The Democrat county administrator was brought into custody after a SWAT raid on his home

A Democratic administrator in the Las Vegas, Nevada (US) area has been arrested for the fatal stabbing of a local investigative journalist who had published critical reports about the elected official prior to his murder last week. 

Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, 45, was brought into custody on Wednesday as part of a criminal probe into the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, according to the Associated Press. A police SWAT team descended on Telles’ home and served a search warrant before his arrest, confiscating multiple vehicles as part of the investigation. 

“We are relieved Robert Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s executive editor, Glenn Cook, said in a statement.

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Before his murder last Friday, German penned several reports which discussed “complaints of administrative bullying” and “favoritism” in Telles’ office, as well as a romantic relationship he allegedly had with a “subordinate staffer.” Some of the critical articles were published in the run-up to Telles’ June primary race, which he ultimately lost to Assistant Public Administrator Rita Reid. His term is set to expire at the end of the year. 

Telles, who was initially elected to the administrator position in 2018, took to Twitter to complain about German’s reporting in June, saying the journalist was a bully who was “obsessed” with him.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, German was working on a follow-up story about Telles and had recently filed public information requests for the official’s communications around the time of his murder. His body was found on Saturday morning near his home, with the Clark County coroner ruling his death a homicide caused by “multiple sharp force injuries.”

Telles’ office did not respond to requests for comment from the AP, and the outlet noted it was not clear whether Telles had retained an attorney who could speak on his behalf.