Jeff German, an investigative journalist, killed outside his residence in Las Vegas

Jeff German

Las Vegas law enforcement should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Jeff German, determine whether he was targeted for his work, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

On the morning of Saturday, September 3, German, a reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, was found dead outside his home in Las Vegas with multiple stab wounds, according to news reports and a report by his outlet.

German, who covered organized crime, political corruption, and other sensitive topics, had an altercation with an unidentified person on Friday morning that police said led to the attack, according to those reports.

On Monday, police released surveillance images of the suspected attacker and asked for the public’s help in finding more footage, according to the Review-Journal.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal journalist Jeff German, and express condolences to the journalist’s family and colleagues,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “Police must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into this killing and clearly determine the motive. Whoever killed German should be held to account.”

Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said German had not told the paper’s leadership about any concerns for his safety, the outlet reported.

“The Review-Journal family is devastated to lose Jeff,” Cook said in that article. “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.”

German joined the Review-Journal in 2010 after more than two decades at the Las Vegas Sun, according to that report by his outlet, which wrote that he had recently covered topics including failures in city inspections before a deadly hotel fire, alleged mismanagement by government officials, and local extremist groups.

In a statement reviewed by CPJ, Las Vegas police spokesperson Captain Dori Koren said the department was taking the case “very seriously and our investigators have been working non-stop to identify and apprehend the suspect.”

That statement said the suspect identified in the video “was potentially casing the area to commit other crimes before the homicide occurred.”

Source: CPJ