Credit: Bristol Borough police
A Bristol Township man admitted Wednesday to stabbing his estranged wife last summer.
Walter Joseph Vandoren Jr., 44, of Bristol Township, pleaded guilty before Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Finley to charges of attempted homicide, burglary, criminal trespassing, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime, terroristic threats, and criminal mischief.
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Vandoren stabbed his estranged wife, who had an active Protection from Abuse (PFA) order against him, around 6 a.m. on August 3, 2020 at her home in the 200 block of Buckley Street.
The woman was in her fenced backyard when Vandoren jumped over. She ran inside the home with a male friend and locked the door. Vandoren punched open a window and unlocked the door. He chased the woman and her friend as they tried to escape by climbing onto the roof, which led to the male friend falling off the roof and getting injured.
Vandoren’s estranged wife tried to hide, but he pushed in an air conditioning unit and climbed into the area where she was while he was armed with a butcher knife. The enraged Vandoren threatened to kill his estranged wife as he chased her into the backyard.
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Officers received multiple 9-1-1 calls for an assault with the 39-year-old woman screaming for help. Lawmen from the borough police department arrived to find a knife-welding Vandoren on top of his estranged wife.
“Upon arrival, Officers DiPaolo and Lepore were met by residents pointing to the rear yard where the attack was taking place. The officers had to break down a locked six-foot stockade fence to gain access to the rear yard,” police said last summer.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
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“He came at her at the side of the home as she screamed for help and he wrapped his left arm around her and started stabbing her twice in the side of her stomach with his other arm,” Deputy District Attorney Mary Kate Kohler said in court.
The woman suffered multiple stab wounds and was hospitalized.
The woman needed multiple surgeries and she has lost use of one of her hands. She spent three weeks in the hospital, prosecutors said.
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The woman’s 8-year-old daughter was home at the time of the attack. She was uninjured.
“The investigation found that the victim was separated from Vandoren for a year, and she had an active Protection from Abuse (PFA) order against him. In the days prior to the attack, Vandoren had been sending angry texts to her for about 4-5 days until she blocked his number,” the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
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Sentencing for Vandoren has been deferred to a later date.
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