A Las Vegas man charged with murdering his wife two decades ago at Zion National Park died in custody Thursday, just days after his arrest, before he could appear in court on the charges.
David Vander Meer, 49, a former youth pastor who was working as a school counselor at the time of his arrest, was arrested Monday on charges of murder and insurance fraud in connection with the Aug. 22, 2006, death of his wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, who fell from Angels Landing at Zion National Park in Utah. He had been held at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas pending extradition to Utah.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman announced the death at the start of a Thursday extradition hearing, telling those present he had learned of it just 15 minutes earlier. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department subsequently confirmed in a news release that a 49-year-old male inmate had been transported from the detention center to University Medical Center on Wednesday for treatment of “self-sustained injuries” and was pronounced dead by medical personnel on Thursday. Barry Diamond, a pastor who had helped reopen the case, told NBC News that investigators informed him Mr. Vander Meer had hanged himself.
Mr. Vander Meer had never had a first court appearance on the murder charge. His bail had been set at $100,000.
Bernadette Vander Meer was 28 years old when she died. She and her husband had set out before dawn on Aug. 22, 2006, to hike Angels Landing, a 1,488-foot sandstone formation widely regarded as one of the most dangerous trails in the American national park system, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Mr. Vander Meer told investigators his wife fell from a cliff while he briefly stepped away to move backpacks and set up a camera to photograph the sunrise. He said he heard her scream as she fell. Original investigators found the circumstances suspicious but ruled the death accidental and closed the case due to a lack of evidence, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in Fifth District Court in Washington County, Utah.
The case was reopened last year after Mr. Diamond contacted the Washington County Attorney’s Office to say he believed Bernadette Vander Meer’s death was not an accident and that her husband had pushed her. Mr. Diamond had previously fired Mr. Vander Meer for hosting parties with underage church members at which liquor and gambling were present.
Investigators also received a 2022 tip from a former member of Mr. Vander Meer’s youth group — identified in court documents only as “SH” — who alleged he had used his position to groom minors. SH told investigators she had been in a sexual relationship with Mr. Vander Meer beginning when she was 16 and that she had ended the relationship the night before the couple departed for Zion. During a subsequent re-interview, SH said Mr. Vander Meer had told her that “the only way they could be together is if Bernadette was not alive,” according to the affidavit. A local news station reported that the relationship had begun when SH was 14.
In addition to witness testimony, investigators reviewed sunrise and terrain data from Angels Landing and concluded that the location where Bernadette Vander Meer fell was atypical for accidental deaths on the trail. They also determined that Mr. Vander Meer’s statements about visibility that morning were inconsistent with actual sunrise times.
Investigators further noted significant financial motive. Roughly 17 months before his wife’s death, Mr. Vander Meer had taken out life insurance policies of $150,000 each for himself and Bernadette. He later increased those policies to $600,000 each, according to the affidavit. After Bernadette’s death was ruled accidental, he collected approximately $567,439 from the insurer in July 2007. According to the affidavit, he spent the proceeds on cars and all-expenses-paid trips for romantic partners. The affidavit also noted a suspicious 2006 vehicle claim in which he reported a car stolen and received more than $46,000 after it was found totaled.
Bernadette’s father, Richard Gudenkauf, said he never believed his daughter’s death was an accident.
“I did a lot of hiking with her,” Mr. Gudenkauf told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “She was a mountain goat. For her to fall off a cliff? No.”
Mr. Gudenkauf and his wife, Laura, had a complicated reaction to Mr. Vander Meer’s death in custody.
“I’m sad,” Laura Gudenkauf told the Review-Journal. “I’m sad for him. I am sad for his family.”
Mr. Diamond expressed similar sentiments to NBC News.
“There are no winners here,” he said. “This is a tragedy for Bernadette’s family, this is a tragedy for Dave’s family.”
SH and Mr. Vander Meer later resumed their relationship and married in 2008, reportedly so he could be covered by her health insurance, according to the affidavit. They divorced in 2014. Mr. Vander Meer married at least twice more after that.
At the time of his arrest, Mr. Vander Meer was employed as a counselor at Somerset Academy Lone Mountain, a Las Vegas public charter school. The school placed him on administrative leave following his arrest.
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