http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080427/NEWS05/804270347Prodigy's 'puzzling' fall leads to murder charge
By JEFF ECKHOFF and CYNTHIA REYNAUD • REGISTER STAFF WRITERS • COPYRIGHT 2008, DES MOINES REGISTER AND TRIBUNE COMPANY • April 27, 2008
Farragut, Ia. -- Matthew Joseph Elliott seemed destined for the spotlight.
He was a star in speech contests and school plays at Farragut High School. He also pitched for the baseball team. He was charismatic, a talker, and when he discovered politics, he blossomed.
He was elected governor at the Iowa Boys State mock government convention in 1998 as a junior. He followed the accomplishment with a year as head of his high school student council. Later came a term as student body president at Drake University and a front-line job in legislative campaign battles for the Iowa Republican Party.
All before he turned 25.