Ex-pastor accused of pushing wife off cliff died in an unusual way, sheriff says

The former youth pastor suspected of pushing his wife off a Utah cliff died by suicide in a very unusual way, said the sheriff who oversees Las Vegas’ jails.

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill declined to give details of David Vander Meer’s death while in custody last month, but during an interview Wednesday with the Las Vegas Review-Journal he said, “What I will tell you … is that he strangulated himself, and he did it in what I would say was a unique and novel way.”

He said longtime corrections officers had “never seen that particular method.”

The Las Vegas police reported on June 25 that “a 49-year-old male inmate” died in a hospital after being found the previous night with “self-sustained injuries” at the Clark County Detention Center.

It was later confirmed that the inmate was Vander Meer, who had been arrested June 22 at the yoga studio where he worked in Summerlin, Nevada.

Almost 20 years after his first wife died after a fall from the iconic Angel’s Landing tower in Zion National Park, he was charged with her murder.

The investigation into Bernadette Vander Meer’s death — which was initially called accidental — was revived because of a tip from the senior pastor of a church where David Vander Meer had led the youth group.

The pastor’s suspicion that the death was not an accident led investigators to interview Vander Meer’s second wife, with whom he reportedly had sex while he was married and she was a teen in the church group, said an affidavit from the Washington County Attorney’s Office.

At the time of his arrest, Vander Meer worked as a guidance counselor at a Las Vegas charter school, as well as at the yoga studio.

McMahill told the Review-Journal that the circumstances of the death remain under investigation. Vander Meer had reportedly been seen awake and sitting up in his cell about half an hour before he was found unresponsive.

A suicide note that was found will eventually be made public, the sheriff said.

If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.