A Democrat official in Clark County, Nevada was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murdering a journalist reportedly exposing his corruption.
QUICK FACTS:
- Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles was taken into custody after investigative reporter Jeff German was found dead after being fatally stabbed last weekend.
- “German spent months reporting on the turmoil surrounding Telles’ oversight of the public administrator’s office,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. “An early morning search of Telles’ home on Wednesday provided the first indication that the Friday killing might be related to German’s work exposing public wrongdoing.”
- Telles is now facing murder charges and set to appear in court next week.
REVIEW-JOURNAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR GLENN COOK ON THE MURDER OF HIS COLLEAGUE:
“We are relieved Robert Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official,” Mr. Cook said. “Journalists can’t do the important work our communities require if they are afraid a presentation of facts could lead to violent retribution.”
BACKGROUND:
- According to the Review-Journal, German spent months reporting on Telles’ scandals and corruption surrounding his leadership at the public administrator’s office.
- The Democrat official consequently lost his re-election campaign in the primary after the journalist exposed his findings.
- “Telles, 45, a career attorney who ran for office as a Democrat, had denied the accusations and repeatedly lashed out at the reporter investigating his conduct, calling German a ‘bully’ on Twitter and writing that a request for comment was ‘a veiled threat,'” The Guardian reported.
