Public administrator, wife accused of stealing from dead

Angie Wagner

Wednesday, Nov. 3, 1999 | 9:44 a.m.

Robert "Red" Dyer was supposed to dole out money for Nye County residents who died without a will. But authorities say the public administrator and his wife were helping themselves to the possessions.

"Things were being taken from the estates not being accounted for," Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke said Tuesday. "Vehicles and trailers were being sold and the money kept."

Dyer and his wife, Jennette Vivian Dyer, both 58, were charged Thursday with two counts of felony theft, one count of forgery and a misdemeanor count of misconduct of a public officer. Warrants were issued for their arrest but the Dyers haven't been found and their attorney said they are in hiding because they fear the sheriff.

The charges are related to two estates, but authorities say the couple may have mishandled as many as 20 since Dyer took office as public administrator in January.

The couple, who have lived in the rural town of Pahrump, 60 miles west of here, for four or five years, brought with them secrets that voters apparently never knew about when they elected Dyer last year, said Lieseke.

The Dyers have an extensive arrest record, according to the sheriff, that ranges from drug arrests to charges of soliciting murder and prostitution and that involves Mrs. Dyer's use of 13 aliases. Lieseke said he didn't know if the couple had ever been convicted of a crime, however, and the couple's attorney, Ted Marshall, said they had not.

With a population of about 33,000, mainly people who keep to themselves and don't ask questions, Pahrump is an easy place to leave a past behind.

So when Dyer ran for public administrator, voters didn't question his reasons or his background. Even Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett, who met with Dyer at campaign meetings, admits he was a likable guy.

After he took office, Dyer hired his wife as his deputy. Then about six months ago, Lieseke's office started getting the first of about 20 complaints over how the Dyers were handling estates.

The sheriff's office investigated, and on Saturday charges were filed.

Meanwhile, Pahrump resident June Frye and others began circulating a petition to recall Dyer. She said 3,500 signatures have been collected, much more than the amount needed.

"The people in the community were scared," Frye, 61, said. "I heard all kinds of horror stories."

So much so that she said she plans to lobby the state Legislature for a law requiring that political candidates undergo background checks

The criminal complaint accuses the Dyers of using a deceased man's trailer, then selling it to a Pahrump resident for $600 and of stealing and selling a deceased woman's 1992 Mercury Topaz.

Marshall said Tuesday the Dyers are in hiding because the sheriff has made threats against their lives, an allegation Lieseke dismissed as "ludicrous."

But if they are frightened, Beckett said, they could turn themselves in in Clark County.

"Nobody's going to hurt them or harm them out here," he said.

Marshall said the charges are false and the Dyers will turn themselves in as soon as the issue of bail has been resolved.

Bail for both husband and wife has been set at $30,000 each, but Marshall said he wants Dyer released on his own recognizance. He said he has no problem with Mrs. Dyer's bail.

The Las Vegas attorney said the charges against his clients are a result of "machine politics" in Nye County.

"Nobody believes Mr. Dyer was going to get elected. When he did, a lot of people were quite astonished. The sheriff has been totally 100 percent uncooperative with Mr. Dyer," Marshall said.