A 79-year-old man fatally stabbed his wife and stepson in apartment, MDSO says
.jpg "A 79-year-old man is accused of fatally stabbing his wife and stepson Saturday, April 18, 2026, inside their apartment, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said.")
A 79-year-old man stabbed his wife and stepson to death inside their Northwest Miami-Dade apartment last week after an argument over money, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Jose Vidal tried to cover up the crime, according to the sheriff’s office, including telling detectives he was attacked and knocked out by two men inside the Antigua at Country Club of Miami apartment on Sunday, April 19, and then discovering the bodies when he regained consciousness the next day.
He then rode his bicycle from the condo in the 17500 block of Northwest 67th Place to Memorial Hospital Pembroke in Pembroke Pines — a six-mile trip — on April 20 to be treated for what detectives describe as a superficial cut on his abdomen, according to his arrest report.
But detectives say this is the real story: Vidal stabbed his stepson and wife to death on Saturday, April 18, after a confrontation. The stepson accused Vidal of stealing a large sum of money, and announced to family via text messages that he was kicking his stepfather out of the home, according to the report.
Vidal was arrested Friday and, as of Monday, April 27, remained in Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on two counts of second-degree murder with no bond set.
Vidal left the apartment building around 9:20 a.m. April 20 and stopped at a gas station shortly after 10 a.m. to buy lottery tickets, according to the report. He then called 911.
The Pembroke Pines Police Department called the sheriff’s office to send deputies to the apartment to check on the stepson and wife, who are not named in the report.
Deputies found the bodies when they entered the apartment. They also found bloody footprints that matched a pair of sandals that were in the kitchen. The sandals were cleaned, but a chemical test detected blood on the footwear, the report states.
Security camera footage at the complex showed Vidal wearing the sandals the day detectives say the murders happened, and also showed Vidal making several trips to the dumpster throwing away full trash bags, according to the report. What the footage did not show: Anyone matching the description Vidal gave of the men he said attacked him, according to the report.
When detectives interviewed Vidal on Friday, he admitted he got into a fight with his stepson about the stolen money, the report states. He also asked them how they found blood on his sandals if they had been cleaned.
“He also stated that the day the victims’ families will get justice is the day he dies,” detectives wrote in the report.
