Former Youth Pastor Charged With Wife’s Murder 20 Years After Deadly Hike
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is an iHeart Podcast.
Guaranteed human. Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, June 25th. Stop me when you heard this one before. Man goes on a hike with his wife. She falls to her death. He claims it was an accident. He gets arrested for murder later. However, there are a bunch of twists and turns in this story that make it like one you have never heard before. And with that, welcome to this episode of of Amy and TJ. Let's start with the fact that this was 20 years ago, and this is the damn youth pastor we're talking about, Robes.
Yeah, you just, you laid that out perfectly, because yes, it is unfortunately a stereotypical murder, but this is not like the others. That is true. David Vandermeer, yes, he was a former youth pastor out of Las Vegas in 2006. He and his 29-year-old wife are celebrating a wedding anniversary. What better way to celebrate your wedding anniversary than to go on a sunset hike on one of the most dangerous hiking trails in the United States of America? That was the choice.
And again, they live out in that area. So to take up this, they're from the Vegas area. So this was in Utah. Is that right? Where was this?
Yes, it's Zion National Park. It's all around this area. I've told you I've been on this hike because this hike was the most, this was the scariest hike, I think, definitely I've ever been on in the United States. It's called Angel's Landing. If you don't know about it, I encourage all of you, Google it. Look at the pictures. It is a steep slope. thousand foot plus climb where you are literally holding onto chains for your dear life. And they decide to do this in the dark with headlamps so that they can make it to the top, to the peak at sunrise. I get the idea.
Who is David Vandermeer and what happened on the 2006 Zion National Park hike?
And they want to get a picture sealing their wedding anniversary. They've just gotten up to the top of this dangerous hike and they have the picture to prove it.
29 years old, going for a hike, young couple, youth pastor. This is something they assume, hikers, you don't just start hiking and take on this one.
She's an avid hiker.
This is, so yes, so far, so good, no problem, but then tragedy strikes.
Yes, so here is his story initially to the police because obviously they needed to talk to him. So he's telling them, yes, we went on a sunrise hike. We were wearing headlamps. No one was around. I went to go set up the camera to take a pic. He said that his wife, Bernadette, was standing near the edge. He went to go move the backpacks out of the shot. And when he turned around, she was gone. He told authorities that he heard her screaming. as she fell. That might be the only true part of his statement, according to police.
But that sounds horrific. So you take this into account, Robes. It's dark out there. They're the only two out there. There are no witnesses. This guy is a trusted member of the community, is he not? This is a youth pastor. Correct. I would question his story. So that was his story. He was sticking to it. And it seemed like that story worked for about 20 years.
Yes. And so, yes. And investigators did say they did know that they were suspicious at the time, but they had no other reason they thought to go any further. So they ruled her death an accident. Case closed. Okay, until last year, where the investigation was relaunched. Why was the investigation relaunched? Because a senior pastor at the very church where Vandermeer, I say, worked in the past tense, and we'll get into that. Called investigators. He called police and he said, I believe the death of Bernadette was not an accident and that David pushed her. And that got police looking into the case once again.
So it's weird how it came about. It took almost 20 years, 15, 16, 17. I'm trying to do the numbers, but they got a tip in 2020. Don't have that right. And then 2022. 2022. And they got another one in 2025. Correct. Don't know if those two folks who called in these tips were in any way connected or anything like that, but could very well have been independent. Now, why after so much time did they decide they wanted to call? What new information they had?
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:58
2
Who is David Vandermeer and what happened on the 2006 Zion National Park hike?
1:58–4:45
3
Where is Angels Landing and why is this hike so dangerous?
4:45–8:35
4
What did Vandermeer initially tell police about Bernadette’s fall?
8:35–12:25
5
Why was Bernadette’s death originally ruled an accident and when was the investigation reopened?
12:25–13:16
6
What new tips and who prompted police to reexamine the case years later?
13:16–17:25
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present
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