Former Pastor Denies Murder Charges in Posthumous Note

WHO:

CNN - David Vander Meer, 49, a former youth pastor.

CNN - Bernadette Vander Meer, David's then-wife.

CNN - Washington County, Utah, Attorney’s Office.

NY Post - David Vander Meer.

WHAT:

CNN - David Vander Meer was charged with murder and insurance fraud in connection with Bernadette Vander Meer’s death.

CNN - Vander Meer was arrested on June 22 and found unresponsive in his cell two days later.

CNN - Vander Meer left a handwritten suicide note and a will in his cell.

CNN - Vander Meer claimed in his note, “I was never afraid of legal action … because I didn’t kill her.”

CNN - Vander Meer acknowledged “small amounts of truth” in the claims against him in his suicide note.

WHERE:

CNN - The incident involving Bernadette occurred at Zion National Park, Utah.

CNN - Vander Meer was arrested by Las Vegas police and booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

WHEN:

CNN - Vander Meer was charged in June.

CNN - The investigation was reopened last October.

WHY:

CNN - The investigation was reopened after a pastor reported suspicions that Bernadette’s death was not an accident and that Vander Meer had pushed her.

CNN - Vander Meer’s note indicated he believed the charges were a “calculated risk” despite his claims of innocence.

HOW:

CNN - Evidence leading to the charges included a large life insurance payout, inappropriate relationships between Vander Meer and minors, and inconsistencies in his account of Bernadette’s fall.

(UPDATED July 31, 2026 19:27 UTC)

David Vander Meer, a 49-year-old man, has been charged with murder and insurance fraud in connection with the death of his then-wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, at Zion National Park in Utah. After being arrested on June 22, Vander Meer was found unresponsive in his cell two days later, leaving behind a handwritten suicide note in which he claimed he did not kill her but acknowledged some truth in the allegations against him. The investigation into Bernadette's death was reopened last October after a pastor raised suspicions that it was not an accident, with evidence including a large life insurance payout and inconsistencies in Vander Meer's account of the incident.