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‘Tenacious’ Las Vegas Investigative Reporter Stabbed To Death Outside His Home
“He was the gold standard of the news business,” Glenn Cook, the executive editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, said of slain journalist Jeff German.
An investigative reporter known for exposing Las Vegas casinos’ ties to the mob was fatally stabbed outside his home on Labor Day.
Jeff German, 69, was found stabbed to death at Vegas Drive and Tenaya Way shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Monday, according to police. He died of “multiple sharp force injuries,” the Clark County Coroner confirmed with Oxygen.com.
Officials have described the homicide as an isolated incident. Authorities suspect German had randomly encountered his killer, who police believe had been in the neighborhood for the purpose of carrying out other crimes, before the deadly stabbing.
"We take this case very seriously and our investigators have been working non-stop to identify and apprehend the suspect," Capt. Dori Koren, a police spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement. “At this time, it appears the suspect was potentially casing the area to commit other crimes before the homicide occurred.”
Las Vegas police also released surveillance images of German’s possible killer shortly after his death. The still image shows an individual wearing a long-sleeved orange reflective shirt with a straw beach hat, blue jeans, and gray sneakers. The images do not provide a clear angle of the suspect’s face. No arrests have been made.
“We do have some leads,” Koren also told reporters at a press conference. “We are pursuing a suspect but the suspect is outstanding.”
According to neighborhood residents, there had been a series of vehicular break-ins in the area where German was killed in the weeks leading up to his death, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
German was hired by the Las Vegas-Review Journal in 2010. The newspaper’s executive editor Glenn Cook said German hadn't mentioned any threats to his safety prior to his killing.
“The Review-Journal family is devastated to lose Jeff,” Cook said in a statement. “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.”
For more than three decades, German covered various beats in Las Vegas, including politics, courts, labor, and organized crime. His book, “Murder in Sin City,” about eccentric casino boss Ted Binion’s killing, was adapted for a 2008 Lifetime Television film. He also covered the 2017 mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd from his Mandalay Bay hotel suite, killing 60 people.
“Jeff's decades-long record of landing big scoops and taking on the most powerful players in Las Vegas gave him every right to be vain,” data reporter Michael Scott Davidson said in a tweet Monday. “Instead, he was humble, tenacious and always took time to talk shop with us. The world needs more reporters like him.”
Civic leaders were also quick to offer their condolences following Germans’ apparent slaying.
“Jeff German will be missed,” Las Vegas Councilwoman Victoria Seaman said in a statement. “He was a great investigative reporter.”
Police are now asking the public to come forward with any information related to German’s murder in the hopes a tip could lead to an arrest in the case. Anyone with further information is urged to contact homicide investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department by calling 702-828-7777.
