Youth pastor kills himself in jail three days after he was charged with murdering wife in 2006 by pushing her off cliff at Zion National Park

By EMMA RICHTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:13, 25 June 2026 | Updated: 18:27, 25 June 2026 A former youth pastor killed himself in jail three days after he was charged with his wife's 2006 murder at Zion National Park. David Vander Meer fatally injured himself at Las Vegas's Clark County Detention Center earlier on Thursday, KSNV reported. His suicide was announced ahead of a planned extradition hearing that sought to move him from Nevada to Utah to face charges.    Vander Meer, 49, was charged on Monday with the 2006 murder of his wife Bernadette.  Bernadette, 28, fell to her death from a cliff during a trip to the iconic Utah beauty spot.  A warrant was issued for Vander Meer's arrest by the Washington County District Attorney's Office this week for Bernadette's murder after new information came in that implicated him.  Her death was initially thought to have been an accident.  Vander Meer was arrested by a fugitive task force in Summerlin and booked into Clark County Detention Center on Monday, according to an arrest report obtained by the outlet.  David Vander Meer, pictured, killed himself in jail on Thursday, three days after he was charged with murdering his wife Bernadette during a trip to Zion National Park in 2006  Bernadette Vander Meer is pictured before her death, which was initially believed to have been an accident After hearing of his sudden death, Barry Diamond, the former senior pastor of the church where Vander Meer previously worked at, told NBC News that he was informed that he had hung himself.  'There are not winners here. This is a tragedy for Bernadette's family, this is a tragedy for Dave's family. They're good people and he hurt them too,' Diamond said.  Bernadette's death was ruled an accident decades ago, but 'investigators felt that circumstances were suspicious,' according to a probable cause affidavit seen by the outlet.  Developing story, check back for updates...  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.