HER HUSBAND ENDED UP EMBRACED BY A RUG

Texas Investigators Find Husband’s Body Stuffed inside Rugs After Wife’s Arrest

By Jenna Curren

 

Law Enforcement Today

Jul 21, 2025

 

Deana Thetford is accused of murdering her husband 

 

CLOUDCROFT, NM - Authorities have arrested a New Mexico woman in Wichita County, Texas, for her alleged connection to the death of her husband.

Deana Rene Thetford was booked into the Wichita County Jail on July 8th on charges of murder and tampering with evidence, KRQE reported. She is being held without bond. 

Court documents state that Thetford allegedly killed her husband, Craig Thetford.

According to the court documents, obtained by Law & Crime, Craig Thetford's body was later found by investigators wrapped in plastic, blankets, and rugs under piles of carpet and other items in the carport outside the couple's home. His body was found on June 17th.

Investigators later learned that around May 12th, multiple family members called the Otero County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) to request a welfare check on Craig after they said they had not heard from him since January.

On May 15th, a sheriff's deputy went to the couple's home and spoke with Deana, who said she and her husband were going through a divorce and that he went to Mexico with his new girlfriend to go fishing.

Deana also claimed that her husband took $1 million to $2.5 million in cash from their safe with him, court documents allege.

Authorities later learned that Craig had not crossed the border since 2023. Deana later allegedly told investigators that Craig broke his phone, got a new one, and went to take care of his mother in Texas.

However, Craig's family members told investigators that he never traveled to take care of his mother.

Deana told the sheriff's deputy that the cameras on their home never worked. She also told the deputy that the 4-to-5-foot hole in the front yard was for a raised garden bed.

Court documents state that Deana's daughter and Craig's stepdaughter later told investigators that her mother admitted to shooting Craig multiple times after the couple got into a fight in which Craig allegedly pushed her down the stairs.

Deana allegedly told her daughter that she left Craig for one to two days before wrapping and tying up his body and using a tractor to pull the body out of the house and into the carport.

When investigators obtained a search warrant for the house and found Craig's body on June 17th at the couple's home, they also found that his clothes were removed from the house, and camera security system hardware had been removed.

When a locksmith opened the safes, more than $84,000 in cash was found along with multiple guns and ammunition.

Investigators learned that Deana had purchased a property in Seymour, Texas, with a cash offer in February. At some point, officials said she had also given her truck to her son and bought a Ford Mustang.

The Office of the Medical Examiner ruled Craig's death a homicide and believed that he may have been dead anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.