A former youth pastor charged this week with murdering his wife nearly 20 years ago after investigators reopened what had long been considered an accidental death has died by suicide while in custody, authorities said.
David Vander Meer, 49, died Thursday after suffering what the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department described as self-inflicted injuries while being held at the Clark County Detention Center.
Police said he was transported to a local hospital Wednesday “for self-sustained injuries.” He was pronounced dead on Thursday.
Meer was charged on Monday with murder and insurance fraud related to the Aug. 22, 2006, death of his then-wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, 29, according to an announcement from the Washington County Attorney’s Office cited by News 4 Utah. He was scheduled for a court hearing on Thursday.
Details from the affidavit in the case state that the former youth pastor and his wife had traveled to Zion National Park to celebrate their anniversary. Meer told investigators that he and Bernadette, who worked at a hotel in Las Vegas, had hiked to Angel’s Landing before sunrise using headlamps. He said they removed the headlamps when they got to the top because the morning had gotten brighter.
He alleged that Bernadette accidentally fell while he tried to take a photo of her while she was standing near the edge of Angel’s Landing. He also told investigators he and his wife had never been unfaithful in their marriage, but they had recently increased their life insurance policies from $150,000 each to $600,000 each. Bernadette’s death was ruled an accident by officials despite concerns.
The case remained closed for years until investigators received a tip in 2022 from a former member of Meer’s youth group — identified in court documents as SH — who alleged he had a sexual relationship with her beginning when she was 16 to about 19 or 20.
SH, whom Meer later married in 2008 before the couple divorced in 2014, told investigators she no longer believed his account of Bernadette’s death. She also alleged that Meer had told her the only way they could be together was if his wife were dead.
The tip was noted, but the case remained closed until October 2025, when the Washington County Attorney’s Office received another tip from David’s former boss, who was the senior pastor at New Song Church. Pastor Barry Diamond said “he believed the death was not an accident and that David pushed Bernadette,” The New York Times reported.
Investigators began digging further into the case, and multiple people reported Meer engaging in inappropriate relationships with members of his youth group, including the tipster from 2022 (his ex-wife). She reported that her initial relationship with Meer ended two days before Bernadette died in 2006.
About two to three months after Bernadette died, Meer and SH rekindled their relationship. They went on to marry in 2008 but divorced in 2014.
Meer was fired from his job at New Song in 2008 for allegedly giving alcohol to underage members of his youth group, according to court documents.
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