Cassandritz Blanc, 22, has been charged in the murder of his pregnant wife Martine Bernard, 20, and the murder of her father, Roosevelt Bernard, 68
A man accused of shooting and killing his pregnant wife sent a text from her cell phone to make it look like she was still alive, police say.
Florida man Cassandritz Blanc, 22, allegedly sent a text from wife Martine Bernard’s phone after he had killed her that said she confessed to killing her father – who he is also charged with having killed, the Sun Sentinel reported.
Authorities say Blanc told them he shot his wife for disrespecting him and also confessed to killing her father.
Roosevelt Bernard’ body was found in a field just 80 steps from his Hollywood home. Police said he had been set on fire.
Authorities say Blanc tried to dismember his wife’s body and left her remains in their apartment for eight days before tossing it in a dumpster.
The alarm was first raised when Roosevelt did not attend a family gathering. Families called authorities, and after his body was found, concern for the family patriarch quickly turned to concern for his daughter Martine, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Martine was six months pregnant when she died. Police say Blanc kept her body in their apartment for eight days, where he tried to dismember it, before throwing it in a dumpster. Roosevelt’s body was found just 80 steps from his house, and had been lit on fire
But by the time police had found her, it was too late. Martine was found in a dumpster in an alley in Fort Lauderdale, just a short distance from the home she shared with her husband.
Both father and daughter had died after being shot. While Blanc has been charged in his wife’s murder, charges could be pending for his unborn child.
Blanc is facing charges of two counts of premeditated murder and two counts of abusing a corpse.
He is being held without bond in the Broward County jail in Fort Lauderdale.
Police would not comment on how long Martine’s body had been left in the dumpster.
Neighbors and community members were shocked and devastated to hear the news of the heinous murders.
Sydney Johnson saw the Bernards at Hollywood Bible Chapel, and knew them the past 10 years.
‘I am shocked,’ Johnson told WSVN. ‘I never expected things like this would happen to the Bernard family. They are a very godly people. He was a lovely man.’
Martine was found dead inside this dumpster, not far from the Fort Lauderdale home she shared with her husband- who has been charged in her murder and could also face charges for killing their unborn child
Police are pictured searching the area around the home after finding Martine, who was presumed missing, in a dumpster
Roosevelt Bernard was also fondly remembered by Joanna Harris and Twin Richardson, mother-daughter tenants in a Dania Beach duplex he owned.
‘He was a working man and took care of the house,’ Harris said about his nearly daily visits to the property.
Her daughter said Roosevelt Bernard would tend to the yard or touch up the exterior with paint, often into the evening. And if they were a little short with the rent money, he’d let them slide for a time, Richardson said.
‘He was a darned good man,’ she said.
Investigators asked anyone with information about the cases to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 or online at browardcrimestoppers.org.