Convicted Patterson saga still ongoing

For The Advance readers who have been following the ongoing saga of convicted murderess and thief, Monica Melissa Palacios Patterson, there is new news to report.

This true-crime story dates back to her initial arrest in August 2015 for the murder by asphyxiation of a 96-year-old WWII vet, Martin Knell, in his McAllen home in January of that year.

The daughter of a former Hidalgo County commissioner, and the sister of a sitting Hidalgo County court-at-law judge, the case has drawn considerable news coverage over the past 10 years, both local, state, and national.

Patterson, who turned 58 this Monday, has been housed in a state prison since her conviction in November 2017 for capital murder (life in prison with no chance of parole) as well as 75 years for felony charges related to theft from a nonprofit hospice (The Comfort House), 15 years for stealing from her victim’s estate, and misuse of her nonprofit fiduciary responsibility (four years).

Each count carried with it a $10,000 fine, but Patterson has no money.

For some unexplained reason, she paid more than $500K to the IRS for release of four tax liens after she was convicted, using a family member (power of attorney) to facilitate the payments to Uncle Sam.

No Background Checks?

When Patterson first went to work at the Comfort House, McAllen’s original hospice, now under new management, the board had on it people who should have known that a background check was in order. An appellate court judge, for example, was the board chairman, and there were plenty of business people on the board.

Yet when one board director did speak up about his concerns regarding Patterson, he was basically run off the property.

“Quit asking so many questions.”

On the board, Patterson had old family friends among her staunch advocates, and that’s all that counted. Apparently.

The hospice had vulnerable people/patients housed there, however, medications on hand, so who wouldn’t do a simple background check before hiring a new administrator?

If the Comfort House board had done a background check, they would have uncovered a businesswoman, Patterson, with no apparent head for business, and an apparent problem with paying her taxes.

For her business related to speech pathology, she had state tax liens dating back to 2009 and 2010 (2).

Between 2010 and 2012, before Patterson went to work at the hospice, she racked up another four tax liens.

In January 2015, she murdered Knell, was arrested in August 2015, and it was only then that the Comfort House discovered that not only had she forged board minutes to set up a new bank account through which she could launder nonprofit money, but she had also cleaned out the hospice’s bank account and investment account.

In fact, at the time of her arrest for the Knell murder, Comfort House was stone cold broke, only the board had no clue.

Tax Liens — No Justice

Hard to believe, but more than 10 years after the murder, and almost eight years since her November 2017 conviction, the estate belonging to Patterson’s murder victim still has her named as the beneficiary.

All the money in the estate, valued at more than $1 million, is tied up in an escrow account, sure, so Patterson can’t get to it, but neither can the only son of her murder victim, Mark Knell.

The Hidalgo County Probate Court, under two judges, has failed to move the case along.

“It’s only been almost eight years since the murder and theft convictions. What’s the hurry?”

The date for a jury trial to decide who should really get the estate – the killer or the victim’s son – has now been pushed forward to next February 2026.

One question, though, that recently came to light is why did Patterson have her power of attorney take $561,025.26 to the IRS in May 2018, approximately six months after her conviction, to pay off four fed tax liens filed against her?

She was never getting out of prison. Her appeals never went anywhere but into the denial bin, and the liens weren’t apparently tying up anything of value.

Also, where did the $561K come from?

One guess might have been from her murder victim’s residence.

Knell and his wife, Penny, were known for stashing cash around their north McAllen home over the course of the many decades they called the house off Ware their home. Like many who grew up during the depression years, cash was always king.

Meanwhile, Patterson, the woman convicted of killing a 96-year-old WWII vet to get all his money more than 10 years ago, still has her name on his will, listed as sole beneficiary.