TV Minister Vandeman Stabbed at His Home; Son Is Held

Television minister George Vandeman, known for his long-running weekly show, “It Is Written,” was stabbed Thursday in the face and back at his home in Thousand Oaks, and his son was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said.

Vandeman, 68, was in good condition at Los Robles Hospital. A hospital spokeswoman said he was “doing very well” and would be released today.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Purnell said Vandeman was stabbed twice with a five-inch kitchen knife shortly before 1 p.m. in front of his home on Shadowlake Drive.

Deputies took his son, Ronald Vandeman, 43, into custody, Purnell said.

Purnell said investigators believed they knew the motive for the stabbing but declined to make it public.

Vandeman has been on religious television shows for 29 years. His current show is broadcast in 65 cities around the country, according to Steven Mosely, a publicist for the show.

The program is taped at the Seventh-day Adventist media center in Newbury Park.

Mosely said the church-sponsored program was first telecast in 1956 and was the first religious television show in the nation to be broadcast in color.

At his most recent taping three weeks ago, Vandeman interviewed Dr. Leonard Bailey, the surgeon who set off a debate over medical ethics and religious principles when he implanted the heart of a baboon into an infant, who later died.

Mosely said Vandeman has three sons and one daughter, all of them adults.