Police say former Sen. Sinema, accused as ‘home wrecker,’ has home wrecked by ex-lover

By Mary McCue Bell - The Washington Times - Friday, September 25, 2026

The former bodyguard-turned-romantic partner of ex-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is accused of breaking into her home and causing more than $200,000 worth of damage to artwork, expensive alcohol and other possessions.

Authorities in Maricopa County, Arizona, arrested Matthew Ammel, 39, after he allegedly came into her Phoenix-area home early this month and trashed it.

The onetime bodyguard reportedly entered Ms. Sinema’s home while she was away, telling her that he would destroy a piece of art every 10 minutes if she did not post a video to social media.

She allegedly refused, prompting Mr. Ammel to throw roughly 22 paintings into the swimming pool.

One piece of artwork was defaced with spray-painted black lettering and left near the front entrance, Ms. Sinema told authorities.

She also said that she found shards of glass from broken alcohol bottles scattered in her house and in the pool.

Mr. Ammel, an Army veteran, was arrested on Sept. 17 after he was released from a mental health facility, according to multiple reports.

He was charged with aggravated criminal damage and released without bond on electronic monitoring, and he is due to appear in court in early October.

A cement wall was seemingly being constructed by workers outside Ms. Sinema’s home in Cave Creek on Thursday.

Her relationship with the former member of her security detail began while she was in office, but drew attention in March after Ms. Sinema argued in a legal filing that she should not be subject to a lawsuit by the bodyguard’s ex-wife.

A judge ruled earlier this month that the Arizona Democrat-turned-independent, who served in the Senate from 2019 to 2025, could be sued under the state’s “home-wrecker” law over her relationship with Mr. Ammel.

North Carolina is one of a few remaining states that allows a jilted spouse to sue a third party for “alienation of affection” to recover damages for the intentional destruction of a marriage.

Ms. Ammel alleges that Ms. Sinema broke up her marriage “willfully and intentionally” when the affair with the former bodyguard “became romantic and intimate” in May 2024.

The lawmaker had argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because her relationship with Mr. Ammel “occurred exclusively outside of North Carolina,” where the lawsuit was filed.