US Murder-Suicide: Teacher Takes Her Own Life After Killing 4 Daughters

A 39-year-old Missouri teacher and a mother of four was found responsible for the estranged and horrifying case of a house fire that took place on Monday morning, taking the lives of four of her daughters and herself. The incident that occurred earlier and was reported as the 'housefire' is now confirmed as a murder-suicide case.

Bernadine 'Birdie' Pruessner, who recently received the 'Teacher of the Year' award in 2023, along with her four children, twins Ivy and Ellie Pruessner (9), Jackson Spader (5), and Millie Spader (2) were found perished in the flames of their house in Fergusson from the house fire early in the morning on Monday. 

US Teacher Commits Shocking Murder-Suicide

The St. Loius County Police Department ruled the tragic incident a "murder-suicide" case on Wednesday after the investigators found a suicide note that stated Birdie intentionally set a mattress on fire, which is identified as the origin of the fire that set the house ablaze, and a suicide note confirmed the estranged intentions of the mother to do so. However, the contents of the note were not disclosed.

Notably, just hours before putting the house on fire, Birdie posted on her social media around 00:15, hours before the fire was reported around 4:30 am, as her post detailed, "All my kids are peacefully sleeping in my bed. We curled up together. Knowing they are loved so fiercely that I’d do absolutely anything for them. This is my favourite moment"

Earlier on the same day, Birdie also shared on her Facebook a selfie with all her daughters stating how blessed she is to be their "mama" and how her daughters have a "heart for the Lord," sharing how her kids have overcome so much in their little lives than they should have had to face. 

On Sunday, Birdie also shared her family's wholesome-sounding Sunday plans on her Facebook profile, writing, "Live each day like it's your last."

The GoFundMe site's description by the family of Pruessner stated that she was in an "awful place," citing the reason for it to be her ongoing legal battle with her ex-husband, whom she divorced in 2017 and shared joint custody of her twins along with her ex-boyfriend and father of her other two kids. 

Reportedly, Birdie was in a legal battle with her ex-husband David Pruessner, who objected to her decision to relocate in court despite her decision to relocate just 10 miles away from the St. Louis suburb to Creve Coeur, even though their new home was closer to him, as he claimed he was concerned his kids would be near Birdie's mother, whom she allegedly described as "psychotic."

Birdie was also in a legal battle with her ex-boyfriend, Jared Spader, over the custody of Jackson and Millie. Her family stated on her GoFoundMe page that these legal battles took an emotional toll on Birdie and shared that despite earning less than $60,000 a year, she struggled to meet the financial requirements of these legal proceedings.