Police in Las Vegas arrested a county administrator Wednesday in connection to the stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, hours after they visited and searched the county official's house, the newspaper said.
Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles was taken into custody on suspicion of murder.
Earlier Wednesday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department only confirmed in a statement to NPR that it was executing search warrants related to the weekend homicide on the 7200 block of Bronze Circle.
But the Review-Journal reported that law enforcement officers and police vehicles were spotted outside the home of Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles on Wednesday morning, and that a section around the home was taped off.
Journalists with the newspaper also observed a vehicle in Telles' driveway matching the description of the red GMC Yukon police say the suspect was driving. The vehicle was later towed.
German, who was found dead with stab wounds outside his home on Saturday, had recently written a series of stories about Telles' mismanagement of the public administrator's office, including allegations of a hostile workplace, bullying and favoritism. Employees also said that Telles had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
Telles denied the allegations and targeted German on social media. In one tweet, Telles called one of the stories about his office a "smear piece" and said he thought German was "mad that I haven't crawled into a hole and died."
Telles lost his reelection bid during the Democratic primary in June after German's stories had run.
Police have not named Telles as a suspect in German's death or disclosed any motive for the killing.
Carlos Martinez de la Serna, program director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said it's imperative for authorities to get to the bottom of what happened to German.
"Police must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into this killing and clearly determine the motive," he said in a statement. "Whoever killed German should be held to account."
The newspaper said German had reported on crime and corruption among Las Vegas public officials, casino industry executives and the mob during his 40-year journalism career in the resort city.
Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said German had never told the newspaper's leadership of any concerns about his safety and added that the paper was devastated by his death.
"He was the gold standard of the news business. It's hard to imagine what Las Vegas would be like today without his many years of shining a bright light on dark places," Cook said.
