A North Vancouver man who prosecutors say turned an online gaming friendship into a violent real-world ambush has been ordered to spend the rest of his life in a California prison.
Devin Wolfgang Vanderhoef, 26, was sentenced yesterday in Monterey County to two consecutive life terms plus an additional five years for a 2024 attack that targeted a woman he met while playing video games online. A jury had previously convicted him of two counts of attempted murder and one count of residential burglary after what authorities described as a carefully planned assault at the woman’s home.
According to a press release from the Monterey County District Attorney's Office, the judge stacked two life terms and then added five consecutive years for enhancements tied to great bodily injury and use of a weapon. Prosecutors said the jury found several special allegations true, including personal infliction of great bodily injury and personal use of a weapon, and argued the final sentence reflects what they called the willful, deliberate and premeditated nature of the crime. Vanderhoef was arrested at San Jose International Airport while attempting to return to Canada.
How investigators say it unfolded
The District Attorney's Office said Vanderhoef met the woman through online video gaming, then flew from British Columbia to Monterey County in November 2024. Once in California, he bought knives, handcuffs and duct tape, and began watching both her home and workplace, according to prosecutors.
Investigators say he eventually showed up at her residence posing as a delivery driver, carrying a package to get her to open the door. After gaining entry, prosecutors allege, Vanderhoef immediately launched the attack, stabbing the woman’s boyfriend inside the home. Both the woman and her boyfriend tried to escape outside, but authorities say Vanderhoef followed and continued the assault.
Struggle, injuries and confession
During the chaotic struggle, the boyfriend managed to wrestle the knife away from Vanderhoef and stab him multiple times, an exchange that left all three injured but alive, according to reporting by SFGATE. Authorities say that as the fight spilled outside, Vanderhoef tackled the woman and strangled her until she was unable to breathe, before the attack was ultimately stopped.
Prosecutors said Vanderhoef later admitted to investigators that he had been planning the assault for roughly a month. According to the District Attorney's Office, he told authorities his intention was to “actually kill someone.”
Co-defendant took plea, later sentenced
Vanderhoef was not traveling alone. Prosecutors say he flew to Monterey County with a friend, Darius Avery Whyte, who later struck a deal with the state. Whyte pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and to being an accessory after the fact.
Investigators say Whyte was arrested on a tarmac in San Jose as he prepared to board a flight back to Canada, and local reporting notes he was sentenced earlier this spring. KSBW reported that Whyte also took the stand at Vanderhoef’s trial.
Legal consequences and investigation
According to the District Attorney's Office, a Monterey County jury in February found Vanderhoef guilty of two counts of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder and one count of residential burglary. Jurors also found multiple sentencing enhancements true, including allegations that he personally inflicted great bodily injury and personally used a deadly weapon.
Those findings left the judge with room to stack punishment, resulting in two life terms plus an additional five-year enhancement tied to the injury and weapon-use allegations. The DA’s office credited Detective Arras Wilson of the Monterey County Sheriff's Office with leading the investigation.
