Las Vegas police say a retired cop is behind anonymous letters addressed to the lieutenant

It was a stamp that led Metropolitan Police Department investigators to a former colleague.

And now a retired Metro Police detective has to stand trial. He is accused of writing a series of anonymous letters over three years to discredit and damage the career of a Metro lieutenant. According to police and court documents, this played a crucial role in uncovering the alleged failures of the accused letter writer as a detective.

Christopher Lange, a former sexual assault unit detective who retired in 2021 after being recommended for firing, is now facing stalking and stalking charges in connection with the letters received by Metro, Meyers or people associated with Metro Accused of defamation, the documents say.

Lange has pleaded not guilty, according to his attorney, Jess Marchese.

According to police documents filed in Las Vegas Justice Court in March, Lange was behind 16 letters sent between January 2021 and January 2024. All the letters had the same destination, police alleged, namely a high-ranking Metro official, Lt. Richard Meyers, causing personal and professional harm.

According to police records, Meyers was the Metro supervisor “assigned to file a complaint with Metro’s Internal Affairs Office regarding Lange’s “alleged failures as a sexual assault investigator.”

“Escalating content and harassing nature”

According to police documents, Lange had been fired from his role as an investigator in the sexual assault unit due to allegations of dereliction of duty, standards of conduct and criminal procedural conduct. They did not specify what Lange allegedly did to warrant those allegations.

On September 16, 2020, Lange’s dismissal was recommended. But ahead of a hearing on his proposed termination, Lange retired on February 26, 2021, ending a career that began at Metro in 2002.

A police investigator wrote in the documents that he believed the letter writer was likely calling for “the dismissal or punishment of Meyers,” citing the “escalating content and harassing nature of the letters.”

A letter sent to Meyers’ home and addressed to his wife alleged infidelity. Thirteen of the 16 letters accused Meyers of creating a hostile work environment, making lewd comments and sharing sexual and otherwise inappropriate memes, police documents show. He was also accused of leaking information about cases to the media. The letters also accused Meyers of having sex in the workplace and engaging in unwanted touching.

None of this was true, police determined.

“Terrorized and harassed”

With every letter sent, Meyers was investigated internally, the documents say. According to police records, “The results of each investigation indicated that the allegations were unfounded, meaning that the ‘conduct complained of did not occur’.”

The letters left Meyers feeling “terrorized and harassed since January 11, 2021,” the date the first letter was received by Metro, more than a month before Lange’s retirement, as noted in police documents.

After Metro’s internal affairs office received an anonymous letter in May 2021, investigators determined from a QR code on the stamp that the stamp had been purchased with a credit card belonging to Lange’s wife. In interviews with police, Lange’s wife said Lange had access to the stamps.

“Christoper stated that he wrote at least ten (10) letters regarding Meyers,” police documents state. “Christopher also admitted that Meyers was the person who drafted the (statement of complaint) against him that ultimately terminated Lange’s (sic) employment relationship with the LVMPD through retirement.”

Marchese, Lange’s attorney, confirmed in a text message that Lange was not arrested but was served with a court summons “due to his lack of a criminal record.” Marchese said in a text message that Lange “has pleaded not guilty and intends to invoke his due process rights.”

A Metro spokesman confirmed in an email that Meyers is still a lieutenant at Metro. Efforts to get Metro to comment on the case were unsuccessful.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 29, according to court records.

Contact Brett Clarkson at [email protected].