Man Gets 2 To 4 Decades In Prison For Attack On Estranged Wife

A Bristol Township man will spend a long time in state prison for stabbing his estranged wife in Bristol Borough last summer.

Walter Joseph Vandoren Jr., 44, was sentenced Thursday by Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Finley to 22 to 46 years behind bars, according to prosecutors.

In May, Vandoren pleaded guilty to charges of attempted homicide, burglary, criminal trespassing, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime, terroristic threats, and criminal mischief.

Authorities said 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. Her wounds were serious.

The judge told Vandoren during sentencing at the Justice Center that his crime was an “evil act,” noting Vandoren had children with the woman.

“He deserves every minute of the sentence the judge gave him. As it stands, he will not even be eligible for parole until he’s a senior citizen, decades from now,” Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said in reaction to the sentence.

On August 3, 2020, the victim 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 and frightened 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.

Officers received multiple 9-1-1 calls for an assault with the 39-year-old woman screaming for help. Officers 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.

“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 during the spring guilty plea.

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.

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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