Canadian man Devin Wolfgang Vanderhoef will spend the rest of his life in prison after he traveled to California to attack a woman he became “obsessed” with after they met on an online gaming platform.
The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday, June 25, that Vanderhoef, 26, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences following the failed murder plot.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Department said in an initial press release that the incident took place on November 25, 2024, shortly after Vanderhoef and his alleged coconspirator, Darius Avery Whyte, were arrested while trying to travel into Canada through the border.
Prosecutors announced that Vanderhoef was sentenced to “two consecutive life sentences for the willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of two people.” Additionally, he was “sentenced to serve five consecutive years for personally inflicting great bodily injury and personally using a weapon during the commission of the crimes.”
The sentencing came after Vanderhoef “confessed that he had been planning the attack for a month before flying to California and that his plan was to ‘actually kill someone.’”
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Department previously revealed that Vanderhoef met his victim through an online gaming platform and he “developed a year’s long obsession with the victim which led to him flying to California from Canada where he resides” to commit the murder.
Vanderhoef allegedly crossed the border with Whyte, 26, and he posed as an Amazon employee when he knocked on the victim’s door.
Police said that the victim’s boyfriend answered the door and found Vanderhoef allegedly holding a package while dressed as a delivery driver.
Vanderhoef allegedly lunged toward the boyfriend and “forced his way in and began stabbing the boyfriend with a knife resulting in multiple critical injuries.”
The woman then “grabbed a sharp metal object” to defend her boyfriend. “While fighting back, the female victim was strangled and stabbed by [Vanderhoef], sustaining moderate injuries,” authorities said. “During the struggle, [Vanderhoef] sustained multiple critical stab wounds.”
When detectives arrived at the scene, they “discovered that the package that Vandorhoef was carrying when he arrived contained handcuffs, duct tape and knives.”
Police initially said it was “unknown how these items were intended on being used” by Vanderhoef or Whyte.
“The investigation determined that Whyte was an accomplice of Vandorhoef during this incident and that he had knowledge of what Vandorhoef’s intentions were,” police added.
Whyte eventually pleaded guilty to charges for assault and for being an accessory after the fact to a felony. He was given a probationary sentence and was immediately released from custody since he had already served the time while awaiting his trial. Whyte also testified against Vanderhoef during his trial.
