By Jonathan Allen and Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) -Police on Wednesday arrested a county public administrator on suspicion of murdering a Las Vegas investigative reporter who had written news articles exposing complaints of wrongdoing at his office, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Jeff German, a reporter for the Review-Journal, was fatally stabbed outside his home on Friday after what police described as an altercation with his killer. German, 69, was well known in Las Vegas for his decades of reporting on political malfeasance and organized crime in Nevada’s largest city.
Police arrested Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, whose office oversees the estates of people who have died, the Review-Journal reported, citing Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and reporting at the scene of the arrest.
Las Vegas police confirmed in a Twitter post that a suspect in German’s murder had been arrested but did not identify him.
The newspaper said police in tactical gear surrounded Telles’ home on Wednesday evening.
“About 30 minutes later, he was wheeled out of the home on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance,” the Review-Journal said.
German had spent months reporting on complaints that Telles had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and oversaw an abusive workplace, which Telles denied, saying the complaints were from disgruntled “old-timers.”
Soon after German’s investigation was published https://www.reviewjournal.com/investigations/county-office-in-turmoil-with-secret-video-and-claims-of-bullying-hostility-2577147, Telles failed in his re-election bid, losing the Democratic primary in June. He was due to leave office in January.
Authorities had interviewed Telles and searched his home earlier on Wednesday, including his vehicle, which matched the description of a vehicle witnesses saw at the scene of the crime.
Telles declined to speak to reporters outside his home, following the police interview and search. He was wearing what appeared to be a hazmat suit and sandals, as if he had discarded his clothes or surrendered them as evidence.
Glenn Cook, the Review-Journal’s executive editor, said German’s colleagues were devastated by his killing.
“He was the gold standard of the news business,” Cook said in a statement. “It’s hard to imagine what Las Vegas would be like today without his many years of shining a bright light on dark places.”
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Robert Birsel)
