Police have searched the home of a Democratic official in Las Vegas after a journalist who exposed his alleged bullying and "inappropriate" behaviour was stabbed to death.
Jeff German, a veteran investigative reporter with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was found dead outside his home on Saturday night. Police believe he was fatally stabbed during an altercation the day before.
He had extensively written about Robert Telles, resulting in the 45-year-old lawyer and senior local government official losing his re-election bid in June.
Mr German, 69, was well known in Las Vegas for his decades of reporting exposing corruption in public office as well as organised crime perpetrated by mobsters in Nevada's largest city.
Police released images of an unidentified suspect wearing a wide straw hat, dark gloves, an orange hi-vis shirt and carrying a dark coloured bag.
They also released surveillance footage of a maroon truck tied to the suspect on Tuesday.
Hours after the police footage was released, Las Vegas Review-Journal reporters photographed Mr Telles cleaning a vehicle matching that description in his driveway.
Police described the vehicle as a red or maroon GMC Yukon Denali between 2007 and 2014 model with chrome handles and a sunroof.
Officers were spotted examining a truck matching the police description during their search of Mr Telles' property on Wednesday.
They also erected a police cordon around an area near Mr Telles's home. They declined to give any other information.
German's stabbing came after he published a bombshell expose in May alleging Mr Telles's office had been mired in turmoil with claims of bullying and favouritism.
The months-long reporting included allegations by current and former staff that Mr Telles presided over a hostile work environment.
It also claimed Mr Telles had carried on an "inappropriate relationship" with a subordinate in his office.
Mr Telles denied the accusations saying they were by "old-timers" seeking to block his second term.
Staff claimed Mr Telles' relationship with a junior employee, Roberta Lee-Kennett, 45, led to her receiving favourable treatment, including being offered tasks beyond her assigned duties.
German's reporting included a complaint filed with Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas, alleging: "unacceptable, disgusting behaviour" by a public servant.
The journalist also obtained footage of Mr Telles and Ms Lee-Kennett meeting in the backseat of her car in a secluded multi-storey car park.
German said the footage was filmed by disgruntled staff who wanted to obtain proof that the pair were engaged in a clandestine relationship.
Both Ms Lee-Kennett and Mr Telles, both of whom are married, have repeatedly denied having any kind of improper relationship.
The pair said they are friends and that the meetings in the backseat of a car were to discuss problems in the office.
The Clark County Public Administrator's office oversees the estates of people who have died.
It has eight full-time staff, three part-time staffers, and roughly 15 part-time investigators.
Amid the animosity in the office, one of Mr Telles' subordinates, Rita Reid, announced she would run against him.
Mr Telles subsequently lost his re-election bid after coming third to Ms Reid in the Democratic primary for the Clark County Public Administrator.
That same month, Mr Telles verbally attacked German and The Las Vegas Review-Journal in a series of Twitter posts, accusing the reporter of writing "lying smear" pieces.
In another string of tweets, Mr Telles claimed the investigative reporter was "obsessed" with him.
"I think he's mad that I haven't crawled into a hole and died," he wrote in another.
Mr Telles later announced he intended to return to practicing law after leaving office in January.
Glenn Cook, the Review-Journal's executive editor, said that German had never communicated any concerns about his personal safety or any threats made against him to anyone in the newspaper's leadership.
He said the staff were devastated by their colleague's killing. German's career in Sin City spanned four decades.
"He was the gold standard of the news business," Mr Cook said in a statement.
"It's hard to imagine what Las Vegas would be like today without his many years of shining a bright light on dark places."
He was a tenacious reporter who "just would not give up", a former Clark County district attorney David Roger told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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