Police carried out a search warrant Wednesday, in connection with the fatal stabbing of Jeff German, an investigative reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
According to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, police were spotted outside the home of Robert Telles, a county official who was the subject of several investigative stories by German.
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Authorities served search warrants Wednesday morning in connection with the slaying of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, Las Vegas police said.
Around 7 a.m., reporters observed uniformed officers and police vehicles outside the home of Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, who had been the focus of recent reporting by German. Authorities also had taped off a section around Telles’ home.
Shortly before 9 a.m., police said they were serving search warrants in the 7200 block of Bronze Circle, where the killing occurred.
“No further information will be provided at this time,” police said in a statement.
German spent months reporting on the turmoil surrounding Robert Telles’ oversight of the office. The 45-year-old Democrat lost his re-election bid in June’s primary after German’s findings were published. German also had recently filed public records requests for emails and text messages between Telles and three other county officials: Assistant Public Administrator Rita Reid, estate coordinator Roberta Lee-Kennett and consultant Michael Murphy. Lee-Kennett was identified in previous stories as a subordinate staffer allegedly involved in an “inappropriate relationship” with Telles.
German, 69, was found dead outside his northwest Las Vegas home on Sept. 3, the Metropolitan Police Department reported. Officials believe he was fatally stabbed during an altercation the day before.
German’s death came months after he reported that current and former employees alleged that Telles fueled a hostile work environment and carried on a relationship that impaired the office’s ability to deal with the public. The complaints led to co-workers secretly videotaping the two in the back seat of Lee-Kennett’s car in a parking garage. The story also included claims of bullying and favoritism by Telles.
Telles lost his race for re-election after German exposed the hostile work environment in the democrat official’s office.
The Review-Journal’s first investigative story on Telles was published in mid-May.
The story described a 19-page confidential retaliation complaint filed with the Clark County Office of Diversity by estate coordinator Aleisha Goodwin, where she provided details of Telles’ relationship with Lee-Kennett, the videotaping and his alleged micromanagement of the full-time workers.
“The county has failed to protect employees from a mentally and emotionally abusive situation that has continued now for two years-plus, and the mental and physical health ramifications have been felt by most of the full-time employees in this department of only eight full-time employees,” Goodwin wrote.
Surveillance images of the suspect in the investigation have been made public. Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the person seen in the images wearing an orange reflective shirt, a straw hat and jeans.
