UPSHUR COUNTY, Texas (TXAN 24) – A Gilmer man has pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of his wife, who was found in her bed with multiple wounds and a splitting maul axe beside her.
The Upshur County Criminal District Attorney’s Office reported that on February 26, 2024, at 1:43 a.m., a Gilmer resident called 911 to report a man trying to get into their vehicle. Police arrived within two minutes and found the suspect, later identified as Craig Allen Smith.
Smith, described as “soaking wet on the front of his clothes and dry on the back,” initially lied about his identity before admitting his name and confessing, “my wife is dead and I did not want to get caught up in it.”
Smith informed officers that his wife’s body was at their home on 728 Walnut Street and had been dead for several hours. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant and transported to jail while other officers went to the home.
At the residence, officers were met by the victim’s grandmother, who led them to the bedroom. There, they found Vennessa Renae Smith lying in her bed in a pool of blood, with “multiple large lacerations to the upper parts of her body.” Beside her bed was the splitting maul axe used in the attack.
State officials determined Vennessa’s time of death was shortly after 12:55 a.m., the time her daughter texted to check on her after hearing an argument between her parents.
On Wednesday, surrounded by the victim’s family and Gilmer police, Smith pleaded guilty, marking “the first time he admitted what he had done.” He has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
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