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Gun in family killings had proper paperwork

Largo police say the weapon came from a Clearwater pawn shop a day before the shootings.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE, Times Staff Writer
Published December 19, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Oliver Thomas Bernsdorff, 36, shot two women, his two children and himself, police say.

Oliver Thomas Bernsdorff picked up the gun police think he used to kill five people the day before the shootings, police said Tuesday.

On Dec. 7, Bernsdorff purchased a 9mm semiautomatic pistol from Clearwater Pawn and Loan at 709 Myrtle Ave. just north of downtown Clearwater and filled out the paperwork.

Gun buyers in Florida must wait three days before the gun can leave the retailer. Buyers also must fill out a federal form asking if they has ever been adjudicated mentally defective or is the subject to a court order restraining them from harming a child, spouse or girlfriend.

Bernsdorff, who had no criminal record in Florida, had no restraining orders against him.

"The proper paperwork was filled out," Clearwater city spokeswoman Joelle Castelli said.

Bernsdorff, 36, returned to pick up the weapon Thursday, "the day before the killings," Largo police Sgt. John Trebino said. On Tuesday, a man who identified himself as the pawn shop's owner would not discuss the purchase.

On Friday, Bernsdorff apparently shot and killed his ex-wife Jennifer Renee Davis, 27, and her roommate, Andrea Pisanello, 53, at their Largo apartment, as well as his daughter, Olivia, 4, and his son, Magnus, 2, at his Clearwater home. As authorities tried to pull over his van near the Sunshine Skyway in Manatee County, he crashed into mangroves and shot himself in the head, Trebino said.

Bernsdorff's body was positively identified Tuesday. Police are still working to decipher a blood-soaked note found in his van.

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at dalee@sptimes.com or 445-4174.

[Last modified December 19, 2007, 01:20:57]