A 41-year-old Texas man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to the brutal murder of his wife. Craig Smith admitted to killing Vennessa Smith with an ax in February 2024.
The chilling details of the crime were revealed in court. On February 26, 2024, at around 1:43 a.m., Gilmer police officers responded to a report of an attempted vehicle break-in.
They encountered Craig Smith, who appeared “soaking wet on the front of his clothes and dry on the back.” After initially providing a false name, Smith confessed his identity and admitted that his wife was dead.
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Despite denying killing his wife, Smith claimed she had been deceased for several hours. He was taken into custody on outstanding warrants for assault on a family member and failure to identify.
Police then went to the couple’s home on Walnut Street, where they discovered Vennessa Smith’s body lying on a bed in a pool of blood. She had suffered numerous lacerations to her upper body, and a splitting maul ax, believed to be the murder weapon, was found near her body.
Investigators determined that Smith had killed his wife approximately 50 minutes before encountering the police. This timeline was established through the victim’s daughter, who lived next door and had heard her parents arguing. She had sent a text message to her mother around 12:55 a.m., but received no response.
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Further evidence, including the victim’s blood found on Smith’s clothing, solidified his involvement in the murder.
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