Inset: Richard “Cole” Vanderhoek (KATU). Background: The home in the 3200 block of NE Petticoat Lane in Vancouver, Washington, where Vanderhoek fatally shot a man with a bow and arrow (KOIN).
A Washington jury convicted a man of murder after prosecutors said he “hunted down” an acquaintance and killed him with a bow and arrow during an early-morning confrontation.
Richard “Cole” Vanderhoek, 49, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old David Collins in Vancouver, according to court records.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by The Oregonian says Vanderhoek called 911 at about 6:45 a.m. on April 2, 2024, and reported that he had been assaulted.
Deputies found Collins dead outside a home in the 3200 block of NE Petticoat Lane, with an arrow lodged in his chest. Vanderhoek allegedly told investigators, “I told him to stop assaulting me,” referring to Collins. Officers observed several scrapes on Vanderhoek’s face and elbow, and he repeatedly asked them to photograph his injuries.
A neighbor told deputies that the men had been involved in a continuing argument that became physical. Collins attempted to leave, but the neighbor said Vanderhoek drove toward him “aggressively.” The witness then heard a “thump” and saw Collins lying on the ground with an arrow in his chest.
“The defendant essentially hunted down this victim, driving aggressively, revving his engine, after the victim had dissipated,” prosecuting attorney Luka Vitasovic said during Vanderhoek’s first court appearance, according to local ABC affiliate KATU.
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Vanderhoek maintained that he acted in self-defense. “I didn’t know what to do,” he told deputies.
Prosecutors argued that the self-defense claim was undermined by the fact that Vanderhoek fired the bow and arrow at Collins while a fence stood between them.
Vanderhoek was arrested the same day and booked into the Clark County Jail, where he has remained ever since.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 30.
Sabrina Meyer, Collins’ sister, told the Spokesman-Review that her brother had been cruelly taken from the family.
“I actually have a voicemail that my daughter was able to save from her birthday last year where he’s singing in this high-pitched, atrocious, atrocious voice. But it’s so beautiful,” Meyer told the newspaper. “And he would just make you giggle,” she said of her brother. “No matter what, he was calling in to check on us. He never forgot anything … He was our big brother.”
The post Neighbor hears a ‘thump’ and sees man lying in driveway next door with arrow in his chest after acquaintance shot him, jury finds first appeared on Law & Crime.