For 40 years, Las Vegas journalist Jeff German confronted the power players of Sin City, scrutinized public spending and never, ever backed down.
And he had more stories in the pipeline – including an ongoing investigation into an elected public official who police allege killed him.
“Jeff, in a million years, would never have thought that this would be the case that he’d be killed over,” said Lisa Rasmussen, a local criminal defense lawyer who knew German for 20 years. “He’s covered the Mob, gotten into these massive corruption scandals. And no one offed him over that. It’s just so offensive on so many levels.”
On Sept. 3, authorities say, German, 69, was found stabbed to death outside his suburban Las Vegas home where he’d lived for 26 years, according to public records. Police initially said they thought German’s killer was someone casing the neighborhood. But four days later, they arrested an elected official who had been the subject of German’s recent reporting: Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles.
German in recent months published multiple stories highlighting several scandals within Telles’ office, including allegations of favoritism and mismanagement, prompting county officials to take away his management responsibilities. Telles is being held without bond and has not yet entered a plea.
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German’s death has sent shockwaves through the Las Vegas community, in part because he was such a fixture personally and because of who he was professionally: An investigative reporter practicing one of the few jobs specifically mentioned as important in the Constitution.
Those who knew him best say German lived a life largely dedicated to journalism: He didn’t have close family, and his newsroom colleagues filled that role for him. He was always ready with an encouraging word, but any conversation was likely to be short because his phone was constantly ringing with calls from sources, subjects and experts.
“He got people. And he got it from an underdog point of view. He didn’t care who he was going to piss off. He didn’t care if he offended people,” Rasmussen said. “I always had the sense that he loved what he did because he made a difference for the underdog – that was his currency.”
Rasmussen said German became her go-to reporter whenever she came across government corruption or incompetence, even though he sometimes wrote stories critical of her own clients.
“I can’t get my arms around it,” Rasmussen said. “I can still hear his voice, see his number ringing on my cellphone.”
What led up to German’s death?
Authorities accuse Telles of lashing out at German over his reporting that revealed Telles, who is married with children, was secretly spending hours in the backseat of an SUV in a parking garage with one of his subordinates.
Following publication of German’s stories, Telles, a Democrat, in June lost his reelection bid and was due to leave office in January. On Monday, prosecutors charged Telles with a count of murder of an older person with a deadly weapon, and he’s due to be formally arraigned Sept. 20. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Police say Telles lashed out at German not just because of the past coverage but because more was coming. German had made and was due to receive public-records requests that could have raised new questions about how Telles was running his office.
“Telles was upset about articles that were being written by German, as an investigative journalist that exposed potential wrongdoing,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Capt. Dori Koren said at a news conference following the arrest. “Telles had publicly expressed his issues with that reporting. And then ultimately Telles was also upset, from what we found out later, that there was additional reporting that was pending.”
Telles on Twitter had called German “obsessed” with him, and mocked German for telling him when a news article was about to publish, a common practice among investigative reporters. In a June 25 string of tweets, Telles joked that German had been going through his trash: “Typical bully. Can’t take a pound of critism after slinging 100 pounds of BS. Up to article #4 now. You’d think he’d have better things to do.”
Authorities say Telles – an attorney whose office oversees the estates of people who die without a will or executor – loitered around German’s neighborhood before he was stabbed. Police said Telles was disguised as a laborer in a high-visibility shirt and sun hat and repeatedly stabbed German. German’s body was found the next morning.
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Police initially said they suspected German’s killer was someone casing the neighborhood for burglaries, but within days they linked Telles because he allegedly drove his own SUV to German’s house after removing the license plates. In a court hearing last week, police also said they found Telles’ DNA beneath German’s fingernails.
Searching Telles’ home, police said they found a pair of shoes with dried blood on them, along with pieces of a straw hat resembling the one German’s attacker wore.
In a statement, the Nevada Press Association, a trade group that fights for the First Amendment and journalists, thanked police for acting so swiftly.
“As an organization dedicated to defending and promoting press freedom in Nevada, we are deeply distressed by the possibility that this attack may have been perpetrated by a public official whose actions German was investigating,” the NPA said in a statement to USA TODAY. “That would be a dagger directed at the heart of a free press and a blow to our democracy. This is a dark and tragic moment for Nevada journalism.”
‘Challenging the biggest players’
In a community known for constant change, German stood out: He spent virtually all of his professional life covering Las Vegas, first for the Las Vegas Sun and then for the Review-Journal. And his work touched on almost every facet of what makes Vegas, Vegas: Corruption, the Mob, murder and gambling, government incompetence, and the billions of dollars flowing through the casinos.
German left the Sun to join the Review-Journal in 2010, but he wasn’t just a newspaper journalist. He also co-hosted a podcast called “Mobbed Up: The Fight for Las Vegas,” and in 2001 published the true-crime book “Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss.”
That book, which was later turned into a movie, focused on the life and death of Ted Binion, the heir to the Horseshoe Club casino fortune who had hoarded six tons of silver in a vault outside the city. German’s reporting on Binion’s death prompted police to reconsider their initial theory that Binion died of a drug overdose, and they ultimately charged two people in connection with his death.
“His work could compel changes that court cases could not,” said Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada and a longtime colleague. “He took on the hardest of issues, took on challenging the biggest of players.”
In a statement, German’s family noted his commitment to using journalism to ensure everyone got a fair shake – the powerful and the powerless. His family held private services for him on Sept. 7.
“We’re shocked, saddened and angry about his death,” they said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Jeff was committed to seeking justice for others and would appreciate the hard work by local police and journalists in pursuing his killer. We look forward to seeing justice done in this case.”
Glenn Cook, executive editor of the Review-Journal, told the AP there was newsroom talk about Telles being “unhinged” but he never made any physical threats against German, and the reporter never said he was worried.
Cook said German had once been punched by an organized crime associate, but that it seemed implausible that his coverage of the public trustee’s office would prove fatal.
“He cut his teeth covering the mob,” Cook said. “Jeff spent over 40 years covering the worst of the worst of Las Vegas. This was a guy who ran down mobsters, wise guys and killers.”
German’s colleagues have vowed to continue his work on the Telles story. But Haseebullah said he’ll miss knowing that it was German working the phones, calling his sources. After 40 years covering the city, Haseebullah said, few can replace German’s dedication and commitment: “The thing I will miss the most is his dedication to his craft.”
Rasmussen echoed that thought, wondering aloud who in the Las Vegas press corps could fill German’s shoes.
“He did such a service by really digging and following what was affecting people. There’s never going to be another Jeff German,” she said. “It’s so devastating that the reporter has become the story.”
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