Deputies said the 79-year-old suspect claimed strangers attacked him before evidence pointed back to the home.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 79-year-old northwest Miami-Dade man was jailed without bond after deputies said he stabbed his wife and stepson to death during a family dispute at their townhome.
Jose Vidal faces two counts of second-degree murder after the April 18 killings at the Antigua at Country Club of Miami townhomes in the 17500 block of Northwest 67th Place. Investigators said the case moved from a reported outside attack to a double-homicide arrest after detectives reviewed surveillance video, blood evidence and Vidal’s account of what happened.
Detectives said the violence followed an argument between Vidal and his stepson over money. The stepson had accused Vidal of stealing a large amount of cash and was planning to evict him from the home, according to investigators. Deputies said the argument turned into a fight inside the townhome, where Vidal stabbed both victims. Their names were not released in the initial report. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said the killings happened Saturday, April 18, but Vidal did not immediately report the deaths. Investigators said he later gave a different account, claiming two unknown men attacked him and left him unconscious.
According to an arrest report, Vidal rode his bicycle the following Monday to buy a lottery ticket, then went about six miles to Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines. He told authorities there that two men had stabbed him, knocked him unconscious and that he later woke to find his relatives dead. Detectives said they found no evidence matching the people Vidal described. They also said surveillance video showed him walking through the community in sandals that matched bloody footprints found inside the home. The report said those details undercut Vidal’s version of events and placed him at the scene after the stabbings.
Vidal, who investigators identified as Spanish-born, was arrested Friday. He appeared Saturday in Miami-Dade bond court, where a judge ordered him held without bond. As of Monday, April 27, he remained in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. The charges are second-degree murder counts, which do not require prosecutors to prove premeditation but do require proof of an unlawful killing marked by a depraved mind under Florida law.
The killings drew attention in a quiet residential area near the Country Club of Miami, where rows of townhomes sit along Northwest 67th Place. Investigators focused on the home, the paths through the community and the hospital trip that followed. The arrest report tied the case to video, footwear evidence and Vidal’s statements. Officials did not say whether a knife was recovered, whether Vidal had an attorney, or whether any other relatives witnessed the dispute before the stabbings.
The case now moves to prosecutors, who will review the arrest report, forensic evidence and witness statements before formal court filings continue. Vidal’s next court date was not listed in the initial public reports. Detectives have not announced any additional suspects. The investigation remains centered on what deputies described as a domestic dispute that turned deadly inside the northwest Miami-Dade home.
Author note: Last updated April 27, 2026.