Former Las Vegas youth pastor dies days after being charged in wife’s fatal fall | Las Vegas
A Las Vegas man and former youth pastor has died days after he was arrested and accused of killing his wife, who fell thousands of feet to her death while hiking in Utah’s Zion national park in 2006.
At an extradition hearing scheduled for Thursday, a judge in Las Vegas announced the death of David Vander Meer. KSNV.
The Las Vegas police department did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
In 2022, investigators reopened an investigation into Bernadette Vander Meer’s fatal fall from Angels Landing after receiving new information that David had sexually engaged and groomed a minor at his youth group ministry, according to a court affidavit.
According to court documents, the woman, now an adult, told investigators that David Vander Meer told her they could only be together if Bernadette was not alive.
Local authorities had previously ruled her death an accident, but prosecutors recently accused David Vander Meer of being responsible. He was arrested on Monday and charged with murder.
In August 2006, David and Bernadette Vander Meer went for a walk in Zion to celebrate the anniversary.
David told investigators that the couple walked away to move their backpacks to the front of the photo when he heard Bernadette scream. He said he returned to find her missing.
Before Bernadette’s death, David had taken out life insurance for the two of them. It also increased its policies from $150,000 to $550,000 each.
David received a life insurance payout of $567,439 after his wife’s death. He later lived “lavishly”, according to investigators.
He was also facing insurance fraud charges.
2006 obituary because Bernadette said she is survived by her “beloved husband David.”
When prosecutors announced David’s arrest earlier this week, Bernadette’s mother welcomed the move, saying her daughter had been “exonerated.” Now 8 News.
Bernadette’s father, Richard Gudenkauf, later told the station: “We have been waiting on God for this day.”
