Vancouver man pleads guilty in killing of estranged wife

A 44-year-old Vancouver man pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to second-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife.

Larry F. Van Schaick had been scheduled to go on trial Monday in Clark County Superior Court, where he would have faced a charge of first-degree murder.

Van Schaick will be sentenced by Judge Robert Harris on March 5. Second-degree murder has a sentencing range of about 10 years to 18 years.

A conviction on the more serious charge of first-degree murder carries a minimum sentence of 20 years, said Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson.

Jackson said he reached the plea agreement with attorney Gerry Wear, who was appointed by the court to represent Van Schaick.

Van Schaick had been arrested in November 2007 in connection with the death of Erin Dawn Van Schaick, 25. Her body was found Nov. 12, 2007, in a home in the East Minnehaha neighborhood.

The Van Schaicks were married in 2006, in Reno, Nev., but he filed for divorce 10 months later.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to the house when a man who lives there came home and saw a man believed to be Van Schaick inside with his wrists apparently slashed. The injured man fled; the witness ran to a convenience store to call 911.

When deputies arrived, they saw blood near one of the doors and found Erin Van Schaick’s body in a downstairs bedroom. She had been strangled.

Officers tried to find Larry Van Schaick using tracking dogs, but the dogs lost the trail. After spending the night on the run, Van Schaick wound up calling 911 for help.

He said he didn’t know where he was, but described his surroundings to 911 dispatchers while they traced his cell phone signals.

Deputies found Van Schaick in a fenced-in drainage swale less than a mile from the house.