Florida

Man Accused of Killing Pregnant Wife Charged in Father-in-Law's Murder

Cassandritz Blanc, 22, is facing charges of murder and abusing a dead body in the killing of 68-year-old Roosevelt Bernard

What to Know

  • Cassandritz Blanc, 22, is facing charges of murder and abusing a dead body in the killing of 68-year-old Roosevelt Bernard
  • Blanc was arrested Tuesday on the same charges in the shooting death of his wife, 20-year-old Martine Bernard

A South Florida man accused of killing his pregnant wife because she "disrespected him" has been charged in the murder of his father-in-law, police said.

Cassandritz Blanc, 22, is facing charges of murder and abusing a dead body in the killing of 68-year-old Roosevelt Bernard, according to a Hollywood Police arrest report released Thursday.

Blanc was arrested Tuesday on the same charges in the shooting death of his wife, 20-year-old Martine Bernard, in Fort Lauderdale. She was six months pregnant.

According to the arrest report, Blanc shot and killed his father-in-law on Saturday and dumped the body in a field, then tried to conceal the killing by lighting the body on fire using gasoline.

The report said there was a downed wire near the body that was initially believed to be a power line that caused the fire, but power workers determined the wire was not live, the report said.

Police said a neighbor's surveillance camera captured Blanc dumping the body in the field.

Officers discovered Roosevelt Bernard's body on Monday. Detectives said they saw Blanc on Monday night "laboring" to move a trash container toward a dumpster behind his building in Fort Lauderdale. After he was detained, detectives searched the trash container and found Martine Bernard's mutilated body inside, the report said.

Blanc confessed to the murder and told detectives he shot his wife in the head on June 4 because she "disrespected him," the report said. He also told detectives he tried to dismember her body to make it easier to dispose.

Blanc remained behind bars without bond Thursday.

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