Man Kills 4 and self; 2 Dead Kids at Home
Pastor Dale Morgan
Man Kills 4 and self; 2 Dead Kids at Home*
By MITCH STACY,
Associated Press Writer
LARGO, Fla. - A teacher drowning in debt fatally shot his ex-wife and
her roommate Friday, and police found two dead children at his house,
authorities said. The body of an apparent suicide victim was found later
in his van.
Police said it was not clear whether the body found in the van was that
of the teacher, Oliver Thomas Bernsdorff, but Manatee County sheriff's
spokesman Dave Bristow said investigators have "reason to believe the
person is connected" to the other four deaths.
Bernsdorff, 36, fatally shot his ex-wife, 27-year-old Jennifer Davis,
and her 53-year-old roommate, Andrea H. Pisanello, in their Largo
apartment Friday morning, Largo police Lt. Mike Loux said.
Police investigating those shootings identified Bernsdorff as a suspect
and sent officers to his house in nearby Clearwater, about 20 miles west
of Tampa. They found the children's bodies around 11 a.m., Clearwater
police said.
Police did not release the children's identities, but Bernsdorff's Web
pages said he was the single father of two children, ages 2 and 4, that
he had with Davis. The victims were described as a boy and a girl found
in a bedroom. Their causes of death were not released.
The Largo Police Department said in a statement that state troopers had
attempted to stop Bernsdorff's van because it was driving erratically.
The van pulled off the road near the Sunshine Skyway, a bridge that
connects St. Petersburg and the Brandenton area, and then "continued to
drive into the mangroves and then into the water," Largo police said. A
person inside the vehicle apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot
wound, police said.
A neighbor, 41-year-old Tammy Pleasant, said Bernsdorff had been
depressed since the breakup of his marriage but that she did not think
he was capable of such violence. She said Bernsdorff was considered the
neighborhood "hippie" because he had long hair, wore tie-dyed clothes
and drove a multicolored van.
"He just didn't seem like that type of person. I've never seen any
violent tendencies," Pleasant said.
In August, Bernsdorff filed for divorce from his wife. The divorce
settlement required Davis to pay about $800 per month in child support,
but as of October, she had not paid any and was $1,851 in arrears,
according to court records obtained by The Tampa Tribune and St.
Petersburg Times.
The divorce records show Bernsdorff was in debt, including $135,000 in
student loans, $27,000 owed the IRS, a $33,000 private loan and roughly
$50,000 in credit card debt, the papers reported.
A posting on the Bernsdorff family Web site last updated in May said:
"Our family is going through major changes right now ... please stay
tuned." The site says Bernsdorff is a GED teacher and a doctoral candidate.
The last login on his MySpace page was on Monday. The page says he was
divorced, looking for serious relationships and the single custodial
father of two young children "who are simply amazing little human beings."