Matthew Ammel

Introduction

Matthew Ammel is a 39-year-old Army veteran and former bodyguard for Kyrsten Sinema, the former U.S. senator from Arizona, whose name became public through both a criminal case and a civil lawsuit. Ammel served on Sinema’s protection detail beginning in 2022, and their subsequent relationship came to light when Ammel’s ex-wife sued Sinema under North Carolina’s alienation-of-affection statute, commonly called the state’s “homewrecker law.” In September 2026, Ammel was arrested and charged with felony criminal damage after authorities said he caused more than $200,000 in damage to Sinema’s Cave Creek, Arizona home while she was away. At the end of September he was arrested a second time, accused of violating his release conditions while prosecutors alleged in court filings that he had threatened Sinema, a judge and law enforcement. At an October 12 hearing he pleaded not guilty to the criminal damage charge, and a commissioner raised his bond to $100,000 cash-only ahead of a February 9, 2027 trial. The release-violation and threat allegations remain unadjudicated, and Ammel is presumed innocent.

Background Information

Ammel served in the U.S. Army; the New York Post reported that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries stemming from multiple deployments to the Middle East. He previously pleaded guilty to assaulting a physician at a North Carolina hospital, according to the New York Post. He was hired to Sinema’s protection detail in 2022, while he was married to Heather Ammel; that marriage lasted 14 years before ending in divorce. Sinema, a Democrat-turned-Independent and the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress, represented Arizona in the Senate until leaving political office in early 2025. She has said under oath that her relationship with Ammel turned sexual in May 2024, about two years after he joined her detail.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The account of the August 30, 2026 incident in this section comes from court documents and a probable cause statement filed in Maricopa County, as reported by KPNX, FOX 10 Phoenix, AZFamily, the New York Post and The Daily Beast. The resulting felony criminal damage charge is a charge, not a conviction: Ammel has not been tried on it, and he is presumed innocent. The September 30 re-arrest, the October 6 bond filings and the threats and indirect-contact allegations described in prosecutors’ and Sinema’s filings are allegations from court documents and have not been adjudicated. The affair and “homewrecker” elements described here are unadjudicated civil allegations from a lawsuit brought by Ammel’s ex-wife; Sinema acknowledged the relationship in deposition testimony but denies the lawsuit’s claim that she knowingly destroyed the Ammels’ marriage.

According to the probable cause statement, the incident occurred on August 30, 2026 at Sinema’s Cave Creek home while she was out of town; she was not home at the time and did not report the incident to deputies until September 3. Court documents state that Ammel demanded Sinema post a video to her X account and threatened to “damage her paintings every 10 minutes” if she did not. Investigators say Sinema refused, and that Ammel then removed about 22 paintings from the walls and threw them into the backyard pool; deputies put the combined reported value of the paintings at $123,015. Ammel later told the Arizona Republic he damaged the home out of disillusionment with U.S. politics — “I was p—-d at the system,” he said. “I took it out on her art.” Reporting in October 2026 disclosed what the demanded video was: the New York Post reported that Ammel wanted Sinema to post footage of soldiers aiding a wounded man in Iraq and to use her Pentagon connections to look into why his unit did not receive the Presidential Unit Citation; he admitted drinking that night, and allegedly shattered expensive alcohol bottles and destroyed a mirror, bringing total damage to more than $200,000.

Sinema also told deputies that Ammel broke several expensive alcohol bottles inside the home, scattering glass through portions of the house and the pool; the New York Post reported that he allegedly threw at least one bottle at a large mounted mirror, destroying it. The probable cause statement put the total estimated damage to the home, paintings included, at over $200,000. When deputies arrived on September 3, they found paintings still submerged in the pool and another piece of artwork defaced with black spray paint. Deputies said they personally observed the shattered mirror, the paintings in the pool and locations where paintings had been placed, and that Sinema provided text messages, video recordings and surveillance footage.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The case drew wide attention because it landed on top of an already public civil fight. Heather Ammel, Matthew Ammel’s ex-wife of 14 years, sued Sinema under North Carolina’s “homewrecker law,” claiming Sinema knowingly interfered with the marriage while Ammel was employed as her bodyguard; “Prior to [Sinema’s] actions, Plaintiff and Mr. Ammel were happily married and genuine love and affection existed between them,” the lawsuit alleged. Sinema denied the allegations. Sinema, for her part, acknowledged the relationship under oath: in a July 31 deposition she said it turned sexual on May 27, 2024, during a trip to Napa, California — “We were staying at an Airbnb in Napa, California. We were outside. Matt kissed me. We went inside and had sex,” she testified — and that later encounters took place in New York, Washington, Colorado and Arizona, but never in North Carolina.

Ammel was arrested on September 19, 2026, and charged with felony criminal damage, according to court records viewed by the New York Post; FOX 10 Phoenix described the charge as aggravated criminal damage and reported that he was taken into custody as he was released from a mental health facility. He was found at a behavioral health center after a petition was filed for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation, AZFamily reported. At his initial court appearance, Ammel never stood before the judge because he was allegedly fighting in the hallway. “They’re saying that he’s combative and he’s in the hallway,” a Maricopa County sheriff’s deputy told the court during the hearing.

Current Status

After the August 30 incident, Ammel was released on supervised release with electronic GPS monitoring and ordered to have no contact with Sinema. On September 30, 2026, he was arrested a second time: Pretrial Services was alerted by North Carolina authorities that Ammel was trying to acquire guns and tactical gear while making threats against a judge, and his GPS tracker placed him at a firearm retailer in north Phoenix, where a sheriff’s detective learned he had left a large “hunting-style” knife to be engraved as a gift. AZFamily reported he was taken into custody without incident near a hotel at 24th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix; the New York Post and FOX 10 described the location as a Cheesecake Factory parking lot. Prosecutors allege he violated the no-contact order two days after his September 17 release by asking an acquaintance to contact Sinema, that Sinema reported it to police on September 22 but declined to help prosecutors, and that court filings accuse him of threatening to “take down” Sinema and to kill judges and law enforcement, messaging military friends about building a rifle, buying tactical gear and discussing funeral arrangements. A judge set a $25,000 bond; the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office filed an emergency motion to raise it to $100,000 cash-only. Ammel refused to be taken from jail to his October 1 arraignment, which was postponed, with the judge ordering he be brought to court by any means necessary, including force. The felony charge and the violation allegations remain pending; Ammel has not been tried and is presumed innocent.

The bond fight escalated in court filings reported on October 7, 2026. Sinema’s attorney, Colleen Clase, told the court in a filing dated October 6 that Ammel had flouted the no-contact order again by having “a bail bondsman call [Sinema] and ask that she post his bond” — conduct Clase called “a form of indirect contact, constitutes witness harassment and intimidation, and causes substantial concern given the recent history of threats made against her life,” asking that the case be made non-bondable or the bond set “much larger” than $25,000.

At an October 12, 2026 hearing, Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Barbara Spencer set Ammel’s bond at $100,000 cash-only. The state pointed to the alleged bail-bondsman contact and to text messages it said Ammel sent about Sinema — “she needs to pay,” “she needs to be punished” and “I’m taking her down no matter what it takes” — as well as alleged threats against a North Carolina judge; messages in which Ammel allegedly wrote “I’m going to decapitate this f—-t and kill his entire family” to military friends in August were also cited in reporting on the hearing. A victims’ attorney told the court that Sinema “is reasonably and objectively afraid that if [Ammel] is released, that he will seriously injure either [her] or someone else in the community.” Ammel’s lawyer argued the cash bond was “excessive” and said the messages predated the offense; he pleaded not guilty to the one count of criminal damage at the same hearing. Under the new release terms he would be under house arrest with electronic monitoring if he posts bond, and his trial is set for February 9, 2027. The threat allegations are unadjudicated.

In the civil case, Sinema filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that her relationship with Ammel took place entirely outside North Carolina, but earlier in September a judge rejected that argument, citing nine text messages she sent to Ammel while he was in the state and finding it implausible that she was unaware of his whereabouts. Heather Ammel is seeking over $75,000 in damages, and the case is set for a jury trial with a pretrial conference scheduled for October 22.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Ammel’s public identity has shifted from security professional to twice-arrested criminal defendant and a central figure in a closely covered lawsuit. His 14-year marriage ended, and the litigation has placed details of his relationship with Sinema into the public record through deposition testimony and court filings. The criminal case has put his mental health at the center of the proceedings: he was taken into custody as he left a mental health facility, an involuntary psychiatric evaluation petition preceded his arrest, and his defense told the court he is seeking mental treatment while in custody. Coverage of the re-arrest has emphasized prosecutors’ characterization of an escalating risk — his “erratic” behavior, his “highly skilled” military training and the alleged efforts to arm himself — alongside his own statements to the Arizona Republic (“I’m not a bad guy. I’m not crazy. I’m just really smart, and I have seen behind the curtains.”). Between the not-guilty plea, the $100,000 cash-only bond, the February 9, 2027 trial date and the October 22 pretrial conference in his ex-wife’s lawsuit, both the criminal and civil tracks of the case remain open.

Sources

New York Post, “Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-bodyguard in ‘homewrecker’ case trashes her Arizona home, causes $200K in damage”, September 23, 2026. source
FOX 10 Phoenix, “Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-bodyguard accused of causing $200,000 damage to her Cave Creek home”, September 23, 2026. source
WRAL, “Report: Ex-bodyguard of former senator sued in NC charged with damaging her Arizona home”, September 24, 2026. source
The Daily Beast, “Kyrsten Sinema’s Married Lover Matthew Ammel Busted Over Shocking Rampage”, September 24, 2026. source
AZFamily, “Ex-bodyguard arrested again, accused of having knife while trying to contact Sinema”, October 1, 2026. source
FOX 10 Phoenix, “Sinema’s ex-lover had ’large’ knife, threatened to ’take her down’ before arrest at Cheesecake Factory: police”, October 1, 2026. source
New York Post, “Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-bodyguard allegedly said he’d ’take down’ former pol — a month after destroying her home”, October 2, 2026. source
New York Post, “Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-bodyguard Matthew Ammel demands she pays his bond a month after trashing her home”, October 7, 2026. source
AZFamily, “Judge raises bond for Sinema’s ex-lover after alleged release condition violations”, October 12, 2026. source
New York Post, “Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-bodyguard allegedly vowed to punish ex politician, threatened to ‘decapitate’ judge, chilling texts show”, October 13, 2026. source