The husband murdered his own wife and child
By Theodore Shoebat
A man in Texas butchered both his wife and infant child, slitting their throats. He tried to escape to Las Vegas but was caught alongside the way by police, who reported that he had no emotions. According to the report:
The Fort Worth man whose wife and infant son were found dead in their home with their throats cut was arrested in Colorado in connection with their slayings.
A man called Glenwood Springs, Colo., police Wednesday and reported that a man who borrowed his phone was acting suspiciously.
Craig Alan Vandewege, 35, was arrested soon after and charged with speeding and failure to provide proof of insurance, Fort Worth police said.
As Vandewege was posting bond Thursday afternoon from the Garfield County jail, Colorado authorities were alerted to a warrant for his arrest, Glenwood Springs police Chief Terry Wilson said.
“He didn’t get out the door before he was back in custody,” Wilson said.
Fort Worth police had issued a capital murder warrant for Vandewege’s arrest. It’s unclear when he will be extradited to North Texas.
Vandewege’s wife, 36-year-old Shanna Riddle Vandewege, and their 3-month-old son Diederick, were found dead Dec. 15 in the family’s house in the 8500 block of Cactus Flower Drive.
They were found dead in bed with lacerations to their necks, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.
About 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, a man called Glenwood Springs police to report that someone named “Craig Allen” had borrowed his phone to call a few people to talk about a murder, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The caller initially said the man was getting into a white Hyundai with no front license plate and was last seen heading toward City Market, the affidavit stated.
Shortly after 11 p.m., Glenwood Springs officers spotted the sedan with no rear license plate heading down the street. The car pulled into a Shell station, and the driver got out and grabbed a license plate from the trunk and screwed it into the holder, the affidavit states.
The officer followed the vehicle as it accelerated and pulled the driver over for going 37 mph in a 25 mph zone.
Vandewege handed the officer a Texas license and an expired insurance card. When the officer told him he was speeding, he said he hadn’t realized, according to police.
‘It’s been a long week’
“It’s been a long week, my wife and kid were murdered in Texas,” Vandewege reportedly told one of the officers.
Fort Worth police confirmed what Vandewege was saying, Wilson said.
Vandewege reportedly told an officer that he went into 7-Eleven to borrow a phone to tell his parents that three people had been taken into custody in connection with the slayings.
He said he was being blamed for their deaths and was on his way to Colorado to bury his wife and child. He said his attorney told him that he should leave Texas or else he would not be able to bury his family and that he should get a burner phone, according to police documents.
Vandewege also said that he was advised by his lawyer that if he did not have plates on his car he would not get pulled over.
Vandewege told officers he was going to Las Vegas. The father, who has a Colorado concealed handgun permit, had multiple guns with him and said he was headed to go shooting to “get rid of some stress,” according to police documents.
He told officers the family had moved to Fort Worth from the Denver area earlier this year.
Little emotion
Another officer said Vandewege spoke numerous times about his wife and son with no emotion.
He was calm throughout the interaction, but when the officer asked Vandewege to get out of the car, he said, “no I’m not getting out,” and refused for about five minutes until finally relenting, the arrest warrant affidavit states.
As he was being arrested, an officer asked if Vandewege had any knives on him, to which he said, “No, I’m not a knife guy,” according to police documents.
Vandewege said he had two guns on him. He also had his wedding ring and two condoms in his pockets, the affidavit stated.
Police also found numerous boxes of ammunition, empty gas cans, camouflage clothing, numerous bottles of medication and other items including an AR-15 style rifle and a .22 revolver, according to the police documents.
Days after their deaths, Vandewege told police he wanted to talk with his attorney before speaking further with investigators.
Police executed a search warrant at their house Wednesday night, but details of what they found have not been released, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
The funeral service for Shanna and Diederik Vandewege will be held next week in Walsh, Colorado.