Las Vegas police arrest county official in connection with reporter’s stabbing death

LAS VEGAS — Police in Las Vegas arrested a county official Wednesday, hours after serving search warrants in connection to the death of an investigative journalist who was stabbed outside his home on Saturday.

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Jeff German, 69, a reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal since 2010, was found dead at about 10:30 a.m. PDT after a person called 911 saying a neighbor was dead on the side of the victim’s house, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Capt. Dori Koren told the newspaper.

Update 10:07 p.m. EDT Sept. 7: Police in Las Vegas arrested Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles on suspicion of murder in the death of investigative journalist Jeff German, Sheriff Joe Lombardo said.

The arrest came hours after officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department interviewed Telles and searched his home, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

By 6 p.m. PDT Wednesday, police had returned to Telles’ home while the county officials remained inside his home. About 30 minutes later, Telles was wheeled out of the home on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance, the newspaper reported.

“The arrest of Robert Telles is at once an enormous relief and an outrage for the Review-Journal newsroom,” Glenn Cook, the newspaper’s executive, said in a statement. “We are relieved Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official. Journalists can’t do the important work our communities require if they are afraid a presentation of facts could lead to violent retribution.”

Original report: The Clark County Office of the Medical Examiner told CNN that German died from multiple sharp force injuries, and the manner of his death was a homicide. According to police, German was involved in an altercation with another person, leading to the stabbing, The Associated Press reported.

On Wednesday morning, police served a search warrant at the home of Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, 45, who had been the subject of German’s reporting earlier this year that uncovered claims of bullying and retaliation, according to the Review-Journal.

Police searched Telles’ home beginning at 6:30 a.m. PDT, according to USA Today. Officials remained at the home for more than six hours before a red GMC Yukon Denali was towed away, the newspaper reported.

The GMC, which had been parked in Telles’ driveway, matched the description of a vehicle police said could be linked to German’s killing. A second vehicle was also towed from Telles’ property at about 12:50 p.m. PDT, the Review-Journal reported.

When Telles arrived at his home at about 2:20 p.m., he was wearing what appeared to be a white hazmat suit, according to the newspaper. He did not respond to reporters’ questions as he entered his garage.

German reported on Telles’ office, writing that the county official created a hostile environment and had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, CNN reported.

Telles denied the accusations and said the staff member, who also worked under former Public Administrator John Cahill, was simply one of the people he “could lean on” while he tried to change the office atmosphere, the Review-Journal reported.

Telles lost his bid for reelection in the Democratic primary in June, finishing third with about 32.4% of the vote, KLAS-TV reported. His term ends in January.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson declined to comment on the homicide investigation, the Review-Journal reported.

Telles complained about German in several tweets online during after the election. He conceded the race on June 21.

Asked at the Tuesday news conference whether German’s death could have been motivated by his stories, Koren said detectives were “not excluding anything at this time,” USA Today reported. Koren added that it appeared the suspect had been casing the reporter’s neighborhood to “commit crimes.”

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