A former Las Vegas youth pastor, David Vander Meer, accused of pushing his wife off a cliff 20 years ago, died in his jail cell on June 24, two days after being booked into the Clark County Detention Center. Officials found Vander Meer unresponsive in his cell and discovered a suicide note and will nearby. He had been awaiting extradition to Utah on murder charges in the 2006 death of his wife, Bernadette Vander Meer.
In the note, Vander Meer maintained his innocence but acknowledged that the evidence against him would likely lead to a conviction. "I was never afraid of legal action though, because I didn’t kill her, and I never thought it would lead to an arrest," he wrote, according to KUTV. He also stated he was "selective" about revealing how his wife died because "I know how bad it looks."
Vander Meer's death was later determined to be self-inflicted by strangulation, according to Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill. He was transported to the University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead on June 25.
Bernadette Vander Meer died in August 2006 after falling more than 1,000 feet from the Angels Landing trail in Zion National Park. At the time, both she and David Vander Meer were 29 years old. The death was initially ruled accidental due to a lack of evidence and limited investigation, but investigators found the circumstances suspicious. The couple had been in the park to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
In the months before Bernadette's death, David Vander Meer applied for and increased life insurance policies on his wife, totaling $550,000 each. He received a payout of $567,439 in July 2007, which he reportedly used to live "lavishly."
The case remained cold for approximately 15 years until April 2022, when law enforcement received a tip from a former youth group member. The tip alleged that Vander Meer had used his position to groom children and was having a sexual affair with a 16-year-old girl. Court documents indicate that Vander Meer allegedly told the girl they could only be together if his wife were "not alive." Bernadette had reportedly become suspicious of her husband's infidelity in the year leading up to her death.
Vander Meer married the woman with whom he had the affair, but they later divorced in 2014 due to allegations of infidelity. Charges against Vander Meer were filed about eight months after his former employer informed law enforcement of his suspicions that Vander Meer had pushed his wife. He was also facing insurance fraud charges.
