A former Las Vegas youth pastor has been arrested on murder allegations nearly 20 years after his wife fell to her death from a cliff in Utah’s Zion National Park.
David Vander Meer, 49, is facing charges of murder and insurance fraud in connection with the 2006 death of his wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, who plunged from Angel’s Landing during a hike.
Bernadette’s family has long struggled with the loss. “I thought it was going to kill me,” her mother, Laura Gudenkauf, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal while reflecting on her daughter’s death.
Her father, Richard Gudenkauf, said he never fully accepted the account of what happened on the trail that day.
“I did a lot of hiking with her. She was a mountain goat. For her to fall off a cliff? No,” he said bluntly.
Vander Meer was taken into custody on Monday after authorities revisited the case following a 2022 tip about the former youth pastor, which alleged that he had groomed children connected to his church.
According to an affidavit reviewed by the Daily Mail, David and Bernadette, then 29 and 28, had gone hiking on August 22, 2006, to mark their anniversary at Zion National Park.
Bernadette’s mother also said her daughter had been “getting ready to leave him” before the fatal hike.
‘She told him if he didn’t change, she was going to divorce him because he kept spending all this time with this other woman,’ Laura told the outlet.
David Vander Meer, 49, was charged with murder and insurance fraud 20 years after his wife, Bernadette, plunged to her death on Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park 20 years ago
Vander Meer and his wife, who were 29 and 28 years old at the time, had been hiking on August 22, 2006, to celebrate their anniversary at Zion National Park
Vander Meer told investigators that he set up a camera to take photographs of Bernadette with the sunrise behind her, but, as he moved their backpacks out of the shot, he heard his wife’s screams as she fell around 5,700 feet
Vander Meer, a youth pastor in Las Vegas at the time, claimed that the pair had begun their hike to Angel’s Landing in the early morning light at around 4.20am.
He told investigators that he set up a camera to take photographs of his wife with the sunrise behind her, but, as he moved their backpacks out of the shot, he heard his wife’s screams as she fell around 5,700 feet.
According to the affidavit, the pair had recently raised their life insurance policies from 150k each to 600k each.
Handwritten letters from Bernadette discovered by law enforcement expressed sadness in their marriage, while witnesses said she was financially restricted by Vander Meer and ‘gives all her money to David.’
‘At the time, due to lack of evidence, and limited investigation, Bernadette Vander Meer’s fall was ruled an accident and the case was closed,’ the affidavit said, noting, however, that investigators remained ‘suspicious.’
It wasn’t until April 6, 2022, when law enforcement received a tip from a former member – identified in documents as ‘SH’ – of Vander Meer’s youth group, that it was revealed he had been cheating on his wife at the time of her death.
According to the tip, Vander Meer ‘had been using his position of special trust to groom kids’ in the church, documents claimed.
‘One of the kids in his ministry that he had groomed and actively been in a sexual relationship with at the time of Bernadette’s death was SH,’ the affidavit said.
Laura Gudenkauf, Bernadette’s mother, said she was ready to leave Vander Meer ‘because he kept spending all this time with this other woman’
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The former youth group member claimed that she had been involved in an ‘ongoing sexual relationship’ with Vander Meer from the age of 16 until she was 19 to 20 years old.
SH said Vander Meer had bought her gifts and paid her extra attention before he, at 25 years old at the time, took her virginity when she was 16.
Their alleged relationship continued, which included their having sex at the church after hours as well as in pay-by-the-hour hotels.
During one instance, Bernadette had shown up to the church after growing suspicious, and Vander Meer sent SH to tell her he was not there.
Vander Meer also bought her a secret phone, SH told the attorney’s office, according to the affidavit.
SH told detectives she felt it was ‘wrong’ and ended their relationship on August 20, 2006 – just a day before Vander Meer and his wife left for their hike in the Utah national park.
She said Vander Meer had never discussed their future, except for one statement in which he said the only way for them to be together was if Bernadette were no longer alive, the affidavit stated.
When she turned 18, Vander Meer encouraged her to move out of her family’s home and rent an apartment, which he supplied the money for, with another girl from the church.
Barry Diamond, the senior pastor of the church Vander Meer previously worked at, told the Washington County Attorney’s office that several former youth group members recalled inappropriate relationships with Vander Meer
‘David told SH this was so they had a place to be together and have sex,’ the affidavit stated, noting that he was still married to Bernadette at the time.
According to the affidavit, Vander Meer told his youth group that he had been taking a picture of his wife before turning to grab something from his bag and hearing her scream ‘and she was gone.’
This story, according to the attorney’s office, conflicted with what he told investigators on the day of his wife’s death.
He and SH rekindled their relationship around two to three months after Bernadette’s death before they married in 2008, the affidavit stated.
That same year, Vander Meer was fired for throwing parties at his home where underage members of his church would gamble and drink alcohol provided by the former youth pastor.
According to the document, the pair married ‘so David could be on SH’s health insurance,’ and they were publicly married in 2010.
After discovering condom and hotel receipts, SH suspected Vander Meer of having an affair and, after testing positive for a sexually transmitted disease, the pair divorced in 2014.
From 2007, following the life insurance payout of around $567,439, Vander Meer was said to have lived ‘lavishly,’ including buying cars, trips for the church youth group and plane tickets.
Vander Meer was arrested by the US Marshall’s Office on June 22 and is being held at the Clark County Detention Center in Nevada while he awaits his court hearing set for June 25
However, the case wasn’t followed-up on again until October 8, 2025, when Vander Meer’s former boss, Barry Diamond, told law enforcement he believed that Bernadette’s death wasn’t an accident.
Bernadette was a worship leader at New Song Christian Church, where Vander Meer and her brother-in-law were pastors, in Las Vegas
Diamond, the senior pastor of the church Vander Meer previously worked at, told the Washington County Attorney’s office that several former youth group members recalled inappropriate relationships with Vander Meer.
The tip led to the interviews of several former members of Vander Meer’s youth group, which exposed the former youth pastor’s alleged infidelity and unfaithfulness as well as his ‘deceptive nature.’
The attorney’s office also noted Vander Meer’s ‘descriptive story telling’ to witnesses who then believed he had pushed his wife to her death.
Bernadette was said to love family, friends, nature, music and performing on stage, according to her obituary.
‘In everything she did, Bernadette would always give the glory and honor to God,’ the tribute said.
She had worked at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino and was a worship leader at New Song Christian Church, where Vander Meer and her brother-in-law were also pastors.
Vander Meer was arrested by the US Marshall’s Office on June 22 and is being held at the Clark County Detention Center in Nevada while he awaits his court hearing set for June 25, according to ABC4.
The Daily Mail reached out to the Washington County Attorney’s Office and the US Marshall’s Office for comment.
