Sunday, Apr. 26, 2009

Suspect in Modesto motel room slaying captured

WATERFORD — A Waterford man wanted in the slaying of his former girlfriend was taken into custody Saturday night by Stanislaus County sheriff's deputies, authorities reported.

Erick John Vogel, 38, is a suspect in the fatal stabbing Wednesday of Katherine Voelker, 26, in a Modesto motel room.

Modesto police Lt. Andy Schlenker said the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department received an anonymous tip around 10 p.m. that Vogel was staying in a home in the 12000 block of Bentley Street in Waterford.

Schlenker said deputies took Vogel into custody around 11 p.m. Schlenker said a K-9 unit was used to apprehend Vogel and an ambulance was called to the scene.

Vogel will be taken to a hospital for an evaluation, which is standard procedure, before being booked at the Stanislaus County Jail, Schlenker said.

Vogel's arrest came hours after Modesto police announced that Voelker's family was offering a $5,000 reward for his capture.

Authorities had been receiving six to 12 tips a day since the slaying, reporting that Vogel had been seen in Modesto, Waterford, Stockton and even Sacramento.

"It's a good amount of tips," Schlenker said.

Modesto police said Vogel broke into a room at the Rodeway Inn in central Modesto on Wednesday and "brutally" stabbed Voelker, with whom he had two young children. Voelker, 26, was taken by ambulance to a Modesto hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Detectives and officers on patrol continuted their search for Vogel throughout Saturday.

Police said Voelker's family was offering the reward for information that would lead to Vogel's arrest and conviction.

In an interview before Vogel's capture, Voelker's sister, Jennifer Sahines, 24, said her family was not sure if a reward will entice tipsters to direct police to Vogel. But she said the family was willing to try anything.

Family and friends Saturday continued posting fliers with Vogel's picture in Modesto, Waterford, Riverbank and Oakdale, she said.

"We're doing whatever we can to have justice, so we can sleep at night," Sahines said.

The Modesto police Special Weapons and Tactics team searched Vogel's mother's Waterford house Friday afternoon after investigators received information he might be there. The SWAT team did not find anyone.

"I think our message to Erick Vogel is clear: we will not rest until he is in custody," said Modesto police spokesman Sgt. Brian Findlen on Saturday before the arrest. "We encourage him to do the right thing and turn himself in. Thousands of people in this area and this region are looking for him and share the desire to see that he is caught soon."

Bee staff writers Rosalio Ahumada and Kevin Valine contributed to this report.