to murder Carmela Knight. However, he did nothing to stop it or inform the authorities.

He was later questioned about the claims he initially made about learning about David's vicious plans in advance during the latter's 2019 trial. However, he later changed his claims and said that he was unaware of any premeditated plans for Carmela Knight's murder during his testimony in his brother's trial.

The prosecution pushed him on that contradiction. He also said that neither before the incident in September 2014 nor in the days and weeks that followed, did he personally plan a malicious scheme with his brother.

He later acknowledged during cross-examination that he was detained for a number of months after accepting the statement of facts. He also said that he was eager to end his criminal charge with a plea deal. Matthew later agreed with the assertion that he never heard David plot his wife's murder and denied any involvement in the crime.

"As I read through the statement of facts I had to agree to it by making sense of what I had done or how my actions fit into this statement of facts."

However, he did have a great deal to testify against the killer Graham MacDonald and an acquiantance to the brothers.

---

Killer Grahan MacDonald was under Matthew Knight's radar from the beginning

Matthew Knight claimed that as soon as he received the news, he had a suspicion that Graham MacDonald was somehow connected to Carmela Knight's murder. Graham was a friend with a side job who had been conducting maintenance work at the Pickering residence for David.

Matthew claimed to have picked up MacDonald from a low-cost motel where and interrogated him about his involvement. The former reportedly said that Graham cracked and began explaining what he had done. He allegedly told Matthew that he had made a deal with David for $100,000.

Carmela's brother-in-law claimed that as soon as he learned about the fire, he got in touch with MacDonald. Although MacDonald initially tried to avoid the question, he finally gave Matthew information about the horrific plan he and David had plotted to get Carmela out of the way.

According to Matthew, MacDonald admitted to attacking Carmela Knight after she returned home from work, strangled her, and then started a fire using gasoline as an accelerant.

---

Carmela Knight's murder case will air on Dateline's upcoming episode at 10 pm ET on October 28, 2022.