Matthew Ammel

Introduction

Matthew Ammel is a 39-year-old Army veteran and former member of the security detail of Kyrsten Sinema, who represented Arizona in the U.S. Senate from 2019 to 2025. He became publicly known in 2025 as the central figure in a North Carolina “homewrecker” lawsuit blaming Sinema for the end of his fourteen-year marriage. In September 2026 his name returned to national headlines for a different reason: he was arrested and charged with felony criminal damage after, according to court documents and investigators, he broke into Sinema’s Cave Creek, Arizona, home and destroyed more than $200,000 worth of paintings, bottles, and fixtures.

Background Information

Ammel served multiple deployments to the Middle East and, according to press accounts, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries attributable to his service. He was hired onto Sinema’s protection detail in 2022 and, per a lawsuit filed by his ex-wife, remained in that role until 2025.

He married Heather Ammel in October 2010, and the couple had three children during a marriage of roughly fourteen years. The marriage collapsed in late 2024, and the relationship between Ammel and Sinema became public when Heather Ammel sued the former senator under North Carolina’s alienation-of-affection statute — the state’s so-called “homewrecker law” — alleging Sinema had sustained an affair with him during trips around the world. Sinema has denied the allegations and requested a jury trial; a pretrial conference was scheduled for October 22.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations; charge pending. The account in this section comes from court documents and investigators’ statements as described in press reports. Ammel has been charged with one count of felony criminal damage but has not been tried; the underlying conduct has never been admitted by him and has not been adjudicated in court. He is presumed innocent of the charge.

The incident occurred on August 30, 2026, while Sinema was out of town. Sinema told investigators that her ex-boyfriend entered her Cave Creek home and demanded that she post a video to her X account, warning — per court paperwork — that if she did not, he would “damage her paintings every 10 minutes” until she complied. She refused to post the video.

What followed, according to the court documents: Ammel allegedly removed approximately 22 paintings from the walls and threw them into the backyard swimming pool, where deputies who arrived on September 3 found them still underwater. An additional painting near the front entrance had been spray-painted with black lettering. He is alleged to have shattered several expensive bottles of alcohol around the house and pool and to have thrown at least one bottle at a large wall-mounted mirror, destroying it. The damaged paintings were valued at $123,015; combined with the other damage, the total was estimated above $200,000. Investigators said Sinema provided text messages, video recordings, and surveillance footage, which deputies reviewed before identifying Ammel as the suspect.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Ammel was taken into custody in mid-September — on September 18 according to AZFamily, September 19 according to court records reviewed by The New York Post — and charged with one count of criminal damage as a class 4 felony. He was found at a behavioral health center, where a petition had been filed for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.

His first court appearance proceeded without him physically standing before the judge. “They’re saying that he’s combative and he’s in the hallway,” a Maricopa County sheriff’s deputy told the court. The judge declined to set a bond, and Ammel was released from custody on an electronic monitor, with another hearing expected the following week. The story drew wide national coverage, and in its wake the Daily Mail reported separate allegations against Ammel — felony assault and strangulation charges in North Carolina over claims he attacked a physician assistant at a hospital the previous November — as well as his ex-wife’s divorce-filing descriptions of uncontrollable anger and substance abuse, all of which remain allegations. A construction crew was meanwhile seen building a wall around Sinema’s property.

Current Status

The felony criminal-damage charge is pending in Maricopa County Superior Court. Ammel is out of custody on an electronic monitor pending his next hearing. The North Carolina alienation-of-affection lawsuit against Sinema — which alleges, among other things, that she suggested Ammel bring MDMA on a work trip so she could guide him through a psychedelic experience — was moved to federal court, with a pretrial conference set for October 22; Sinema denies its allegations. Ammel has not publicly commented on either case.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Ammel faces a class 4 felony charge that, on conviction, carries potential prison time in Arizona, and he is living under electronic monitoring while the case proceeds. His brief public profile as a member of a U.S. senator’s security detail has been replaced by coverage of the vandalism case, the pending North Carolina assault and strangulation charges reported by the Daily Mail, and his ex-wife’s divorce-filing allegations — none of which have been tested before a jury. His fourteen-year marriage ended in divorce, and the litigation it produced now names a former U.S. senator as a defendant. Sinema, for her part, has invested in physical security upgrades at her home, including the newly built wall.

Sources

• The New York Post, “Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-bodyguard in ‘homewrecker’ case trashes her Arizona home, causes $200K in damage”, September 23, 2026. source
• AZFamily/KOLD, “Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-bodyguard accused of causing $200K in damage at her Cave Creek home”, September 23, 2026. source
• Daily Mail, “Lurid life of married bodyguard accused of steamy affair with senator Kyrsten Sinema is revealed in new allegations of sex, drugs and choking”. source