5 key details about the Bathtub Killer's crimes explored

The double murders of Christine Vu and Wendie Prescott at the hands of the Bathtub Killer in 1996 took the Arlington Police by shock owing to the similarities in the methods. Both Vu and Prescott were beaten, r*ped, bound, and strangled before they were drowned in their bathtubs.

However, the authorities found a break in the investigation as they arrested Dale Devon Scheanette in 1999 and found a match in the DNA and the fingerprints collected from the crime scene. The new Dateline NBC episode titled Dark Intentions showcases the details of the murders by the Bathtub Killer as it airs on June 7, 2024, at 9 pm EST on NBC exclusively.

---

Exploring 5 key details about the Bathtub Killer's crimes

1) Christine Vu was found dead in her bathtub on September 17, 1996

The 26-year-old teacher at Morton Elementary School, Christine Vu, was found dead in her bathtub by her long-time partner, Thang Khuu. Thang returned from work at around 5:30 pm local time and found his girlfriend beaten and bruised face down in the bath.

According to court documents, Christine was r*ped and bound with duct tape before she was murdered.

---

2) Wendie Prescott was found dead in her bathtub on December 24, 1996

Wendie Prescott, a 22-year-old teacher at Erma Nash Elementary, had failed to show up for a family event when her uncle and aunt, Norman and Brenda Norwood, visited her apartment to find her dead. Wendie was found face down in her bathtub.

Wendie Prescott (Image via Findagrave)

The court documents mention that Prescott had her knees, neck, and arms bound with duct tape behind her back. She had been beaten and r*ped before the murder as well.

---

3) Both women were teachers who were strangled to death

According to WFAA, the detectives collected DNA evidence from the crime scene in the form of fingerprints and seminal fluid. The Arlington Police noted that both women who were murdered not only lived in Peartree Apartments but were 150 feet away from one another's apartments.

Both Christine Vu and Wendie Prescott were manually strangled to death. According to the Los Angeles Times, the double homicide spread fear among teachers who lived at the Peartree Apartments thereby driving them out of the complex building in hordes.

---

4) The Bathtub Killer sexually assaulted five more women

While the authorities continued to investigate the murders of Christine Vu and Wendie Prescott, a break in the case came when a suspect was arrested for burglary. Dale Devon Scheanette had burglarized a car audio store in DeSoto, Texas, for which he was arrested and interrogated.

Dale Devon Scheanette (Image via Murderpedia)

The Arlington homicide detective, Tommy LeNoir, spoke to NBC5 News saying:

"We got a search warrant, blood samples and made a DNA hit on two murders. From that point, we started getting hits on other cases, the sexual assaults. It just snowballed."

The FBI found a perfect match with the DNA evidence the Arlington Police recovered from the crime scenes. Moreover, the Bathtub Killer was linked to the sexual assault of five more women in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

---

5) Dale Devon Scheanette was executed by lethal injection in February 2006

Dale Devon Scheanette was charged with the murders of Wendie Prescott and Christine Vu. He went to trial for Prescott's murder and was sentenced to death in January 2003. However, Scheanette did not undergo trial for Christine Vu's murder, as per NBC5 News.

Dale Devon Scheanette was executed by lethal injection on February 10, 2009. Scheanette had made several unsuccessful attempts at appeals as all of them were turned down.

---

Find all the details about the Bathtub Killer on the latest episode of Dateline as it airs on NBC on Friday.