Journalist Jeff German is shown on Las Vegas Boulevard on June 2, 2021. He was found dead on September 3, 2022. K.
M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Image An investigative reporter was brutally murdered last week at his own home in Las Vegas. An elected official has been charged with his murder.
A local magistrate called details of the case “quite chilling. ” LAS VEGAS — A politician was “upset” at a journalist’s ongoing investigations into alleged mismanagement within his office, and must now wait for a decision on whether the death penalty will apply if found guilty of his murder, AP reported Thursday. Jeff German, a 69-year-old investigative journalist, was one of Nevada’s most prominent media members having worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal and, previously, the Las Vegas Sun, according to his author page.
The veteran reporter was found dead outside his home on September 4 after suffering seven stab wounds times the day before, police said at a news conference Thursday. Officers and medical personnel pronounced German dead at the scene. There was initially a degree of mystery to the killing, as Arthur Kane — a colleague of German’s at the Review-Journal — told CNN that some at the Las Vegas publication assumed it was, at first, a “robbery gone bad.
“The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department even said, according to CNN, that the person involved “was potentially casing the area to commit other crimes before the homicide occurred. “Police appealed for people to check any surveillance footage that may have captured the suspect. Within days, clues to the case began to mount and a SWAT team swooped in to make an arrest.
The journalist had been investigating Robert Telles — an elected officialClark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and LVMPD Captain Dori Koren at a news conference regarding Robert Telles’ arrest. Photo by Getty ImagesIn May, German published a story that alleged Robert Telles — a Clark County public administrator — oversaw a toxic work environment, and detailed complaints from six “current and former employees. “The Review-Journal reported that the “hostile work environment was fueled” by an “inappropriate relationship” Telles had with a staffer.
This caused wider “emotional stress, bullying, and favoritism” in the workplace, German’s reporting alleged. Telles, who went on to lose a re-election bid in the Democratic primary, described German’s work as a “lying smear piece” in a mid-June tweet. —Rob Telles (@RobTellesLV) June 18, 2022Police had leads within 48 hours of discovering German’s bodyOn Sep.
6, Las Vegas Police released images of the suspect walking near the journalist’s property while wearing high-visibility clothing, a straw hat, and black gloves. At a news conference that day, police released an image of the suspect’s maroon-colored GMC Denali and asked for help locating the vehicle, according to the Review-Journal. The newspaper reported later that an SUV matching that description was parked in the driveway of Telles’ home.
Kane, one of German’s colleagues, called the discovery “concerning and surprising,” according to CNN. LVMPD Captain Dori Koren speaks at a news conference following the arrest of Robert Telles. Photo by Getty ImagesOn Wednesday, police interviewed Telles.
Officers returned Telles, dressed in a white jumpsuit, to his home after speaking with him. However, when DNA results tested positive — linking Telles to the crime scene — officers moved to apprehend him, Captain Dori Koren told reporters at this week’s news conference. SWAT vehicles arrived later that afternoon and officers arrested him on suspicion of murder.
Telles left his home on a stretcher, after temporarily barricading himself inside, and was transported to a hospital for treatment of what officers termed self-inflicted wounds that were not life-threatening. A judge ordered 45-year-old Telles to be held without bail at Clark County Detention Center following a brief court appearance Thursday. —LVMPD (@LVMPD) September 8, 2022Insider contacted Las Vegas Police for a copy of the police report.
Insider also requested comment from police but did not receive an immediate response. The Clark County public administrator’s office, where Telles used to work, said through spokesperson Erik Pappa that German’s death was “shocking and tragic,” in a statement sent Friday to Insider. The office is “reviewing its options under the law regarding Telles’ current status as the Public Administrator,” Pappa said, adding that “the County has suspended Mr.
Telles’ access to county offices or property. “Telles’ wife Mae Ismael did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. It was not clear if Telles had instructed a defense attorney, or had been appointed one who could speak on his behalf, as of Friday.
Telles’ DNA was found underneath German’s fingernails, police saySpeaking at a news conference Thursday, Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo called the fatal stabbing “an unusual case from the beginning. “He said officers booked 45-year-old Telles into Clark County Detention Center Wednesday on the charge of open murder. “This is a terrible and jarring homicide — one that has deeply impacted Las Vegas,” said Lombardo.
“Every murder is tragic but the killing of a journalist is particularly troublesome. “Koren called the maroon GMC Denali, together with the unique, brightly-colored clothes and the straw hat, “a very critical lead” in their investigation. “We developed information that indicated Telles was driving the GMC Denali the morning of the murder,” Koren told reporters at the conference.
A “search warrant effort recovered a pair of shoes that matched the suspect’s description,” too, Koren said. He said the shoes and the straw hat were “likely cut in a manner that was to destroy the evidence. “Evidence in the open murder case.
Photos by NBC / YouTubeKoren said “one of the most important aspects of this investigation” was the “DNA results that showed Robert Telles’ DNA at the crime scene. “He added later that the elected official “was upset” about German’s articles that “exposed potential wrongdoing. “At the conference, Koren added: “Telles had publicly expressed his issues with the reporting” and was “upset” after “learning there was additional reporting ‘pending’.
“Clark County’s Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Scow said at the same news conference that German’s articles “ruined” Telles’ “political career, likely his marriage, and this was him lashing out at the cause. “Scow added that German had Telles’ DNA underneath his fingernails — a detail that Justice of the Peace Elana Lee Graham called “quite chilling. “Graham said this was “presumably during the time in which he was fighting for his life.
“Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said German’s death was “brutal and meaningless,” as per an AP report. Wolfson said a decision on the death penalty would not be made “for months. “The murder weapon had not been recovered as of Thursday, police said.
In a statement to Insider, Glenn Cook, the executive editor for the Review-Journal, said the newsroom was both relieved and outraged at Telles’ arrest. “We are relieved Robert Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official,” Cook said. “Journalists can’t do the important work our communities require if they are afraid a presentation of facts could lead to violent retribution.
“Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/las-vegas-latest-news-in-open-murder-arrest-2022-9
