1
warrant no, PC 34793
THE STATE OF TEXAS )(
COUNTY OF TARRANT )(
WARRANT OF ARREST
TO ANY PEACE OFFICER OF THE STATE OF TEXAS;
‘The undersigned Magistrate having heretofore found that probable cause exists for the issuance of
this warrant, you are hereby commanded to arrest
CRAIG ALAN VANDEWEGE
a White male date of birth: 10/22/1981
hereinafter referred to as the suspect, and bring the said suspect before a Magistrate in and for
Tarrant County, Texas, instanter, then and there to answer the State of Texas for an offense against
the laws of the said State, to-wit
CAPITAL MURDER
of which offense HIE the said suspect, is accused by the written affidavit, under oath of Detective M.
Barron #3087 Fort Worth Police Department filed before me anterior to the issuance of this warrant,
Herein fail not and due return make hereof at the place hereinafter named.
Witness my official signature this the PPrtay of Doorn foes, av, 2016.
‘RATE IN AND FOR TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS
d
c dgtiate
TITLE Al FICE WELD BY MAGISTRATE
—— a)
[ RECOMMENDED BOND SET BY JUDGE: ~
| 000,000.22 |
RETURN
‘Came on to hand on the. day of 20. , and executed on the day
[ee 20.
NAME OF PEACE OFFICER
DESCRIPTION OF OFFICE
Confidential Page 1 1220sTHE STATE OF TEXAS
ARREST WARRANT AFFIDAVIT
COUNTY OF TARRANT
BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared the undersigned affiant,
‘who after being duly sworn on oath deposes and says; My name is DETECTIVE M. BARRON
#3087, FORT WORTH POLICE DEPARTMENT, end I have good reason to believe and do
believe that on or about the 15th day of December 2016, in Tarrant County, Texas, CRAIG ALAN
VANDEWEGE, White male, date of birth 10/22/1981, hereafter known as the suspect, did then
and there commit the offense of: CAPITAL MURDER in that he then and there intentionally
caused the death of individual, Shanna Vandewege, by cutting her throat with a cutting instrument;
and did then and there cause the death of an individual, Diederik Vandewege, by cutting his throat
with a cutting instrument end both murders were committed during the same criminal transaction,
My belief is based upon the following facts and information:
This offense occurred in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
On Thursday, December 16", 2016 at approximately 2129 hours Fort Worth Police
Communications received a 911 phone call from an Individual subsequently identified as
Graig Alan Vandewege. This call was transferred to Fort Worth Communications from
‘Saginaw Police Communications, Vandewege was calling from his residence located at 8517
Cactus Flower Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76123. He provided the following summary of
Information.
> Vandewege said that he had Just arrived home and had found his 36 year old wife and
his three month old son dead. He had been home approximately four to six minutes
prior to calling the police.
> Vandewege said that his wife was in the bed upstairs and that his son was ina
bassinet positioned next to the bed. When asked how he knew his wife and son were
dead, Vandewoge said that they were not broathing and that there was a lot of blood
around his wife's neck and in the baby’s bassinet.
> Vandewege said that when he arrived home he noticed that the front door was
unlocked and that he thought this was unusual. When he entered the house he
observed that the house was all “torn up.”
At approximately 2139 Hours Officer M. Garrett #4339 and assisting officers arrived at the
‘scene of the Investigation call, Officer Garrett made contact with Craig Vandewege who was
‘Seated outside of his home on the curb. Officor Garrett made the following observations.
> Vandewege did not appear to be emotional. His eyes appeared to be slightly watered
but he did not appear to be crying or acting out.
> Vandewege relayed the above Information regarding his observations of the residence
to Officer Garrett. A 2015 Chevrolet sedan was parked in the residence driveway.
Vandewege subsequently Identified this vehicle as the car that he had driven to and
from work prior to discovering his wife and child deceased,
Confidential Page 2 1273/20163
> Officer Garrett and assisting officers entered the home to conduct a protective sweep
of the interior. Officer Garrett noticed that the kitchen cabinets and drawers had be
pulled open but that everything appeared to be In place inside of the cabinets,
> Several items of value, to Include firearms, flat screen televisions, cell phones, and
Jowolry remained in place inside of the home.
> Officers entered the second floor and observed the body of the adult female who was
‘subsequently identified as Shanna Vandewege, white female, DOB; 06/04/1980. She
was lying In the bed as if she had been sleeping, A large amount of blood had pooled
around her neck. She appeared to have sustained a deep horizontal cut extending the
width of her neck.
> Next to the bed and on the side where Shanna was lying was a baby bassinet. An
Infant child, lator identified as three month old Diederik Vandewege, white male, DOB:
09/05/2016 was lying on his back, He also appeared to have sustained a horizontal cut
‘extending the width of his neck. Both individuals were subsequently pronounced
deceased at 2160 hours by Medstar #36 attendant S. Wyatt.
> Officers noted that two dogs which had beon inside of the home were secured in a
room Inside of the home.
At approximately 2200 hours | Detective M, Barron #3087, assigned to homicide, was
contacted by police communications and asked to ‘call Officer Garrett. 1 made contact with
him and was briefed with the above information. | advised Officer Garrett to secure the
perimeter and that | would be responding to the scer
At approximately 2300 hours | arrived and briefly observed the scene, Additional
‘observation was made following our obtaining a search warrant. | made the following
summary of observations,
> On entry Into the downstairs of the home, | observed a clear liquid on the floor which
was consistent with dog urine,
> lobserved that all of the kitchen cabinets and the kitchen drawers were opened. The
contents of the cabinets and the drawers remained neat and In place,
> Alarge flat screen television remained hooked up in the living room which opens out
from the kitcher
> Officers directed me to the back door which was unlocked. | observed that there were
pry marks on the back door frame which appeared to have possibly been made from
both the inside and outside of the residence. More importantly when the door was
closed, It did not appear that an object could be Inserted in a manner consistent with
the pry marks which would achléve the observed damage to the strike plate and
accomplish opening the door. The door appeared to have possibly been opened
when this damage occurred.
> walked upstairs and was directed to the master bedroom where the victims were,
> lobserved that dresser drawers were randomly opened but the contents remained in
place and did not appear to have been rifled through.
> Two small fire type safes were randomly tossed on the bedroom floors with the
contents partially dumped, One of these safes had a key locking mechanism. A key
attached to a key chain containing several keys was inserted in the locking
mechanism. The other safe had a combination keypad style lock. The door was open
indicating that someone had to have had the code. Due to the lack of blood leading to
and from the safe it appeared to have been impossible that Shanna Vandewege could
have gotten out of bed and opened tho key pad style safe after having sustained such
a severe wound,
Confidential Page 3 1223/2016> Several firearms were readily accessible inside of the home, A shotgun was later
located under the bed where Shanna Vandewege was lying. This shotgun was
observable when approaching from the stairs.
> The female victim, lator identified as Shanna Vandewege, was positioned on her back
in the bed, Her arms were at her side and she was covered to just below her neck by
blankets. She had sustalned an obvious slashing wound to her neck. The blood from
the wound was pooled around her neck and not observed on other areas of the
bedding, It did not appear that she had moved or struggled prior to or after the wound
‘was inflicted. She had no visible defensive wounds. It appeared that she was either
asleep or unconscious when the wound was inflicted.
> The three month old male infant was located in a bassinet situated to the left of
Shanna. The child was situated on his back and he had also sustained a slashing
wound to the neck
> Observation of the child’s skin led me to believe that these victims had not recently
been killed. The coloring of the child’s skin made it appear similar to a doll.
It appoared from my and the experience of my assisting detective J.W. Galloway that this
crime scene appeared to have been staged to look like a burglary.
I requested the assistance of Homicide Detective J.W, Galloway #3298 in completing a
search warrant for the residence. | also requested that an officer transport Craig Vandewege
to the homicide office to be Interviewed. He provided the following summary of information.
> Graig Vandewege said that on Wednesday December 14”, 2016 Craig Vandewege and
his wife went to Chili's near North Tarrant Parkway at approximately 7:00 to 7:16 PM.
They had recently sold thelr home in Colorado. They stopped at Winco on the way
home and he purchased a 30 pack of Keystone Light beer. Craig and his wife
returned home and played video games. Craig sald that his In-laws believe that he
drinks too much,
> Craig said that he showers at night and does not showor In the morning and that the
clothes he was wearing during the interview were the clothes he had on the entire
day. Craig Vandewege said that he had departed for work at approximately 10:30 AM.
‘on December 16", His wife was sleeping and the child was sleeping in the bassinet
next to the bed.
> Vandewege kissed his wife goodbye and she woke up to tell him she loved him when
he kissed her. Craig departed for work. It generally takes him approximately thirty
minutes to arrive at work. He stopped at Einstein's Bagels on Bryant Irvin Road and
picked up coffoe for his co-workers and did not arrive until 11:48, Graig said he
parked in a location near the gasoline station. He does not normally park at this
location. (Subsequent observation of the Costco security cameras reveled that this
area is monitored by surveillance cameras). Craig parked there to have a tire repaired
for his wife. Craig said that beginning at approximately 2:00 PM he began texting his
wife's phone, He texted her approximately three times between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM.
He ‘@ response to his text messages, Vandewogo said that he figured
his wife had gotten busy and he did not think this was unusual. Craig readily
produced documentation of purchases made on the day of December 15”, 2016,
> Craig Vandewege purchased a set of diamond ear rings for his wife while he was at
work and a ladder to hang wedding pictures on the stairwell wall of his home.
> He sald that he and his wife had only recently moved to Fort Worth so that he could
promote in his job at Costco, Craig said that money had been tight recently with the
birth of the baby and his wife quitting her registered nursing job to care for the baby.
Confidential Page 4 1223/2016Work has been stressful and that because of that he takes a daily anti-anxiety
medication regimen, They had recently sold their home in Colorado and were looking
forward to the money situation improving, Craig could not provide any information
regarding persons who may want to harm his wife or child, He mentioned that
Shanna had an ex-husband but that he lived out of state and Shanna had moved on
from him,
> Craig Vandewege returned home at 9:30 PM on December 16" and discovered his wife
and child deceased. He sald that he did not attempt any lifesaving intervention
‘measures bocause they appeared obviously deceased. He reported that he never
physically touched either of the bodies between the time tho 911 call was received by
Saginaw Police Communications at 2123, transferred to Fort Worth Communications
at 2129, and the time police arrived at 2138.
In a subsequent review of the 911 recording Craig Vandewege appears to be speaking in
an overly calm manner. When asked what is wrong, he responds more than once that he has
just arrived home from work, prior to ever describing what the situation is inside of his home.
Craig immediately accepted that his infant son and wife were dead, He additionally
expressed no fear that an Intruder might be in his home. He remains Inside of the residence
for the majority of the time he is communicating with the 914 operators. In my experience as
a homicide detective this Is extremely unusual behavior for someone who has just
discovered that a loved one Is deceased.
Cralg Vandewege was unusually calm throughout the interview at the homicide office and
he exhibited very litle to no emotion. He slept for a large portion of the time he was present.
J explained to Craig that an examination of his phone would possibly assist in determining
when his wife was last alive In relation to the text messages that he sent, Craig believed that
this was an intrusive measure and declined to provide consent. In a subsequent
‘examination of the phone belonging to Shanna Vandewege there Is no outgoing activity from
her phone that would suggest that she was alive after 10:30 AM on December 16" following
Cralg Vandewege'’s departure for work.
‘On Saturday December 17", 2016 at approximately 1100 hours | met with
hot a TT, ro Wort,
HERB aid that the store did have video that would possibly capture the arrival and
departure activity of Craig Vandewege from the Costco. She additionally advised me that
Is in charge of making the employee work schedules. In a follow up Interview with
J, she mentioned that Cralg Vanderwege was forty five minutes late to work on
18", 2016,
De
On Monday, December 13", 2016 Homicide Detectives T. O’Brien, E. Pate, M. Anderson, K.
Sullivan, M, Green and | began examining the crime scene photos after they had been placed
on the unit server. We observed and had been advised through previous conversations with
Scene personnel that a chemical reaction consistent with the presence of blood had
‘occurred In the sinks of the master bathroom and the kitchen whore there was no visible
blood, Crime Scene Personnel also noted that there was possible blood underneath the
front edge of the master bathroom sink top. The lack of visible blood in the sinks and the
presence of possible blood on the front edge of the bathroom sink top appeared consistent
with someone cleaning the scene,
‘On Monday, December 19", 2016 at approximately 1500 hours | met with Craig
Vandewege again at the homicide office. Craig advised me that he had obtained counsel
Confidential Page $ 1223/20166
since our previous meeting and that he would have to communicate with his counsel before
further participation in this investigation. At no time in the original or brief follow up
interview was Craig Vandewege ever accused of committing this crime, Craig Vandewege
did text me a list of items missing from the home which included his wife's wedding ring,
diamond studded ear rings, and a pearl necklace.
‘On December 21% 2016 at approximately 1100 hours Detective O’Brien and | met with
Costco employer a at the Costco Warehouse located at 5300 Overton Ridge
Boulevard. We had been advised by the Costco General ‘ha
may have valuable information that we needed to be aware of. is employed with
Craig Vandewege in the optical department at Costco. She provided the following summary
of information.
> Craig Vandewege constantly talked negative and complained about his wife and her
appearance. She could not do anything right and she dressed and wore her hair
poorly, Craig was upset with his wife because she moves his personal things around.
» Craig said that the only way he could tolerate his wife was by drinking.
> Craig told sory after starting work at Costco that his wife was
Pregnant and that he hed that he could push her down the stairs and kill her that
way.
> Craig recounted a dream to [J approximately two to three days before his wife and
child were killed. Craig said that in this dream he “sliced the heads of his wife and
father bologna.”
Craig said that recently he had started taking a prescription medication that he had
previously taken. He told [i that this medication makes him hear voices that tell
him to kill people.
> A few days prior to the murder Craig asked [I if she had insurance on her jewelry.
He told her that if she ever wanted money all she would have to do is fake a robbery.
Craig told [ll that he had, on a previous occasion, walked around his home racking
his shotgun. He noted that this not seem to scare his dogs.
Detective O’Brien and | also spoke with Craig's EN who was identified
as EB. He provided the following summary of information.
.
=
ed Craig as having poor relations with and poor people skills with the
his department. He frequently has to address this issue with Craig.
> received a text message from Craig on December 15", 2016 at 6:28 PM. The
content of the message stated: “another issue we need to address is her hitting me
and the sales guys threatening to stab us and bragging that she knows how to make
bodies disappear.” [EM said that Craig made this statement in reference toa
fellow female employee named
‘On December 22™, 2016, | received a phone call from the on call homicide detective M.
Anderson advising me that Craig Vandewege had been arrested in Glenwood Springs,
Colorado by police following a suspicious person call at 2237 hours on December 21", 2016,
Detective Anderson obtained a copy of the report narrative which provided the following
summary of information. Additional information was obtained in a follow up phone interview
|
Confidential Page 6 1223/2016bea |
» Craig Vandewege had approached a person, Identified asl ata 7-11 In
Glenwood Springs and asked to borrow his phone to call some people and talk about
amurder.
> Graig told that the government was trying to conspire against him by saying
that he hae id his family, Craig Vandewege said he was headed to Las Vegas to
Donak 1p to work it out with him,
> Craig told ‘that he was on the run from police.
> Craig got into.a white colored Hyundai with no license plates.
> Officers began following the vehicle, Cralg pulled into a Shell station, exited his
:
>
vehicle and screwed a license plate on to the car.
Craig got back on to the roadway and accelerated rapidly. He was subsequently
stopped for speeding.
Craig told the officer, while showing no emotion, that it had been a long week and his
wife and kid were murdered in Fort Worth, Texas. Cralg handed the officer his
attorney retalner contract and told him to call the attorney if he needed to verify
anything.
> Craig was subsequently arrested for traffic violations, During search incident to
arrest officers discovered that Cralg was carrying one loaded pistol in his waistband
and another in an ankle holster. The officer noted that Craig had a number of
condoms In his pockets. A search of his vehicle later revealed that he had
camouflage, clothing, numerous bottles of medication, and an AR-Style rifle in the
vehicle,
‘That based on the above facts and information being related to him, and as a result of his investigation,
your affiant has reason to believe and does believe that CRAIG ALAN VANDEWEGE, White
male, date of birth 10/22/1981, knowingly and intentionally did then and there commit the offense of
CAPITAL MURDER.
WHEREFORE, I request that an arrest warrant issue for the suspect hereinbefore designated according
to the laws of this State,
WITNESS my signature this the “Ze day of, 016,
'FIANT
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME this the day of Deemer aolle.
MAGISTRATE IN ANI) FOR TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS
Fa namer wee
Sovnack Cou Gp) marco
TITLE AND OFFICE HELD BX MAGISRNATE 25/__CRNINAL MAGISTRATE
Confidential Page 7 122016