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José Vidal, 79 years old, was arrested last Friday and faces two counts of second-degree murder with a weapon following the discovery of his wife and stepson stabbed to death inside his apartment in northwest Miami-Dade County, according to authorities.
The crimes occurred on April 18 at the Antigua residential complex at Country Club of Miami, located on the 17500 block of Northwest 67th Place.
The agents of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office found both victims with stab wounds in different places of the apartment, according to local news outlets.
What caught the researchers' attention from the beginning was Vidal's behavior after the events.
Two days after the crimes, on April 20, the suspect rode his bicycle and traveled more than six miles from his apartment to Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, where he arrived with a minor abdominal wound.
There, he provided contradictory accounts to different people.
At one point he stated that on April 19 he arrived at his apartment, found the door open, and was attacked by two men who left him unconscious.
According to his account, upon waking the next day he discovered his wife and stepson dead.
In another version, he described his alleged attackers as two black men.
He said he called 911, but added that he decided not to wait for emergency services and chose to ride his bike to the hospital.
The doctors determined that Vidal had only a superficial cut on his abdomen and no head injury, which directly contradicted his account of having been unconscious for hours.
The physical evidence further dismantled his alibi.
The investigators found traces of shoe prints with dried blood next to the bodies and in various areas of the apartment.
The footprints matched a pair of sandals found in the kitchen that had been cleaned, but still retained traces of blood.
The surveillance cameras of the complex showed Vidal wearing that footwear.
The security videos also captured the suspect making multiple trips to a nearby dumpster with bags full on April 18, with no one appearing who matched the description of the alleged attackers he had mentioned.
Another detail that the investigators found revealing: the cameras showed him stopping at a gas station to buy lottery tickets during his bike ride to the hospital, two days after the crimes.
According to the arrest report, the dispute that triggered the events arose because Vidal allegedly stole a large sum of money, and his stepson had informed family members on April 18 of his intention to expel him from the home.
The researchers concluded that it all "stemmed from a money dispute and the stepson's decision to kick him out of the house."
During the interrogation on Friday, Vidal admitted that he had fought with his stepson over the theft of money and confirmed that he was being evicted from the apartment.
Vidal appeared before a judge on Saturday, who ordered that he remain detained without bail.
Local10 News identified the suspect as being born in Spain.
The case recalls other incidents of fatal domestic violence in the Hispanic community in Florida, such as the homicide that occurred in Hialeah in November 2025, when a Cuban woman was killed by her husband; or the case of a Cuban man sentenced to 50 years in prison in February for killing his partner in Florida.
In Florida, second-degree murder is a first-degree felony with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
For a 79-year-old defendant, any significant conviction effectively amounts to a life sentence.
Miami-Dade is the county with the highest rates of domestic violence in Florida, where emergency calls for domestic disputes increased by more than 12% in 2026 compared to the previous year.
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