Man Charged in 2006 Wife's Death Dies in Jail

David Vander Meer, 48, died in Washington County jail custody on Thursday from self-sustained injuries, three days after his arrest for the 2006 murder of his wife Bernadette Vander Meer. Vander Meer was arrested Monday and charged with murdering his wife, who fell to her death on August 22, 2006, while hiking Angels Landing in Zion National Park, Utah.

Court documents state that Bernadette Vander Meer, then 29, had grown suspicious of her husband’s infidelity in the year before her death.

Background of the 2006 Incident A former church boss told investigators the death “was not an accident” and that “David had pushed” Bernadette. Vander Meer told police he was setting up a camera for sunrise photos when he heard his wife scream as she fell.

Her body was found hours later at the base of the trail. The death was initially ruled an accident and the case closed for lack of evidence. Prosecutors stated Vander Meer increased his wife’s life insurance policy from $150,000 to $600,000 shortly before her death and received a payout of approximately $567,439 in 2007.

Court documents allege that while Vander Meer was a youth pastor, he began a sexual affair with an underage girl when she was 16. The girl ended the four-year affair the day before the couple’s trip to Zion National Park. Vander Meer was fired from his church job within one or two years after the death.

He married the girl two years later; the couple divorced in 2014. He was never charged with crimes related to the relationship with the minor.

At a scheduled extradition hearing on Thursday, a Las Vegas judge announced that Vander Meer was deceased. Authorities have not released further details on the circumstances of his death beyond the medical examiner’s finding of self-sustained injuries.