The previous Vegas youth pastor accused of pushing his spouse off a cliff 20 years in the past earlier than taking his personal life in jail proclaimed his innocence however admitted he was “selective” about revealing how his partner died in a suicide word he left behind in his cell.
David Vander Meer – who was charged with homicide over the 2006 demise of his spouse Bernadette Vander Meer – was awaiting extradition to Utah when Clark County Detention Heart officers discovered him unresponsive in his cell on June 24, simply two days after being booked into the Nevada facility.
A letter and can had been discovered close to his physique – and Vander Meer, who was additionally charged with insurance coverage fraud, protested his innocence however acknowledged he would doubtless be convicted if the case went to trial, KUTV reported.
“Once I got here right here on Monday, I believed our life was going to be inconvienced [sic] for a month or two,” he wrote.
“I’ve at all times been very selective with what I share to folks about how Bernadette died, soley [sic] as a result of I understand how unhealthy it appears.
“I used to be by no means afraid of authorized motion although, as a result of I didn’t kill her, and I by no means thought it might result in an arrest.
“The extra allegations I’ve heard about are largely false, however not totally. They paint an image that may’t be escaped. They spell conviction.”
Vander Meer continued to proclaim his innocence and instructed his household he cherished them.
“I used to be naive to assume that simply because I didn’t kill Bernadette that there could be no downside with the fees,” he stated.
“That is simply calculated threat at this level. Stories of the affidavit include small quantities of reality, however paint an image I’ll in all probability not be capable of overcome.”
He then addressed an unidentified one that appeared to fund his authorized battle earlier than turning to his household.
“I don’t deserve the finacial [sic] sacrifices of [redacted person] to attempt to struggle this.
“[The person] doesn’t should be part of my previous failures, and this present mess. None of my household does… I like you all.” The word was signed off David.
Vander Meer was rushed to the College Medical Heart – lower than two miles from the detention heart – with what cops described as “self-sustained accidents” and was pronounced lifeless on June 25.
He “strangulated himself, and he did it in what I might say a singular and novel means,” Kevin McMahill, the Clark County Sheriff, instructed the Las Vegas Evaluate-Journal. The cop stated there could be a “sturdy evaluation” into the demise.
Bernadette Vander Meer plunged greater than 1,000 ft off the Angels Touchdown path at Utah’s Zion Nationwide Park on August 22, 2006 – at some point after she and David, who had been each 29 on the time, traveled to the vacationer attraction to have fun their marriage ceremony anniversary.
Her demise was initially dominated unintended “on account of a scarcity of proof” and “restricted investigation,” court docket paperwork claimed – however investigators “felt the circumstances had been suspicious.”
Within the months main as much as Bernadette’s demise, Vander Meer utilized for all times insurance coverage insurance policies of $150,000 earlier than mountain climbing them to $550,000 every. He was paid out $567,439 in July 2007, and lived “lavishly,” in response to the docs.
The case was chilly for round 15 years earlier than cops obtained a tip-off in April 2022 from a youth group member that claimed Vander Meer “had been utilizing his place of particular belief to groom children.”
He allegedly started having a sexual affair with an underage lady when she was 16, and had instructed her that they may solely be collectively if his spouse had been “not alive,” court docket papers claimed.
Bernadette had reportedly grown suspicious of her husband’s infidelity within the yr earlier than her demise, whereas the pastor was paying lease for the place to have intercourse with the underage lady, the affidavit stated.
Vander Meer married the lady with whom he had an affair earlier than they divorced in 2014 over allegations of infidelity, in response to the paperwork.
Expenses in opposition to Vander Meer had been filed — round eight months after his ex-boss instructed legislation enforcement he believed the pastor had pushed his spouse.
