LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The man accused of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.
Robert Telles, 45, who serves as the Clark County Public Administrator, is facing a murder charge in the case and is currently being held without bail.
He is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court for his arraignment where he is expected to be formally charged with murder. Other charges could be added.
Las Vegas Metro police said Telles was taken into custody on September 7 after DNA found under German’s fingernails matched a sample from Telles.
Telles has been accused of stabbing and killing German, 69, an investigative reporter who had done stories on the turmoil in Telles’ county office. Sources tell Nexstar’s KLAS German was stabbed seven times, including in the neck and torso.
Telles, a Democrat, lost a three-way primary in June and appeared to blame German for the loss in a series of public statements and tweets. One tweet read that he lost the primary because of a “(manufactured) scandal,” another reading that German was “mad that I haven’t crawled into a hole and died.”
Clark County officials released a statement Thursday saying they suspended Telles’ access to all county offices and property. The county statement said options going forward are being reviewed.
“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 statement read.
Those options remain limited, said David Charns with NewsNation affiliate KLAS. There are no processes outlines in county rules or state laws that would allow for the removal of Telles. For now, he’ll keep getting paid while he remains behind bars.
“There’s not much that the Clark County Commission can do about this,” Charns said Monday on NewsNation’s “Rush Hour.”
While signatures could be collected for a recall effort, Charns said that’s unlikely since Telles already lost his primary and is due to be replaced following the November general election.