Report had role in suicide

MIAMI – A former city commissioner who committed suicide was distraught about an online story that detailed his alleged contacts with drug dealers, reputed homosexual affairs and the corruption charges he faced, acquaintances said Thursday.

Arthur E. Teele Jr. killed himself Wednesday in the lobby of the Miami Herald after asking to speak with columnist Jim DeFede. Just hours before, the Miami New Times published a report online entitled “Tales of Teele: Sleaze Stories.”

The weekly newspaper’s story was largely based on police reports.

Before shooting himself, Teele spoke several times by phone with DeFede, a longtime acquaintance who described Teele as “very distraught.”

“He mainly called because he wanted to talk to me about the allegations about his homosexual affair supposedly that a prison inmate was making against him,” DeFede said. “He was upset by what that was doing, the impact it has having on his son.”

In the wake of the shooting, the Herald said late Wednesday that it had fired DeFede after discovering he had recorded a phone conversation without Teele’s permission – a violation of state law.

DeFede said his firing was unfair and that he should have been suspended because he told his bosses about the tape on his own. Jesus Diaz, publisher of the Miami Herald, said DeFede ignored the newspaper’s ethical standards.