AP reported on Thursday that a politician in Las Vegas was “upset” by a journalist’s continued inquiries into suspected mismanagement within his office and is now awaiting a decision on whether the death penalty will be applied if proven guilty of his murder.
According to his author page, Jeff German, a 69-year-old investigative journalist, was one of Nevada’s most notable media figures, having previously worked for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun.
The experienced journalist was discovered dead outside his home on September 4 after receiving seven stab wounds on September 3, according to a police news conference held Thursday.
On the scene, officers and medical officials pronounced German dead.
The killing was first shrouded in mystery, as Arthur Kane, a coworker of German’s at the Review-Journal, told CNN that several at the Las Vegas publication believed it was a “robbery gone wrong.”
According to CNN, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stated that the suspect “was possibly scoping out the neighborhood to commit other crimes prior to the homicide.”
The police requested that any security footage that may have captured the suspect be reviewed.
In a matter of days, clues to the case began to pile up, and a SWAT squad made an arrest.
The journalist had been examining the elected official Robert Telles.
Sheriff Joe Lombardo of Clark County and Captain Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department held a news conference regarding the arrest of Robert Telles.
Image via Getty Images
In May, German published an article alleging that Robert Telles, a public administrator for Clark County, oversaw a poisonous work environment. The article included the allegations of six “present and former employees.”
The Review-Journal said that Telles’ “inappropriate connection” with an employee contributed to the “hostile work environment.” German’s reporting said that this led to widespread “emotional stress, bullying, and favoritism” in the workplace.
In a mid-June tweet, Telles, who ultimately lost his re-election attempt in the Democratic primary, called German’s work a “lying smear article.”
—Rob Telles (@RobTellesLV)
June 18, 2022
Within forty-eight hours of discovering German’s body, police had leads.
On September 6, Las Vegas Police released photographs of a suspect wearing high-visibility apparel, a straw hat, and black gloves while wandering near the property of a journalist.
According to the Review-Journal, at a news conference that day, police published a photograph of the suspect’s maroon GMC Denali and asked for assistance in locating it.
The newspaper then stated that a home matching that description was parked in Telles’ driveway.
CNN reports that Kane, one of German’s coworkers, described the discovery as “concerning and shocking.”
Captain Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department addresses a news conference following the arrest of Robert Telles.
Image via Getty Images
The police interviewed Telles on Wednesday. After speaking with Telles, who was wearing a white jumpsuit, officers returned him to his home.
Captain Dori Koren told reporters at a news conference this week that Telles was apprehended after DNA findings proved positive and linked him to the crime scene.
Later that afternoon, SWAT vehicles arrived, and cops detained him on suspicion of murder.
Telles was carried to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening self-inflicted injuries after temporarily barricading himself inside his home and leaving on a stretcher.
After a brief court appearance on Thursday, a judge ordered Telles, 45, to be detained without bond at the Clark County Detention Center.
—LVMPD (@LVMPD)
September 8, 2022
Insider requested a copy of the police report from the Las Vegas Police Department. Police did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
The Clark County public administrator’s office, where Telles formerly worked, issued a statement on Friday through spokesman Erik Pappa describing German’s death as “shocking and tragic.”
Pappa stated that the office is “reviewing its legal options about Telles’ current status as Public Administrator” and that “the County has suspended Mr. Telles’ access to county offices and property.”
The wife of Telles, Mae Ismael, did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Insider. As of Friday, it was unclear whether Telles had instructed a defense attorney or been appointed one who could speak on his behalf.
Police say that Telles’ DNA was discovered under German’s fingernails.
Thursday at a news conference, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of Las Vegas described the fatal stabbing as “strange from the start.”
He stated that officers placed Telles, 45, into the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday on the allegation of first-degree murder.
“This is a horrific and shocking homicide that has had a profound effect on Las Vegas,” stated Lombardo. Every murder is tragic, but the murder of a journalist is especially disturbing.
The maroon GMC Denali, the distinctive, brightly-colored clothing, and the straw hat were, according to Koren, “a very important lead” in their inquiry.
“Our investigation revealed that Telles was driving the GMC Denali on the morning of the murder,” Koren told reporters at a press conference.
Koren stated that a “search warrant effort produced a pair of shoes matching the suspect’s description.”
He stated that the shoes and straw hat were “likely chopped in order to destroy evidence.”
Evidence in the murder investigation.
Images courtesy NBC/YouTube
The DNA results that identified Robert Telles’ DNA at the crime site, according to Koren, were “one of the most significant components of this investigation.”
Later, he stated that the elected person was “upset” over the pieces by German that “uncovered probable malfeasance.”
Koren noted during the conference, “Telles had publicly indicated his concerns with the reporting” and was “upset” upon finding that “more reporting was ‘waiting’.”
At the same news conference, Clark County’s Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Scow stated that German’s articles “ruined” Telles’ “political career and certainly his marriage, and this was him lashing out at the cause.”
Scow stated that German had the DNA of Telles beneath his fingernails, a fact that Justice of the Peace Elana Lee Graham described as “very disturbing.”
Graham stated that incident occurred “probably while he was struggling for his life.”
According to an AP story, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson described German’s death as “brutal and pointless.”
Wolfson stated that a decision about the death penalty would not be rendered for “months.”
As of Thursday, the murder weapon had not been recovered, according to the police.
In a statement to Insider, Glenn Cook, the executive editor of the Review-Journal, stated that the staff was both relieved and outraged about Telles’ arrest.
Cook stated, “We are glad that Robert Telles is in prison and outraged that a colleague was apparently murdered for reporting on an elected person.”
“Journalists cannot perform the vital service our communities demand if they fear violent reprisal for presenting the facts.”