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Police: Bernsdorff Had Threatened To Kill His Family

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By MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2007

Updated: 12/15/2007 04:14 pm

Statement From The Davis Family

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A Family Shattered | Photo Gallery | Video: 5 Dead

Oliver Bernsdorff threatened to kill his ex-wife, their children and himself if he couldn't have their family back the way it used to be, Largo Police Lt. Mike Loux said in a news release today.

Bernsdorff made these statements, detectives say, within earshot of others before taking action on Friday. Authorities think he killed his ex-wife, Jennifer Davis and her lover, Andrea Pisanello, at their apartment in Largo, as well as two small children he shared with Davis at his house in Clearwater.

Largo detectives today attended autopsies for Davis and Pisanello, who were found dead of gunshot wounds at Monterey Lakes Apartments, Loux said.

"It is believed that the firearm was a 9mm semi-automatic handgun," he said. "The number of shots, where the victims were shot and where they were in the apartment is not going to be released."

After the bodies were found, Clearwater police went to Bernsdorff's home to check on the children, who were found in a bedroom. Investigators won't say how the children died. They were positively identified through photos.

"Investigators are obviously working under the assumption that Mr. Bernsdorff committed the homicides in our city and also in Clearwater," Loux said. "It is not known which pair of homicides [was] committed first. This information will not be available any time soon."

Authorities are operating under the assumption that Bernsdorff is the man who shot himself during the Skyway Bridge traffic stop because it was his colorful van that ran off the road into a thicket of mangroves.

Due to the circumstances involved in the suicide, positive identification might have to be determined by DNA testing, Loux said.

A memorial for the victims started at 2 p.m. today at the Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater church.

Bernsdorff and the victims all attended church there for several years, according to church leaders.

Outside the Bernsdorff house on Powderhorn Drive, the neighborhood was quiet Saturday Neighbors kept to themselves, declining to speak with a reporter or simply not answering their front doors.

"You don't see the kids out here playing; they're all inside today,'' said one neighbor, Tammy Pleasant, 41, who lives across the street. "They'd all be at his house.''

She said many kids on the street played at the Bernsdorff house, where toys, bicycles and tricycles were still in the front yard and driveway.

"That's way everybody's not saying much,'' Pleasant said. "Because they were always out [playing].''

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com. Reporter Carlos Moncada contributed to this story.

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