Bonnie Vance, right, and her son, Larry, prepare a spaghetti dinner at their home on Thursday evening in Onalaska. The past year has been quite tumultuous for the Vance's. Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of the murder of Terry Vance, Larry's brother and Bonnie's son. Terry was stabbed to death in his sleep by his son, Joshua, at the same address where Bonnie has lived for nearly 40 years. Three months after the death of Terry, a fire gutted the home and nearly everything in it, including a handful of pets. Now, with the help of the Onalaska community, Larry and his mother live in a home that was built for them on the same lot where their previous house stood.
Bonnie Vance holds up a framed picture with, from left, her sons Terry and Kerry, Kerry's wife Cheryl and her oldest son, Larry, in the living room of her home in Onalaska on Thursday afternoon. The picture is one of the last remaining that includes Terry, who was murdered a year ago on March, 7, 2012, by his son, Joshua, who sentenced to more than 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in a plea deal.
Larry Vance holds Sissie, a three-month-old Pomchi, at his home he shares with his mother, Bonnie, in Onalaska on Thursday afternoon. The Vance's home was gutted by a fire in June, 2012, killing a handful of pets, including their dog Muffin. Sissie, along with Judy, a nine-month-old Chihuahua, now fill the void left by the deceased pets.
Bonnie Vance attempts to wrangle in her nine-month-old Chihuahua, Judy, after she snuck out the back door of her home in Onalaska on Thursday afternoon.
Exactly one year after Bonnie Vance’s grandson stabbed his sleeping father to death in her Onalaska home, the 80-year-old woman awoke to a nightmare.
It was shortly before 3 a.m., and in her nightmare, she said she heard screams — from both her son Terry Vance, as well as from her 25-year-old grandson Joshua Vance — the same noises she heard the year prior.
“I’ve had dreams ever since,” Bonnie said on the one year anniversary — March 7 — of her son’s death. “Always at that time of night.”
Joshua stabbed his sleeping father 11 times that morning. He was arrested shortly afterward.
Bonnie, who was home that night, she said she awoke to screaming, went out in the hall and was confronted by Joshua, who was holding a knife.
“I just stood there and looked at him,” Bonnie said.
As he moved toward her with the knife raised, she said, something in his eyes changed. He looked at the knife, threw it to the ground, and went outside and called 911 to report the stabbing.
Vance later told police he intended to kill all of the family members home at the time, including Bonnie, his 11-year-old nephew Thomas Flood and his uncle, Larry Vance. He also said he did not follow through with it because he cut his hand. Joshua was later airlifted to Harborview Medical Center due to the extensive injuries to his fingers.
Last October, when he was sentenced to prison time after pleading guilty to first-degree premeditated murder, his uncle, Larry, told Joshua that the nightmare he created for his family has not yet passed.
Now, one year later, the family said they know the nightmare may never completely pass.
As a child, Joshua had a chaotic upbringing and frequently changed households, living with different parents, grandparents, and other family, according to the police report of the incident.
His medical history included depression, drug and alcohol dependency, suicidal tendencies, hearing voices, and paranoia, according to court documents.
No matter what trouble Joshua got into, Bonnie said, she always let him come back.
“I wanted to give him a place to stay — a home,” she said.
After his arrest, Joshua told police and doctors he was primarily raised by his grandmother, Bonnie.
“No more than a day before (the murder), he told me if it hadn’t have been for me — he’d never have had a home,” Bonnie said.
He also had a long history of drug abuse and mental illness, according to his family and police. For nearly his entire life, he had been in and out of counseling, the hospital, jail and drug treatment.
Prior to the murder, Joshua had been receiving government assistance to help pay for the cost of his anti-psychotic medication, which had been prescribed to him by doctors at Cascade Mental Health.
Shortly before Terry’s death, Bonnie said, they received a phone call from the Safeway pharmacy saying that Vance’s prescription was ready, but it would cost them more than $1,000 to come pick up.
His family as well as the prosecutor who handled the case, Brad Meagher, said they are not sure what happened with his insurance that caused the unaffordable cost.
The weekend before the murder, the family said they saw a severe and dramatic change in his behavior. His bedroom became a scene from a horror movie as he drew satanic symbols and “666” on the walls and carpet. He also became withdrawn and impulsive.
While Joshua initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, Meagher said, medical experts determined that while he had mental health issues, they did not excuse his actions.
Once he was arrested, Joshua once again started taking medication, but even then, he showed no regret, Meagher said. In court, he would turn and smile at members of the media sitting in the court gallery.
“He showed absolutely no remorse for what he did,” Meagher said.
Joshua was eventually sentenced to serve 30 years in prison, meaning he will be released by age 55, three years younger than his father was at the time of his death. Even now with the criminal case over, the family said they are still left with the unanswered question of why he did it.
In October, when Joshua was sentenced for the murder, he stared straight ahead, never once glancing over at his family seated 20 feet away from him. He declined to address the court when asked if he had anything to say.
“We will never know the reason why he did it,” Bonnie said. “I don’t think Josh even knows the reason.”
The murder was not the only tragedy that struck the Vance family last year. On the three-month anniversary of the murder, June 7, the Vance family returned home from a therapy session, which they had been attending to help them cope with the trauma of Terry’s death, and pulled onto their street to see smoke billowing out from the windows of the home.
Bonnie, or Grandma Bonnie as she is known to many community members, first moved to Onalaska in 1969 with her husband, Elmer. Throughout her life, she has raised more than 200 foster children, many in their Onalaska home that burned down.
They lost almost all of their clothes, family heirlooms, furniture, as well as their four dogs in the fire.
“That was the worst thing about the fire — losing our dogs,” Larry said. “The rest is just stuff.”
At the time of the fire, however, they acknowledged it represented a new beginning.
“It may have been a blessing,” Bonnie said. “I hated losing everything, but the visions are gone.”
Following Terry’s death, Bonnie said she could not bear to enter his bedroom. She would try and go inside, but became overwhelmed with images of her son’s death every time.
After each tragedy, the Onalaska community rallied around her, as well as her family. The community raised $9,000 to help buy and furnish a new manufactured home.
Despite the nightmares about the murder, Bonnie said things are beginning to get easier, little by little.
“You just have to deal with it and move forward,” Larry said. “You can’t shut it out, it comes back to get you.”
Even after a death that tore their family apart and a fire that destroyed their home, the Vance family said they still manage to find reasons to laugh and smile.
“If it hadn’t been for my faith in God, I don’t know if it could’ve happened,” Bonnie said.
In Bonnie’s new home, her living room windows overlook baseball fields next to Onalaska Elementary. Her son, Terry, was a well-known and beloved umpire throughout the community.
The family also now has two new dogs, a small pomeranian and a chihuahua.
“It’s beginning to be like home again,” Bonnie said, later adding, “The dogs help. It’s just like having a bunch of kids around.”
Even with time, the family said they are still plagued with grief, guilt, anger and sadness.
“It was a broken household before,” Larry said. “We are trying to mend it.”
