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Shanna Vandewege Update: Husband Of Woman And Three-Month Old Son Slain In Their Beds, Charged With Capital Murder

By Tito Ojo-Medubi
Published on: 20:42 PST, Dec 22, 2016

The husband of a woman and child who had their throats slit has been arrested.

According to Time, Craig Vandewege was initially charged in Colorado Wednesday for speeding and driving without insurance. However, he was later arrested for the murders of his 36-year-old wife, Shanna Vandewege and their three-month-old son, Diederick.

Craig Vandewege had told police that he had condoms in his pocket and was headed to Las Vegas, Nevada. A prior notification of a man driving with a missing license plate had been brought to the fore by a police dispatcher. The man was believed to be Vandewege who was spotted and chased into a gas station, where he screwed on a license plate and drove off. He was later arrested and charged with over speeding.

The 35-year-old blamed it on the stress of having his wife and son killed at their Texas residence.

“It’s been a long week, my wife and kid were murdered in Texas.”

Vandewege had given an outdated insurance card to the police and refused to exit his car when instructed. He was later forced out and handcuffed. Police found two loaded pistols on him, but discovered that he legally had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. His car was impounded and authorities discovered more weapons in the trunk of his car, including a.22 revolver pistol and AR-15 style rifle. They also found medication bottles, empty gas cans, and camouflage clothing.

A Fort Worth police spokesman confirmed that the fleeing man had been arrested Wednesday after a concerned citizen had called the Glenwood Springs Police Department saying that the 35-year-old man was behaving suspiciously. The man had called around 10:40 pm to tell police that a “Craig Allen” had collected his phone to “call a few people to talk about a murder.”

The concerned man had said Craig was in a white Hyundai with no front license plate. Officers spotted the sedan without a rear license plate and followed it into a Shell gas station. They observed when the driver grabbed a license plate from the trunk and fixed the plate. He was later pulled over for going over 37 mph in a 25 mph area.

He was charged for vehicular offenses, but an ongoing investigation into the deaths of his family by homicide detectives led to his arrest for murder.

“Glenwood Springs placed Vandewege under arrest for speeding and no proof of financial responsibility. After one week of continuous investigation homicide detectives were able to prepare an arrest warrant for Craig A. Vandewege. The warrant was for capital murder.”

The 35-year-old had a different story. He allegedly told police that he entered a 7-Eleven to borrow a phone and tell his parents that three people had been taken into custody in connection with the murder of his family. He said he was on his way to Colorado to bury his wife and child, even though he had been told by authorities to remain in Texas. According to him, his lawyer had told him to remove the plates on his car and he would not be pulled over. He had told the police officers he had multiple guns on him because he wanted to go shooting and get rid of stress.

According to the Inquisitr, his wife and son were fond with their throats slit and in their respective beds, December 15. Police responding to an “investigation call” had found Craig Vandewege crouched in front of his house with his face buried in his hands. He had told police that his family had been killed and that their bodies were in the master bedroom.

Shanna was a registered nurse while Craig worked with Costo. The couple had recently moved to Fort Worth, earlier in the year. Shanna had suffered three miscarriages before giving birth to her son. She was on maternity leave when she was killed.

[Featured Image by Blizenetsov/iStockPhoto]

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