Man, woman arrested in Mexico for murder of beloved California educator, police say
FRESNO, Calif. -- A man and a woman have been arrested in connection with the murder of Geoff Bernardi, who was attacked last December in Clovis, California.
Clovis Police say 40-year-old Antonio Garcia of Tulare and 32-year-old Misty Gomez of Dinuba were arrested Wednesday by U.S. Marshals in Mexico.
Garcia and Gomez were brought back to California and jail records show they were booked into the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County early Saturday morning.
Detectives say they discovered Gomez was Bernardi's girlfriend, however, she is also married to Garcia.
When Gomez fled the country, Clovis Police say she took her two young children with her, who have been missing since April.
Bernardi was attacked by an individual outside his apartment complex just after midnight on December 18.
Investigators say Gomez was the only witness and described the attacker as wearing a black puffer jacket with a hoodie. Bernardi died from his injuries two days later.
In January, detectives determined that the attack was not random and identified a person of interest.
After the arrests, Bernardi's mother said she knew Gomez, who was dating her son when he was murdered.
"She really doesn't have much of a conscience. I think she's a sociopath," said Erin Adams, Bernardi's mother.
Adams says Bernardi did not know Gomez was married, and though they had only been together for a few months, he truly loved her.
"The first time he went out with her, he told me, 'I met the woman I'm going to marry.'" said Adams, throwing her hands up as she continued. "We didn't know she was already married."
Bernardi was a career technical education teacher with the Clovis Unified School District, working closely with students on theater productions.
Adams says Gomez was the one who called her the night of the attack to tell her Bernardi had been severely beaten and was with the family the next day at the hospital.
"She lay on his bed and wept and said, 'We have to find who did this to him.' And, you know, she was playing a game. She was watching our grief," said Adams.
Two days into the investigation, Adams says her family knew Gomez was involved.
Alameda County jail records show Gomez and Garcia's bail is set for $1 million. They are now being extradited to the Fresno County Jail.
