No Bond For Man Accused Of Trying To Cut Up Dead Wife's Body
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A Fort Lauderdale man is accused of killing his pregnant wife and then trying to get rid of her body by dumping it in the trash made his first appearance before a judge Wednesday morning.
On June 4th, 22-year-old Cassandritz Blanc shot his wife, 21-year-old Martine Bernard, in the head because she disrespected him, according to his arrest report. He then 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."
Her body was found dumped in the trash outside their Fort Lauderdale apartment on June 12th. According to his arrest report Blanc, who was under police surveillance, was spotted early Tuesday morning having trouble wheeling a trash can outside. When investigators looked inside the can, they found Martine's mutilated body.
"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.
Hollywood police began surveillance on Blanc on Monday, June 11th, after his father-in-law, Roosevelt Bernard, was found dead. Roosevelt was reported missing Saturday when he did not show up for a baby shower.
Police say Bernard was shot and killed a few yards outside of his home in the 2900 block of Washington Street in a wooded area.
"It's unbelievable, it's like a mystery. It's like, I can't describe, no words to describe," said Mimose Adan, a cousin of Bernard, who described him as a kind and generous person.
She said he meant the world to her.
"He's a friend, he's a father, he's everything. He's everything. Anything, first thing I have to call, that's him. Anything I need," she said.
During the course of the investigation into Bernard's murder, police discovered that his daughter Martine, who was six months pregnant, was nowhere to be found.
While on a stakeout early Tuesday morning at Blanc's apartment building on NE 1st Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, investigators watched as he struggled to wheel a Waste Management trash can to the dumpster. That's when they found Martine's body.
Blanc was taken into custody and then to Fort Lauderdale police headquarters where police say he made a full confession.