Wichita man convicted of killing estranged wife, beau in apparent fit over new romance
A Wichita man has pleaded no contest to murdering his estranged wife and her new beau at her Riverside neighborhood home last year in an apparent fit of anger over the new romance.
Charles Crawford, 63, entered the plea Thursday to two counts of first-degree felony murder in the July 25, 2023, shooting deaths of 50-year-old Vanessa Crawford and 58-year-old Donald Eckert at 1126 N. Woodrow in Wichita. He faces two life prison terms when he is sentenced on Feb. 10, court records show.
Prosecutors plan to ask the judge to order the life sentences run consecutively, or back to back, meaning Crawford would have to spend at least 50 years in prison before he would be eligible for parole, according to his plea agreement. Crawford’s lawyers plan to ask for concurrent sentences, which would make him eligible for parole in half that time.
Wichita police have said a woman dropping her child off at Vanessa Crawford’s in-home daycare around 7:30 a.m. July 25, 2023, discovered the fatal shootings. Officers found Charles Crawford around two blocks away holding a gun to this head. He was arrested and charged with capital murder after two hours of police negotiations where he confessed to the shootings, court documents say. The capital murder charge was amended to the less severe felony murder charges as part of his plea deal with prosecutors.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a friend of Vanessa’s told authorities the Crawfords were divorcing and Charles “was upset that she was already dating Donald (Eckert).” Charles Crawford told police he showed up with a gun at his wife’s home around 1 a.m. to talk about their problems and found her with Eckert. He claimed his gun went off and struck Vanessa after she grabbed his arm while he was pulling her hair and told police he fired at Eckert when he “started to get up,” the affidavit says.
Police found four shell casings in the living room with the bodies. Vanessa Crawford died from a gunshot wound to her right upper chest. Eckert was shot in the head, the affidavit says.
