Judge Greg Mathis is not mincing words. In a recent appearance on The Art of Dialogue, the longtime television judge and legal commentator weighed in on the death of Nolan Xavier Wells with a direct take: he doesn’t believe the young man drowned. He believes he was killed.
“I don’t believe he drowned. I believe he was killed,” Mathis said. “But I’m a judge that has to weigh all the evidence. Preliminarily, that’s what I see.”
What’s driving that suspicion isn’t just gut feeling; it’s the details surrounding the circumstances of Wells’ death that Mathis says don’t add up. Among them is the question of how Wells was supposed to get home. According to Mathis, Wells was left on an island by the people he came with, who claim he wanted to stay behind. But there’s a problem with that story. Wells left his phone.
Judge Mathis says he believes Nolan Wells was killed.
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“You don’t leave your friend on an island, seeing that he has left his phone, and not at least go back,” Mathis said. “You came there with him. You left him there, you say, because he wanted to stay. But you notice that he’s left his phone. How was he going to get home in the first place? Wouldn’t he need his phone in order to call his transportation?”
For Mathis, the lack of answers to basic questions raises serious red flags. “How you gonna get home? You don’t ask any of those questions?” he said. “So you must have asked those questions. If you didn’t, there’s more evidence that I believe contributed to the reasonable suspicion.”
Mathis was careful not to frame his position as a verdict and was identifying sufficient evidence to move the case forward. “The prosecutor has found enough evidence to create a reasonable suspicion that a crime occurred,” he said. “And now they’re going to interview everybody and come up with some answers on whether to indict.”
His conclusion aligned squarely with the prosecution’s position. “So I’m with the prosecutor. Take it to the grand jury. Now I have to wait until what the grand jury comes back with before I support any charge or any lack of charges.”
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