Former senator Kyrsten Sinema’s former bodyguard and alleged lover has been arrested over an alleged $200,000 destruction spree at her $2 million Arizona home.
Matthew Ammel, 39, allegedly threatened to “damage her paintings every 10 minutes” unless Sinema uploaded a video to her X account, according to court documents obtained by Arizona’s Family.
Sinema declined to publish the video, whose contents were not described in the court filings. Ammel then allegedly removed 22 paintings from the walls and threw them into the backyard swimming pool.
The former senator was away from her five-bedroom home in Cave Creek, a Phoenix suburb, when the alleged destruction occurred on August 30.
Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies also found another painting near the front entrance that had been “spray-painted with black lettering.”
Ammel is accused of breaking costly liquor bottles and leaving shards of glass throughout the house and pool. Sinema told investigators that he also smashed a large wall-mounted mirror by throwing a glass bottle at it.
Investigators estimated the paintings alone were worth $123,015, while the total damage to the property and pool exceeded $200,000.
Ammel’s former wife, Heather, is suing Sinema under North Carolina’s “homewrecker” law. She alleges that the former Democratic lawmaker destroyed her 14-year marriage while Ammel was serving on Sinema’s Washington, DC, security detail. Sinema has acknowledged the affair.
Matthew Ammel, 39, is charged with one count of criminal damage, a class 4 felony, court records show
Kyrsten Sinema walks through the Hart Senate Office Building in April 2023
Sinema provided deputies with text messages, videos and surveillance footage that allegedly captured Ammel damaging her belongings. Investigators said they identified him in the video.
Ammel, an Army veteran, faces one count of criminal damage, a class 4 felony that carries a potential sentence of up to four years in prison, according to court records.
He was arrested September 17 after leaving a behavioral health center, where he had been taken following a petition for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.
Ammel did not attend his initial hearing in person. During the recorded proceeding, a deputy said, “They’re saying that he’s combative and he’s in the hallway.”
The court released him with an electronic monitor, and he is scheduled to appear again on October 1.
CONTINUE READING: Central Florida Gets a Taste of Fall as Drier Air Arrives
On Wednesday, a construction crew was seen building a wall around Sinema’s property. One worker told Arizona’s Family that the crew had been working there for approximately two weeks.
A neighbor said Sinema had intended to add the security barrier since moving into the home more than a year ago, citing threats she had received. He also believed Ammel had previously lived at the property, recalling his truck outside and seeing him doing yard work.
The alleged incident took place less than two weeks after Sinema testified about her relationship with Ammel at a federal hearing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Heather Ammel leaves a court in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on August 19
Sinema attends a hearing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on August 19
Heather Ammel is seeking at least $75,000 in damages under the state’s rare ‘alienation of affection’ law, which lets spouses sue a third party for the breakdown of their marriage.
The suit claims Sinema embarked on an affair with Heather’s special forces veteran husband shortly after he was hired to her security team in 2022.
Ammel allegedly told his wife Sinema got ‘handsy’ with him at a Tempe music festival in March 2024.
The suit also claims Sinema told Ammel to bring MDMA, also known as ecstasy, on a work trip in 2023 so she could ‘guide him through a psychedelic experience.’
Sinema testified in a July deposition that the relationship turned sexual on May 27, 2024, on a visit to Napa.
She said later encounters took place in New York, Washington, Colorado and Arizona, but never in North Carolina.
Sinema argued she could not be sued in North Carolina. US District Judge David Bragdon disagreed this month, ruling that nine texts she sent Ammel while he was there gave the court jurisdiction.
Bragdon also took a swipe at Ammel in a footnote, writing that he ‘does not have a record of telling the truth in this matter.’
Ammel was paid more than $90,000 for six months work in her Senate office, according to congressional salary database Legistorm.
Sinema quit the Democratic Party to become an independent during her single Senate term and did not seek reelection in 2024. She is now a senior adviser at Washington law firm Hogan Lovells.