Police are searching the home of a Las Vegas attorney in connection with the murder of an investigative reporter who was stabbed to death outside his own home.
Jeff German, 69, spent three decades reporting crime and corruption before he was brutally killed in Clark County, Las Vegas on Saturday.
He was found dead outside his home on September 3, with police believing he had been stabbed to death during an altercation the day before.
Authorities are today searching the home of Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, 45, who was the focus of the reporter’s recent articles.
Prior to his election, he founded a law firm based in LA’s Vegas that focused on estate planning and probate matters.
Police cars were seen outside his property and confirmed they were serving warrants but could not provide any further information.
The warrant was served at a home near Charleston Boulevard and Hualapai Way, and police are still at the scene.
German spent months reporting on the turmoil in Telle’s office and how he lost his re-election bid in June.
Democrat Telles, 45, lost the bid after German’s findings were released and the reported recently filed public record requests for emails and text messages between Telles and other officials.
Las Vegas police were spotted outside the Telles home five days after the investigative reporter was killed outside his home
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers found journalist Jeff German (left) dead of stab wounds around 10:30 a.m. Saturday after authorities received an 911 call. They have now searched the home of Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles (right).
Police chased a red or maroon GMC Yukon Denali with chrome handles and a sunroof, manufactured between 2007 and 2014, which is linked to the suspect
He wanted communication between Telles and Assistant Public Administrator Rita Reid, Probate Coordinator Roberta Lee-Kennett, and Counselor Michael Murphy.
Lee-Kennett, 45, was previously identified by German as a subordinate allegedly involved in an “inappropriate relationship” with Telles.
The employee and Telles both strongly denied any allegations of an improper relationship between them.
Police released two surveillance footage related to the investigation, the first of which shows an unidentified person wearing a wide straw hat, gloves and a bright orange shirt.
A second captures a red or maroon GMC Yukon Denali with chrome handles and a sunroof that was manufactured between 2007 and 2014 and is associated with the suspect.
Pictures obtained by the LA Review Journal, where German worked, taken the day before the police ambush shows Telles cleaning a car similar to the police description.
Capt. Dori Koren, a spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said: “We believe the altercation took place outside the home.
“We have some clues. We’re pursuing a suspect, but the suspect is still pending.’
Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, pictured cleaning his car, has had his home searched by officers investigating the reporter’s murder
German accused Telles (pictured with his wife) of having an “inappropriate relationship” with a member of his staff
Police released surveillance footage of a person wearing a sun hat and orange jacket near the crime scene
According to the Review-Journal, officers came to Telle’s home, where a vehicle on the driveway of his home matched the description of the car.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said: “It was a senseless act of violence. The loss of life in this way is always shocking and needs to stop. We will follow the police investigation closely.
German had previously claimed that both current and former Telles employees said he had fomented a “hostile work environment.”
They also say that he maintained a relationship with Lee-Kennett that affected the office’s ability to deal with the public.
Colleagues secretly filmed the pair in the back of their car in a parking garage, with the story also claiming Telles was a bully and showing favoritism.
Telles denied all allegations and said Lee-Kennett was a person he “could lean on” while trying to change the office atmosphere.
That same month, he slammed German in a series of public Twitter posts, accusing the reporter of preparing “slander lie #4.”
Telles accused the reporter of writing several “diaphrases” against him after he lost a re-election bid in June
The warrant was served at a home near Charleston Boulevard and Hualapai Way, and police are still at the scene
German was the author of the 2001 true crime book Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss, which chronicles the death of Ted Binion, heir to the Horseshoe Club fortune
Glenn Cook, editor-in-chief of the Review-Journal, said German had never raised concerns about his personal safety or threats against him with anyone in the newspaper’s leadership.
He said in a statement: “The Review Journal family is devastated to lose Jeff.
“He was the gold standard of the news business. It’s hard to imagine what Las Vegas would be like today without him having shed a bright light on dark places for many years.’
Cook added, “I’m relieved that police have identified a suspect and I hope an arrest can answer the question we’re all asking right now: why would anyone kill Jeff?”
German joined Review-Journal in 2010 after more than two decades at the Las Vegas Sun, where he was a columnist and reporter covering corruption and organized crime.
He was the author of the 2001 book Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss, about the death of Ted Binion, heir to the Horseshoe Club fortune
