A Las Vegas man who died in custody after Utah’s Washington County Attorney’s Office filed a murder charge in the 2006 death of his wife has died from suicide, according to the Clark County Coroner's Office in a report published October 6.
David Howard Vander Meer, a former youth pastor, was with his wife, Bernadette, 29, when she fell an estimated 1,500 feet from Angels Landing in Zion National Park.
Vander Meer, 49, was charged in June of this year with murder and insurance fraud in the death after Washington County officials stated that additional evidence was brought to their attention.
On the day Vander Meer was scheduled to appear in court, Las Vegas police announced that a 49-year-old male inmate at the Clark County Detention Center had sustained self-sustained injuries. Police stated the inmate was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Clark County Coroner's report ruled the cause of death was hanging and the manner of death was suicide. A note discovered in Vander Meer’s cell stated he was innocent and that he never expected to be arrested.
