43-year-old Vurnel Smith will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted on December 12, 2019 for raping his wife and killing her mother and stepfather, 65 -year-old Jacquline White-Gordon and 69-year-old Rufus Gordon.
Vurnel plead guilty to his crimes and was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, as well as an additional 240-300 months in prison.
In July 2017, Vurnel was kicked out of the home where he had been living with his wife and her mother and stepfather on Red Clay Lane in Charlotte, NC. Vurnel was kicked out because of his abusive behavior toward his wife.
About two weeks later, on July 25, 2017, his wife was leaving work and tried to call her parents but could not reach them. She became concerned, and when she arrived at home, she found Vurnel, who had broken into the home.
Vurnel attacked her with a metal pole, so she ran to the door, screaming for help, but Vurnel pulled her back inside. Vurnel knocked her unconscious, and when she awoke, she was bound to a bed. Over the course of the next two days, Vurnel repeatedly raped her.
On the morning of July 27, 2017, Vurnel told his wife he was going to buy some camping equipment and live in the woods. Vurnel checked her restraints to ensure they were tight and then left the home. After struggling for 20-30 minutes to loosen her bindings, she freed herself.
That is when she discovered her mother, Mrs. White-Gordon, dead in another bedroom. She was unable to find her stepfather, and fearing that Vurnel may return, she drove herself to a local hospital in her stepfather’s car and reported what Vurnel had done.
When police arrived at the home, they found blood in the home. They soon found Mr. Gordon dead in the trunk of the car that the survivor had driven to the hospital.
The medical examiner found that both Mr. Gordon and Mrs. White-Gordon died as a result of strangulation, and they also suffered other injuries.
