CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A paramedic formerly with the Nashville Fire Department accused of killing his wife and father-in-law in January pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder Monday morning.
Matthew Konen, 31, was arrested on May 4 in the deaths of his wife, 30-year-old Rachel Konen, and her father, 62-year-old David Rodgers.
He has since been held at the Montgomery County Jail.
Konen’s attorney, Richard McGee of Nashville, waived a formal reading of the indictment and entered the plea in Judge William Goodman’s courtroom.
At 6:42 p.m. Jan. 20, the shooting was reported in the 500 block of Westwood Drive in the Sango area of Clarksville.
While initial information indicated both victims died of gunshot wounds, 911 call audio obtained by Clarksville Now revealed that Konen’s father-in-law was beaten to death, and his wife Rachel was shot.
In the 911 call audio, Konen could be heard telling dispatchers that Rodgers was the one who shot Rachel, and that Konen had “pistol-whipped” Rodgers because he thought Rodgers was going to shoot him too.
After the shooting, the Nashville Fire Department reassigned Konen to “an alternate duty assignment where he was not working with the public nor responding to incidents during the ongoing investigation,” according to an NFD spokesman.
Joseph Pleasant, public information officer for NFD, told Clarksville Now that Konen resigned from his paramedic position on June 8.
Konen has a court date scheduled for June 30.