Police in Las Vegas searched the home of an outgoing local elected official and towed away a vehicle similar to one sought in the criminal investigation of the fatal stabbing of a veteran investigative reporter.
A Las Vegas police statement did not specify where officers searched following the death of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German. Officer Misael Parra, a department spokesperson, said hours later he had no additional information to report.
Review-Journal and local television news crews reported seeing police vehicles at the home of Clark County Public Administrator Robert “Rob” Telles, who had been the subject of some German's reporting. KTNV-TV reported officers entered and exited the house.
Messages left by The Associated Press for Telles at his county office were not immediately returned.
The developments came after police on Tuesday showed a brief video of a possible suspect walking on a sidewalk clad in bright orange “construction attire,” and distributed a photo of a 2007-2014 red or maroon GMC Yukon Denali four-door SUV with chrome handles, a sunroof and a luggage rack that officials said may be linked to the case.
Newspaper photos showed Telles washing a similar vehicle parked in his driveway on Tuesday, and KTNV-TV reported the vehicle was towed away after police arrived on Wednesday.
German spent months reporting on turmoil surrounding Telles’ oversight of the office that handles property of people who die without a will or family contacts.
County officials enlisted a consultant for the public administrators' office after German’s reports were published beginning in May. Telles, a 45-year-old Democrat, went on to lose his June primary election. His term ends in January.
Michael Murphy, the former Clark County coroner hired to address friction and complaints of bullying and favoritism in the public administrators’ office, also did not immediately respond to a telephone message.
The Review-Journal reported Wednesday that German recently filed public records requests for emails and text messages between Telles, Murphy and two other county officials.
Telles posted on Twitter complaining about German, the newspaper reported, including claims in June that German was a bully who was “obsessed" with him.
German, 69, was found Saturday morning stabbed to death outside his home. Police said he apparently was killed Friday in an altercation with another person, and characterized the attack as an isolated incident.
German died of “multiple sharp force injuries,” the Clark County coroner said, and the case was ruled a homicide.
Security images that police showed of the possible suspect did not show the person’s full face. The person wore a wide straw hat, bright orange reflective long-sleeve shirt, blue jeans, gray shoes and carried a black or dark blue shoulder bag.
German joined the Review-Journal in 2010 after more than two decades at the Las Vegas Sun, where he was a columnist and reporter who covered courts, politics, labor, government and organized crime.
He was known for stories about government malfeasance and political scandals and coverage of the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival that killed 60 people and wounded more than 400 others.
____
Associated Press writer Walter Berry in Phoenix contributed to this report.
