A Long Island man has been charged with brutally killing three female victims with a hammer and also stabbing one of them with a knife. The accused bludgeoned to death his Mother, sister, and one of her friends with a hammer. Following the bludgeoning, he also stabbed his mother several times.
What really happened?
Early morning on Saturday, the accused, Bobby Vanderhall, entered his mother's Hampstead home through the basement, according to the Nassau County police. Once inside, Vanderhall proceeded to bludgeon to death his mother, Lynn Vanderhall, his sister, Melissa Vanderhall, and her friend Janel Simpson.
The accused also allegedly used the hammer to injure a fourth victim, who is currently recovering in the hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.
The police discovered the dead bodies of the three women inside the house almost an hour after the attack. The deaths were determined to have been a result of the blunt force trauma to the heads. It is believed that the accused committed these murders as an act of revenge for the fact that his mother had thrown him out of the house in March. Lynn had resolved to keep her Son out of the house after he slapped her and physically abused her.
Police stated that Vanderhall entered the house through the basement but was enraged to find the inner door locked.
He picked out a hammer from the garage and broke open the lock of the basement. The Police were informed of the incident by a neighbor who discovered the injured victim trying to flee from the house with blood covering her clothes and face.
Vanderhall's arraignment
On Sunday, August 13, Vanderhall appeared in court for his arraignment.
He was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty to the murder charges and is currently being held without bail. During the arraignment proceeding, several family relatives testified regarding the accused and his mental disorders.
Many of those who know him claimed that Vanderhall was prone to fits of rage.
During such mental episodes, he would be particularly difficult to deal with. The 230-pound man is pretty large and if the rage seized him, he would allegedly become very hard to control. The suspect's 70-year old uncle also claimed that in one incident, it took six grown guys to bring Vanderhall down when he got enraged. The police said that they arrested him sleeping inside a parked car some two miles from the Hampstead home where the murders were committed.
