Deana Thetford allegedly shot her husband, Craig Thetford, at their home and left his body to rot for days before tying him up in plastic, according to police
(Image: Wichita County Jail)
A woman accused of murdering her husband and dragging his body out of the house with a tractor allegedly told police he had “gone fishing”.
Deana Thetford allegedly shot her husband, Craig Thetford, at their home and left his body to rot for days before tying him up in plastic, according to police.
Mr Thetford was reported missing in May after his family members were concerned for his welfare. They said they had not heard from him since January.
Cops went to their home in Vermont on May 15 and spoke to his wife, who told officers she and her husband were in the process of getting divorced and that he had “gone down to Mexico with his new girlfriend to fish”.
The suspect was later interviewed again by police when her story changed. She claimed Mr Thetford had broken his phone and purchased a new one, but she didn’t know his new number.
She also claimed he had gone to Texas to look after his mum, which Mr Thetford’s sister disputed.
Officers later discovered a 4ft-deep hole in her front garden, which she claimed would be used for a “raised garden bed”.
But it wasn’t until the suspect’s daughter told police her mum and stepdad had an argument and he pushed her down a flight of stairs. After the alleged fight, Deana Thetford told her daughter she was “blinded by rage and shot Craig several times”.
Deana allegedly told her daughter she didn’t know what to do with his body and left it in the pool room for up to two days. She is accused of putting the body “in a rug and plastic, tied something to him, and used the tractor to pull him out of the house”.
Tragically, on June 17, his body was found by officers after a search warrant was granted.
An autopsy later confirmed that Thetford had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The coroner said it was likely he had been deceased for several weeks – possibly even months.
Deana was arrested in Texas and taken into custody at the Wichita County Jail, where she is being held. She is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
It comes after a woman was allegedly held captive inside a shed, buried alive and tortured with an “electrical cord” for two weeks by her boyfriend – before managing to escape.
The victim, who escaped through the back of the shed and ran to a nearby neighbour for help, told call handlers she had been abused for weeks by 36-year-old Timothy Wood.
“She was frantic. She was scared to death that he was going to find her and kill her,” the neighbour said to FOX 10. “She had two black eyes, and then she had a cut right in here. She had a bruise on her head. She had a bruise on her leg.”