LAS VEGAS – Briana Erickson says her biggest hope is that investigative journalist Jeff German is remembered for the work he did, and now for how he died.
“He should be remembered for the icon that he was,” Erickson said. “Just holding people accountable and digging for the truth.”
Over Labor Day weekend, officers were called to German’s home near Las Vegas for a report of someone not moving outside. That person was German. He had been stabbed several times and left to die.
The journalists at the Review-Journal knew exactly what they had to do.
“We had dozens of people working aggressively… Just as our colleague Jeff would have.”
Police held a press conference and released a picture of a red or maroon GMC Yukon Denali which they believed had been driven by the suspect at the time of Geman’s murder.
Reporters at the Review-Journal knew that Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles had previously repeatedly targeted German with online harassment. They wondered if there might be a connection.
“We looked up Telles’s address right after the press conference and, stunningly, you can see a car parked in his driveway, on Google Maps, that looks similar to the car which police showed us earlier that afternoon,” Erickson said.
“So, several of our reporters and photographers just drove past Telles’ house on Tuesday and witnessed him in the driveway, next to the car, wiping it down.”
Investigators served a search warrant on Telles’ home shortly thereafter and reportedly found bloody evidence connecting him to German’s murder.
Telles was arrested after a brief standoff outside his home on Wednesday night.
You can listen to the entire interview with Briana Erickson in the player at the top of the page.