Ex-cop linked to HOA probe clearly carried burden before apparent suicide

In Metro Capt. Mark Tavarez's eyes, Christopher Van Cleef was a good cop and a better man.

"He was a great guy," Tavarez said Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after his friend Van Cleef was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"He was a fantastic guy. He was a great family man who was devoted to his wife and three sons. I've known him 25 years. He was a wonderful, outstanding human being who dedicated his life to this community."

But it's clear Van Cleef also carried with him a burden he could not lay down.

The body of the retired Metro lieutenant, whose name surfaced in an FBI and police investigation into public corruption involving homeowners associations and construction defect contractors and litigators, was discovered by a man walking his dog in Henderson in the desert area near the railroad tracks west of Green Valley Parkway and Warm Springs Road, police sources said. Henderson Police Department officers and the Clark County coroner's office were called to the scene at about 8:50 a.m.

A source speaking with knowledge of the event said Van Cleef told his wife he was going to a shopping center not far from the couple's home. When she discovered he hadn't taken the family car, she called him to determine the reason. Van Cleef also called his friend, Tavarez, to ask the Metro captain to go to his home to be with his wife. Suspecting his friend was in emotional distress, a short time later Tavarez called Henderson police. By then, a body had been found and reported.

Tavarez blames recent press accounts of the FBI's HOA investigation, specifically my own column, for placing undue pressure on Van Cleef.

"I can't imagine it had anything to do with what you printed," Tavarez said sarcastically before backtracking slightly.

"It sure didn't help, though, did it?"

Defending his friend of 25 years, Tavarez said Van Cleef hadn't been questioned by the FBI in about three years and had never been subpoenaed in connection with the investigation. Tavarez was Van Cleef's captain at the time he retired.

"Chris Van Cleef was a very honorable, decent, hard-working man," Tavarez said.

Protests from friends aside, Van Cleef also found himself in the middle of an expanding public corruption investigation. Van Cleef and former Metro Capt. Frank Sutton purchased condominiums in developments whose homeowners associations are now under investigation for possible public corruption. High Noon, Pebble Creek, and Mission Ridge are the developments they had in common, Sutton said in an October 2007 deposition. The name of Sutton, who worked at Metro 25 years before retiring from the vice/narcotics unit, has also been mentioned in connection with the investigation.

Sutton and Van Cleef were present at an HOA recall election involving the High Noon development after a court-appointed special master determined voting fraud had taken place.

In his deposition under questioning by attorney Jack Juan, Sutton acknowledged the fraudulent ballot problems, but added, "I know what happened, but I left prior to that. ... I have no idea what actually occurred. Chris and I left. ... Chris Van Cleef and I. We left. We had some other stuff to do."

Sutton then detailed his version of observing the start of the recall election with Van Cleef. Questions from the attorney focused on whether an extra box of ballots was delivered to the voting area.

Sutton denied any connection.

Then the question turned to Van Cleef's possible part in the questionable ballots.

Juan: "Do you know if Van Cleef is behind those invalid ballots?"

Sutton: "You'd have to ask him. But as far as I'm concerned, he's a real honest person ..."

The High Noon elections are a piece of the strange, intriguing puzzle federal and local law enforcement are attempting to put together. It's clear Van Cleef might have been able to shed light on the goings-on at High Noon and other developments.

The fiercely loyal Tavarez bristles at any notion that his friend was involved, but when questioned he also seemed at a loss to explain the apparent suicide.

"Now his family has to go on without him," Tavarez said. "Sometimes the pressures of life are more than one person can bear."

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295.