Investigators said surveillance video and shoe impressions challenged the suspect’s claim that strangers killed his relatives.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 79-year-old man accused of killing his wife and stepson is being held without bond after deputies said bloody footprints and surveillance video tied him to the northwest Miami-Dade crime scene.
Jose Vidal was arrested Friday on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of his wife and stepson at the Antigua at Country Club of Miami townhomes. Investigators said the killings happened April 18 after a dispute over money and housing inside a residence in the 17500 block of Northwest 67th Place.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said Vidal’s stepson had accused him of stealing a large amount of money and planned to remove him from the home. Detectives said the dispute escalated into a fight, and Vidal stabbed both his wife and stepson. Officials did not identify the victims in the first public report. The arrest report described the case as a family confrontation that became violent inside the home, not an attack by outsiders.
Deputies said Vidal waited two days before going to Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines. Before reaching the hospital, investigators said, he rode his bicycle to buy a lottery ticket. At the hospital, Vidal told authorities that two men had attacked him, stabbed him and knocked him unconscious. He said he later woke up and found his relatives dead. Detectives said they found no evidence of two unknown attackers matching the description he gave.
The arrest report said surveillance video showed Vidal walking in the community wearing sandals with a pattern consistent with bloody footprints found inside the townhome. Investigators said the footwear evidence became a key part of the case because it linked Vidal’s movement through the home to blood at the scene. Authorities did not publicly release the full video or say how many cameras captured him before or after the killings.
Vidal appeared Saturday in Miami-Dade bond court. A judge ordered him held without bond, and jail records listed him at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Monday, April 27. Prosecutors are expected to review the evidence before the case advances through arraignment and pretrial hearings. No plea was reported in the first court appearance.
The case leaves several details unresolved. Officials have not said whether the alleged stolen money was recovered, whether the victims had sought any prior court protection, or whether neighbors heard the fight. Investigators also did not say whether Vidal suffered injuries consistent with his hospital statement. The sheriff’s office has described the evidence as pointing away from outside suspects and toward Vidal.
The double killing remains under investigation as detectives gather reports, forensic testing and statements from relatives or neighbors. Vidal remains jailed without bond while the murder case moves through Miami-Dade criminal court.
Author note: Last updated April 27, 2026.