Craig Alan Vandewege v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 6, 2024
Docket02-21-00156-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Craig Alan Vandewege v. the State of Texas (Craig Alan Vandewege v. the State of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Craig Alan Vandewege v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________

No. 02-21-00156-CR ___________________________

CRAIG ALAN VANDEWEGE, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

On Appeal from 372nd District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 1481312D

Before Sudderth, C.J.; Wallach and Walker, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Walker MEMORANDUM OPINION

On the morning of December 15, 2016, Shanna Vandewege and three-month-

old Diederik Vandewege were murdered. Their throats were slit. Shanna was still in

bed. Diederik was still in his bassinet.

A jury found Appellant Craig Alan Vandewege guilty of capital murder by

intentionally or knowingly causing the death of Shanna and Diederik during the same

criminal transaction or by intentionally or knowingly causing the death of Diederik, an

individual under ten years of age. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 19.03(a)(7)(A), (8).

Because the State waived the death penalty, the trial court sentenced Vandewege to

life in prison without parole. See id. § 12.31(a)(2).

On appeal, Vandewege brings two points. First, he contends that the evidence

is insufficient to support the verdict. Second, he asserts that the trial court abused its

discretion by admitting statements that he had purportedly made to a coworker

because their prejudicial value substantially outweighed their probative value.

We hold that the evidence is sufficient to support Vandewege’s conviction and

that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting Vandewege’s statements

to a coworker. We overrule both points and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

2 I. EVIDENCE

A. VANDEWEGE AND SHANNA’S RELATIONSHIP

1. Vandewege’s Parents

Vandewege met his future wife, Shanna, on the dating site Christian Mingle.

From Vandewege’s parents’ perspective, it was true love. His father testified, “They

were in love. You know, they were meant for each other.” His mother added,

“[T]hey were very much in love.” Photographs of Vandewege and Shanna together

corroborated his parents’ observations.

2. Vandewege’s Coworkers

Vandewege’s coworkers, however, saw something quite different. One

coworker said that Vandewege made “mean, nasty comments” about Shanna; the

coworker added, “I mean it was constant.” Another coworker said that Vandewege

made derogatory comments about Shanna on almost a daily basis.

Vandewege’s former supervisor testified that Vandewege spoke so negatively

about Shanna that she questioned why Vandewege was dating her. Even before

Vandewege married Shanna, the supervisor had advised Vandewege not to marry her

because he spoke so poorly of her. The supervisor explained that Vandewege was

“just always talking bad about her.” The supervisor’s impression was that Vandewege

went through with the marriage for financial reasons.

3 3. Financial Matters

Other evidence supported Vandewege’s supervisor’s impression that

Vandewege had married Shanna for financial reasons.

Vandewege and Shanna procured their marriage license on May 2, 2014. On

the very next day, May 3, 2014, Vandewege created a living trust. A forensic financial

analyst testified that a living trust was one means of protecting assets in the event of a

divorce. The analyst noted that Vandewege had placed his house and his checking

account in his living trust. Vandewege also had his payroll checks deposited into the

living trust. In contrast, Shanna’s payroll checks were deposited into the couple’s

joint checking account. The couple married later in May 2014.

Additionally, the analyst determined that when Shanna sold her house, she

made a $65,000 profit. This $65,000 was then used to pay down the mortgage on

Vandewege’s house, which, as noted earlier, had been placed in Vandewege’s living

trust. The analyst questioned if Shanna was aware that she would never get that

$65,000 back.

Shanna had life-insurance policies in the approximate amount of $43,000

before she married Vandewege. Shanna made Vandewege the beneficiary of those

policies.

The life insurance did not stop there. One month after Vandewege and Shanna

were married, Vandewege took out another $220,736 in life insurance on Shanna.

4 Between Shanna’s and Vandewege’s policies, Shanna’s life was insured for a total of

approximately $265,000.

And in 2016, Vandewege purchased another $396,500 in life insurance on

Shanna to bring the total to $661,505. Shanna was murdered in December 2016.

Vandewege had also taken out life-insurance policies on Diederik. Two days

after Diederik’s birth in September 2016, Vandewege took out policies on him in the

amount of $56,500. As next of kin, Vandewege would have been the beneficiary of

those policies.1

B. VANDEWEGE AND DIEDERIK’S RELATIONSHIP

Regarding Diederik, Vandewege’s mother stated that Vandewege and Shanna

were excited about Diederik because they had previously lost a baby. Photographs

seem to show Vandewege to be a happy father.

1 Shanna’s father testified that on the day Diederik was brought home, he overheard Vandewege on the telephone talking to someone, after which Vandewege commented to Shanna, “I guess we can only get $10,000 of life insurance on [Diederik] until he’s three months.” Vandewege purchased a basic life-insurance policy for $1,500, a supplemental life-insurance policy for $5,000, and an accidental- death-and-dismemberment policy for $50,000. A forensic financial analyst stated that accidental-death-and-dismemberment insurance is “generally for people who have a high-risk job or [who] have a high-risk lifestyle and [who have other] people rely[ing] on them financially for support.”

5 2. Vandewege’s Coworkers

Vandewege’s coworkers, however, expressed reservations about Vandewege

and his relationship with Diederik. When an ultrasound suggested that Diederik

might have physical abnormalities, one coworker described Vandewege as “[j]ust kind

of disgusted.” And the same coworker commented that when it was determined that

Diederik had a tongue tie, Vandewege recounted how he put numbing gel in

Diederik’s mouth and cut the ligament himself to avoid a $15 copay.2

C. COMMENTS FORETELLING VIOLENCE

In the months preceding the murders, Vandewege had made comments that

others thought odd. After the fact, the comments appeared to foreshadow the

murders. For example, a coworker said that Vandewege had told her about a dream

he had in which he had cut Shanna’s head like bologna. This same coworker related

that while Shanna was pregnant, Vandewege said that “he wished he could just push

her down the stairs and kill her.”

Vandewege made a similar comment to a second coworker: Vandewege stated

that he would get time off from work and life insurance money if Shanna fell or was

pushed down the stairs while pregnant and lost the baby. To this coworker,

When asked if Vandewege was frugal, Vandewege’s father responded, “Very, 2

yes. He watched his money.” Vandewege’s second point is based on the testimony concerning Vandewege’s personally cutting the tongue tie to avoid the $15 copay.

6 Vandewege also said that he needed life insurance in case Shanna died during

childbirth.

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Craig Alan Vandewege v. the State of Texas, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/craig-alan-vandewege-v-the-state-of-texas-texapp-2024.