Fla. man accused of killing pregnant wife, trying to cut up body

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of killing his pregnant wife and attempting to dismember her body, and also killing her father. CBS Miami reports that according to an arrest report, police say 22-year-old Cassandritz Blanc shot his wife, 21-year-old Martine Bernard, in the head last week because she disrespected him. 

He then allegedly kept the body in their apartment for a week. He reportedly tried to cut up the body to “to make it easier to dispose. But was unable to remove any body parts.” The mutilated remains were found dumped in a trash bin outside their Fort Lauderdale apartment June 12.

Police discovered the woman was missing after her father, Roosevelt Bernard, was found dead June 11. He had been reported missing Saturday when he did not show up for a baby shower. 

An arrest report says Blanc shot Bernard and set the corpse on fire in a field near his father-in-law’s home to try to conceal the killing last weekend. 

CBS Miami

According to his arrest report, Blanc, who had been under police surveillance since Bernard was found dead the day before, was spotted early Tuesday morning having trouble wheeling a trash can outside. When investigators looked inside the can, they found Martine’s mutilated body.

They took Blanc into custody, where he allegedly confessed to Fort Lauderdale police.

“You were wheeling a garbage can with a mutilated dead body in it. And once under arrest and post Miranda there was a full confession,” Judge Daniel Kanner said during Blanc’s arraignment hearing.

Blanc is charged with two counts each of murder and abuse of a dead body. He’s being held without bond.