Canadian gets 2 life terms in failed murder plot, prosecutors say
By Ricardo Tovar
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MONTEREY COUNTY, California (KSBW) — A Canadian man convicted of trying to kill two people in Monterey County in 2024 after posing as a delivery driver has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, prosecutors said Thursday.
Devin Wolfgang Vanderhoef, 26, of North Vancouver, British Columbia, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of two victims, Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said.
He was also sentenced to five consecutive years for personally inflicting great bodily injury and personally using a weapon during the crimes.
Vanderhoef was convicted in February of two counts of attempted murder and one count of residential burglary. A jury also found true allegations that he personally inflicted great bodily injury and personally used a weapon during the attack.
According to the district attorney’s office, Vanderhoef met the female victim through online video gaming.
In November 2024, Vanderhoef flew from Canada to Monterey County, bought knives, handcuffs and duct tape, and surveilled the woman’s home and workplace, prosecutors said.
Investigators said he posed as an Amazon delivery driver to gain access to the home.
On the night of the attack, Vanderhoef forced his way inside and stabbed the woman’s boyfriend, causing great bodily injury, according to prosecutors.
Both victims were able to flee the home, but Vanderhoef followed them outside and continued the attack, the district attorney’s office said.
During the struggle, the boyfriend was able to disarm Vanderhoef and stab him repeatedly.
Prosecutors said Vanderhoef then tackled the woman as she tried to run back inside and strangled her until she could not breathe.
The district attorney’s office said Vanderhoef later confessed that he had been planning the attack for a month before flying to California and said his plan was to “actually kill someone.”
Vanderhoef was at the scene with co-defendant Darius Avery Whyte. Whyte was initially questioned at the scene and allowed to leave after telling investigators he did not know what was happening.
Investigators later alleged Whyte was involved in the scheme, and he was arrested on a tarmac in San Jose while preparing to fly back to Canada.
The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office previously told KSBW 8 in February that Whyte accepted a plea deal in the case.
He was later sentenced on April 3, 2026, but it is unclear how much time he was sentenced to or what the final charges he was sentenced for were.
The case was investigated by Detective Arras Wilson of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
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