Las Vegas police: DNA of county official found at crime scene of reporter’s stabbing

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Las Vegas Metropolitan Police found destroyed clothing items and DNA connecting Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles to the stabbing death of reporter Jeff German, they announced Thursday.

Sheriff Joe Lombardo and LVMPD held a press conference on the journalist’s death Thursday morning.

“This has been an unusual case from the beginning,” Lombardo said.

Telles, 45, was arrested and booked into Clark County Detention Center Wednesday night on a count of open murder. Lombardo said they are still sifting through other leads and that the case is ongoing.

LVMPD Captain Dori Koren said the suspect wore a large straw hat and construction-style shirt to help conceal his identity. Police said the suspect went to the side of the house. German exited his home via his garage and went to the side of the home, where an altercation occurred, leading to the stabbing, LVMPD said.

On the second day of the investigation, police identified a suspect vehicle. Koren said the vehicle was seen stopping multiple times around the neighborhood and was acting suspiciously.

The vehicle in Telles’ driveway matched the description of the suspect vehicle, police said. LVMPD searched Telles’ vehicles, home and body to collect evidence. LVMPD recovered shoes and a straw hat that matched the description of the suspect. The shoes had a blood smear, LVMPD said.

Telles was released back to his home pending DNA results, Koren said, and Telles’ DNA was also recovered at the crime scene.

On Wednesday, Telles was taken into custody with non life threatening self-inflicted wounds.

LVMPD said Telles was identified as a person of interest early on in the investigation, given that he publicly expressed his disdain over German’s reporting. Koren said Telles was also upset over pending reporting.

Clark County issues the following statement on Telles’ arrest:

The death of Jeff German was both shocking and tragic, and we join with our community in being stunned at how this situation has continued to evolve over the last few days. The Public Administrator is an elected position and the County is reviewing its options under the law regarding Robert Telles’ current status as the Public Administrator. The safety of our county employees and the public is our top priority, and the County has suspended Mr. Telles’ access to county offices or property. County employees of the administrator’s office are currently working from home, and the office will remain closed until a determination is made about when it can reopen. When county management was made aware of the personnel issues at the public administrator’s office a couple of months ago, the decision was made to no longer have staff in the public administrator’s office report to Mr. Telles and this solution will be in place until the public elects a new Public Administrator in November. Clark County continues to cooperate with the LVMPD on this active investigation. Our condolences are with Jeff German’s family, friends, and colleagues at the Review-Journal.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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