LAS VEGAS (KTNV — Clark County public administrator Robert Telles was arrested for open murder in connection with the death of longtime Las Vegas reporter and investigative journalist Jeff German, court records show.
Telles had publicly criticized German on social media and on his campaign website during his failed campaign for reelection.
German was found stabbed to death outside his home on Sept. 3, police said. He published several reports for the Las Vegas Review-Journal that were critical of Telles' job performance.
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Wednesday, investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spent hours serving a search warrant at Telles' home in the Peccole Ranch area. After Telles came back to the home, KTNV crews witnessed SWAT, FBI and undercover police vehicles entering the neighborhood.
We are at the neighborhood of Robert Telles where police are blocking off the neighborhood. They moved all media out of the neighborhood in Peccole Ranch. Swat, FBI & undercover police vehicles seen going in. @KTNV pic.twitter.com/UMkDfo7YOr
— Joe Moeller (@joemoeller44) September 8, 2022
After an hours-long standoff with police, Telles was loaded into an ambulance and transported to University Medical Center's trauma center. Law enforcement sources told KTNV Telles would be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo is expected to release more information about the investigation and what was found at Telles' home on Thursday morning at 10 a.m.
Telles is scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m.
In the meantime, the Office of the Public Administrator was "temporarily closed," according to a sign posted on the door.
Reached for comment on the search at Telles' home, Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa wrote, "We have no comment at this time."
German, 69, worked for decades as a columnist and investigative reporter for the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The Review-Journal released a public statement following Telles' arrest, saying "We are relieved Robert Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official."
"Journalists can't do the important work our communities require if they are afraid a presentation of facts could lead to violent retribution," the paper's leadership added.
The Review-Journal editors thanked Las Vegas police for their "urgency and hard work" in investigating German's killing.
In a previous statement, executive editor Glenn Cook said German had not expressed any concerns for his safety to the newspaper's leadership.
Anyone with information about German's murder can contact LVMPD's homicide section at 702-828-3521 or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
