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Husband Tried to Dismember Pregnant Wife's Body After Murder: Fort Lauderdale Police

What to Know

  • Cassandritz Blanc, 22, was arrested Tuesday on charges of murder and abuse of a dead body in the killing of his wife, Martine Bernard
  • Blanc is also a suspect in the murder of his wife's father, 68-year-old Roosevelt Bernard, whose body was found in a grass lot in Hollywood

A Florida man fatally shot his pregnant wife and tried to dismember her body before dumping the remains in a trash can because she "disrespected him," police said.

Cassandritz Blanc, 22, was arrested Tuesday on charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a dead body in the killing of 20-year-old Martine Bernard. Bernard's body was discovered Tuesday in a trash can near the Fort Lauderdale home she shared with Blanc, according to an arrest report. Martine Bernard was six months pregnant.

Blanc is also a suspect in the shooting death of his father-in-law, 68-year-old Roosevelt Bernard, whose body was found on a lot in Hollywood on Monday, police said.

According to the arrest report, Hollywood detectives investigating Roosevelt Bernard's death reported his daughter missing when they were unable to contact her. Detectives interviewed Blanc and started to surveil his home after considering him a suspect, the report said.

Detectives said they saw Blanc Monday night "laboring" to move a trash container toward a dumpster behind his building. 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 appeared in court Wednesday where he was ordered held without bond. Officials said additional charges are pending.

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