Pastor Pushes Wife Off Cliff Then Told Mistress He Wanted ‘Open Relationship’

David Vander Meer allegedly spent years telling his teenage mistress that they could only be together if his wife was dead. But after prosecutors say he pushed his wife off a mile-high cliff in Zion National Park, the former youth pastor reportedly delivered another bombshell: he still wanted to see other women.

Vander Meer was accused of killing his 29-year-old wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, during what was supposed to be a romantic 10th anniversary hike at Angels Landing in Zion National Park on Aug. 22, 2006. Investigators later alleged he pushed her to her death so he could be with his teenage mistress and collect on a $600,000 life insurance policy.

The chilling details were laid out in a probable cause affidavit from the Washington County Attorney’s Office obtained by PEOPLE.

According to investigators, Vander Meer began grooming the girl when she was just 14 years old and he was serving as her youth pastor at a church in Las Vegas. By the time she was 16, the relationship had allegedly become sexual.

The affidavit claims Vander Meer took the teenager to pay-by-the-hour motels and even used the church for secret encounters. He also allegedly paid for her cell phone and later agreed to cover the rent on an apartment after his wife became suspicious and he convinced the teen to move out of her family’s home.

The relationship took a dramatic turn on Aug. 20, 2006, when the young woman allegedly told Vander Meer she wanted to end things and pursue another young man at the church.

Two days later, Bernadette was dead.

Vander Meer and his wife had gone hiking in Zion National Park to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary when she fell from Angels Landing, a narrow and notoriously dangerous rock formation with sweeping canyon views and terrifying drop-offs.

Authorities later alleged the fall was no accident.

After Bernadette’s death, Vander Meer’s mistress was quickly by his side. A friend of Bernadette’s told PEOPLE that the teen even accompanied him to Bernadette’s memorial service and sat shiva with him as he mourned his wife.

But once Vander Meer and the teenager officially began dating, he allegedly told her there was a catch. According to the affidavit, he said he needed to continue relationships with multiple women for the next two years.

That arrangement reportedly continued until 2008, when Vander Meer and his mistress secretly married.

The woman later told investigators that the marriage was largely tied to Vander Meer needing health insurance after he was fired from his youth pastor job over alleged inappropriate behavior with minors. The couple did not publicly marry until 2010.

By 2014, the marriage was over. His former mistress-turned-second-wife told investigators she divorced him because of his extramarital affairs, which she said she confirmed after testing positive for a sexually transmitted disease.

Years later, she helped authorities build the case against him.

Vander Meer was arrested on June 22, 2026, nearly 20 years after Bernadette plunged to her death. He was facing a murder charge in connection with her death, along with serious financial penalties tied to allegations that he fraudulently collected the $600,000 life insurance payout after killing her.

But Vander Meer never made it to court.

Two days after his arrest, he was found lifeless in his jail cell. On June 25, he was pronounced dead, just hours before his first scheduled court appearance.

According to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department report obtained by PEOPLE, Vander Meer left behind a suicide note.

Because of his death, all charges against him have been dropped. That also means any fortune he left behind can pass to his heir without the financial penalties he may have faced in connection with Bernadette’s death.

For Bernadette’s loved ones, the case closes without a trial and without the chance to hear a jury decide what happened on that cliff nearly two decades ago.