Former youth pastor David Vander Meer was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on Monday after prosecutors charged him with murder and insurance fraud in connection with the 2006 death of his wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, at Zion National Park.
The case, once closed, was reopened last year after Barry Diamond, a senior pastor at a church where Vander Meer had worked, allegedly told investigators he did not believe Bernadette’s death was accidental, according to a probable cause affidavit.
“At the time, due to a lack of evidence, and limited investigation, Bernadette Vander Meer’s fall was ruled an accident and the case was closed — although investigators felt the circumstances were suspicious,” the affidavit states.
Investigators also cited the couple’s life insurance policies. A little more than 17 months before Bernadette’s death, Vander Meer purchased policies for himself and his wife, each valued at $150,000. In November 2005, about eight months later, he increased each policy by $400,000, the affidavit says.
A headshot of Bernadette Vander Meer, whose husband David is accused of pushing her off a cliff. Bernadette was 29-years-old at the time of her death. (KTSU)
After Bernadette’s death was classified as an accident, Vander Meer filed an insurance claim in November 2006. He received a $567,439 payout in July 2007 and allegedly spent the money extravagantly, including on cars and all-expenses-paid trips for romantic partners, according to the affidavit.
When Bernadette died on Aug. 22, 2006, Vander Meer told authorities that she had fallen from the edge of a cliff while the couple was hiking in Utah’s Zion National Park.
According to the affidavit, Vander Meer said he had stepped away to remove obstructions from a camera he had positioned to take a photo of them when Bernadette fell. He claimed he “heard her scream as she fell.” Bernadette’s father, however, reportedly questioned that version of events.
“I did a lot of hiking with her,” her father, Richard Gudenkauf, told the Las Vegas Review Journal. “She was a mountain goat. For her to fall off a cliff? No.”
In April 2022, investigators received a tip from a former member of Vander Meer’s youth group who claimed he used “his position of special trust to groom kids.”
Canyon Overlook at Zion National Park in Springdale, Utah, on Jan. 15, 2021. (Josh Brasted/Getty Images)
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The tipster, identified in the affidavit only as “SH,” told a sheriff’s detective she had been in a sexual relationship with Vander Meer when she was 16, the affidavit alleges.
The tipster claims she broke the relationship off the night before Bernadette’s death because she “felt it was wrong,” according to the affidavit.
After Diamond’s statement prompted investigators to reopen the case, they re-interviewed the tipster, at which point she told them that Vander Meer allegedly told her “the only way they could be together is if Bernadette was not alive,” the affidavit reads.
The tipster later re-entangled with Vander Meer, eventually marrying him in 2008, claiming she did so “so David could be on SH’s health insurance,” according to the affidavit.
The tipster and Vander Meer divorced in 2014, and Vander Meer married again at least two other times, according to the affidavit.
Angels Landing, pictured here, is regarded as one of the most dangerous hikes in the U.S., with steep drop-offs where hikers must cling to chains along a knife-edge ridge. (iStock)
In follow-up interviews with Diamond, the pastor told the Washington County Attorney’s Office that multiple members of Vander Meer’s former youth group reported engaging in sexual relationships with him while they were underage.
The affidavit details one incident in which “SH” and Vander Meer were having sex in a church when Bernadette, who “was becoming suspicious,” showed up to the church banging on the door looking for David.
David “knowingly gave misinformation” to officers during interviews, stating he had never been unfaithful to his wife, which officers learned to be untrue, according to the affidavit.
“David had a lot to lose if Bernadette found out about his relationship with SH. David stood to lose his job as a youth pastor at a church, due to the infidelity. David stood to lose his marriage. Based on SH’s age at the time their relationship became physical, David faced possible criminal charges and being a registered sex offender,” the affidavit reads.
The investigator who compiled the affidavit against Vander Meer recommended he be arrested on a no-bail warrant; however, the warrant set bail at $100,000.
Vander Meer has not yet had his first court appearance and is currently being housed at Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to NBC News.
