A North Vancouver man’s failed murder plot that involved posing as an Amazon delivery person has landed him a lengthy prison sentence.
Devin Wolfgang Vanderhoef, 26, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences by Judge Mark E. Hood in the Superior Court of Monterey County in California on Thursday (June 25), Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced.
The two life sentences are for the “willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of two people,” the release says.
Vanderhoef was also sentenced to serve five consecutive years for “personally inflicting great bodily injury and personally using a weapon during the commission of the crimes.”
The release says that 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.”
Vanderhoef met the female victim through online video gaming.
In November 2024, Vanderhoef flew to Monterey County and purchased knives, handcuffs and duct tape, and surveilled the home and workplace of the female victim. He posed as an Amazon delivery person to gain access to her home.
On the night of the attack, he forced his way into the home where he stabbed the female victim’s boyfriend, injuring him.
Both the female victim and her boyfriend were able to leave the home, but Vanderhoef followed them outside and continued his attack, the release says.
“During the struggle that ensued, the male victim was able to disarm Vanderhoef and stab him repeatedly.”
However, Vanderhoef tackled the female victim when she attempted to flee back into the house “where he strangled her until she could not breathe.”