Las Vegas public official arrested in killing of reporter
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Paradise Afshar and Travis Caldwell, CNN
(CNN) — Anger is erupting in a Las Vegas newsroom — and questions swirling far beyond about press freedom in America — after an elected county official was arrested Wednesday in connection with the killing of a veteran journalist who had been reporting on the official’s purported wrongdoing, his newspaper says.
Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles — the subject of investigative reports by the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Jeff German — has been arrested, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the Review-Journal, days after German was found stabbed to death outside his home.
“We are … 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 newspaper’s executive editor, Glenn Cook, said Wednesday in a statement.
Telles is being held on suspicion of murder and has a court appearance scheduled for Thursday afternoon, online Clark County Jail records show. Telles has not been publicly linked by police to German’s death; CNN has reached out to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and to Telles’ office and is working to determine his legal representation.
“Las Vegas law enforcement should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Jeff German, determine whether he was targeted for his work, and hold those responsible to account,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said this week.
Police are expected to provide further updates on their investigation Thursday.
Uniformed officers and police vehicles were seen Wednesday outside Telles’ home, according to local media reports. Las Vegas police confirmed officers served search warrants in relation to German’s death but did not immediately provide any additional information.
German had been working on a story about Telles the week he was killed, according to the Review-Journal. Earlier this year, Telles was the subject of articles that detailed his oversight of his office, and German reported Telles created a hostile work environment and carried on an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.
Telles denied the reports, the Review-Journal said. First elected to the office in 2018, Telles lost his bid for reelection in a June Democratic primary.
“The arrest of Robert Telles is at once an enormous relief and an outrage for the Review-Journal newsroom,” Cook, the editor, said Wednesday.
“We thank Las Vegas police for their urgency and hard work and for immediately recognizing the terrible significance of Jeff’s killing. Now, hopefully, the Review-Journal, the German family and Jeff’s many friends can begin the process of mourning and honoring a great man and a brave reporter. Godspeed, Jeff.”
Police asked for public’s help
German was discovered outside his home Saturday morning, and police suspect the killing may have happened earlier. Authorities asked those in the area to review any outdoor surveillance cameras from Friday between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. to possibly capture a better glimpse of a person who may have been involved in the killing.
A possible suspect “was potentially casing the area to commit other crimes before the homicide occurred,” according to Las Vegas police. Surveillance images of someone wearing a bright orange shirt and wide-brimmed hat were released, as well as a photo of what appears to be a maroon GMC SUV.
Coworkers of German reviewing Google Maps noted in Telles’ driveway a maroon SUV similar in look to the photo released by authorities, said Arthur Kane, a reporter for the Review-Journal who’d worked with German.
“The police came down and roped off the area, started searching his house,” Kane told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday. The SUV was registered to Telles’ wife, Kane said, and the vehicle was taken away by investigators.