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Jeffrey Michael German (August 23, 1953 – September 2, 2022) was an American investigative reporter who wrote for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun, his career spanning four decades. He was stabbed to death in 2022 by Robert Telles, an elected Clark County, Nevada Public Administrator, whom German had investigated and reported on.
In 2001, German wrote the true crime book Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss, which told the story of the death of Ted Binion, heir to the Binion's Horseshoe fortune. His book also covered the theft of Binion's silver, known as the Binion Hoard.
German was a writer and host for the podcast series Mobbed Up: The Fight for Las Vegas, which was co-produced with the Mob Museum.
After being laid off by the Las Vegas Sun in 2009, German joined the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper staff in 2010.
In the aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, German was the first to report that the shooter had initially fired at two nearby jet fuel tanks at the Las Vegas airport before turning his attention to the music festival site. He also reported on failures in the city's inspections ahead of the fatal 2019 Alpine Motel Apartments fire and investigated mismanagement, unlawful misconduct, and bullying in the office of the Clark County Public Administrator, Robert Telles.
On September 7, police arrested Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles on suspicion of German's murder after DNA matching Telles was found in the crime scene. Telles had lost his re-election bid in the Democratic primary after German published the results of an investigation that found Telles was contributing to a hostile work environment and having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer. In an August 2024 jury trial, Telles was convicted of German's murder. On August 28, 2024, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 20 years. On October 16, 2024, he was sentenced to an additional 8 to 20 years on enhancements for using a knife and German being over 60 years old at the time of his murder.
The killing of Jeff German was condemned by the Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay in a press-release published on September 9, 2022. UNESCO's mandate to "promote the free flow of ideas by word and image" includes the protection of journalists and media workers against any forms of attacks and reprisals related to their duties. German's death is included on UNESCO’s Observatory of Killed Journalists.
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