UPSHUR COUNTY, Texas — The Texas 12th Court of Appeals has upheld the life sentence of an East Texas man.
In April 2021, an Upshur County jury sentenced Joshua David Verhoef to life in prison for assaulting his girlfriend while on methamphetamines in August 2020. Verhoef had 23 prior criminal convictions, including multiple felonies.
The Upshur County jury determined Verhoef struck and strangled the victim multiple times. The victim managed to run away to a neighbor's home and called 911. Police attempted to speak to Verhoef before the arrest, but Verhoef had locked himself inside his home.
After over an hour of attempting to get Verhoef to come out, police knocked the glass out of the back door and took Verhoef into custody.
Verhoef was on parole at the time of the attack.
Due to his criminal background and previous convictions, the state filed to increase his punishment range to 25 years to life. The jury took 20 minutes to determine guilt, and another 30 minutes to issue the life sentence.
Verhoef appealed his sentence stating there wasn't enough evidence to find him guilty. However, the appeal was rejected and the sentence was upheld.