Charges certified against suspect in 2019 Pittsylvania County triple murder

PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - A case is moving forward against a man who is the suspect in a 2019 Pittsylvania County killing that left three people dead.

A court certified charges against 23-year-old Matthew Bernard for the deaths of his 62-year-old mother Joan Bernard, 25-year-old sister Emily Bivens and 14-month-old nephew Cullen Bivens. Matthew Bernard is charged with three counts of aggravated murder of multiple persons, and three counts of use of a firearm in a felony.

August 27, 2019, police found the three bodies in Keeling. Authorities captured Bernard after he emerged naked from the woods and attacked a groundskeeper at a Baptist church. He was originally charged with three counts of first degree murder, but the charge was later amended to three counts of aggravated murder of multiple persons.

Court documents from 2019 reveal Bernard gave statements indicating he was operating on a religious motivation and “things Bernard heard from God.” In November 2019, Bernard was ruled incompetent to stand trial after a psychiatric evaluation. A Pittsylvania County judge wanted treatment to continue with the goal that Bernard would be able to stand trial for the murder of his three family members.

More stories on this case can be found here.

For the last five years, motions have been filed to continue Bernard’s court proceedings due to mental incompetency and sanity. After a preliminary hearing Wednesday, all of Bernard’s charges will now be brought before a grand jury.

The grand jury will convene in August.