Las Vegas police said Wednesday they have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering a journalist in the US casino hub, with local media saying the suspect is a politician who had been the focus of investigative stories by the reporter.
Jeff German had been working on a series of stories for the Las Vegas Review-Journal concerning alleged wrongdoing by Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, the newspaper said.
Stabbed multiple times
German, 69, was found dead outside his home on Saturday, with local media reporting that he had been stabbed multiple times.
“The suspect in the homicide that occurred on September 2, 2022, has been taken into custody,” said a brief statement from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The statement did not name the suspect and offered no further details.
But the Review-Journal named Telles, 45, as the man detained, citing Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. Clark County jail records showed Telles was in custody in connection with an open murder investigation.
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Earlier on Wednesday, local television station KTNV reported that the official’s home had been searched by police.
Officers had released images of their prime suspect – a man wearing a wide straw hat and long orange shirt – along with a maroon vehicle they believe is connected to the murder.
German had reported for several months on Telles’ oversight of the local public administrator’s office, his newspaper said.
Complaints against Telles
The stories covered complaints against Telles of bullying, favoritism and other alleged wrongdoing at a local government office that handles the property of people who die without a will.
“The arrest of Robert Telles is at once an enormous relief and an outrage for the Review-Journal newsroom,” the newspaper’s executive editor, Glenn Cook, was quoted as saying by the media outlet.
“We are relieved Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official.”
German had recently filed public records requests for communications between Telles and three other county officials, the Review-Journal reported.
Telles is due in court on Thursday afternoon, Clark County jail records showed.
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