Longtime Las Vegas investigative reporter, Jeff German, 69, died Saturday morning after receiving multiple stab wounds outside of his home.
The newspaper he worked for since 2010, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, announced his death with a lengthy tribute to him.
“On September 3, at approximately 10:33 a.m., [Las Vegas police] dispatch received a call of an unresponsive man outside of a residence located in the 7200 block of Bronze Circle,” said Sheriff Joseph Lombardo in a statement. “Arriving officers and medical personnel pronounced the victim deceased at the scene.”
A neighbor called 911 to report him dead by the side of his home with stab wounds.
Police believe German tangled with another person late Friday morning that ended with him being stabbed.
“We believe the altercation took place outside of the home,” Metropolitan Police Dept. Capt. Dori Koren told the Review-Journal. “We do have some leads. We are pursuing a suspect but the suspect is outstanding.”
The Clark County coroner has ruled the death a homicide, according to the report.
“The Review-Journal family is devastated to lose Jeff,” Executive Editor Glenn Cook said. “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.”
Sunday, Las Vegas police declared the homicide investigation a top department priority.
“LVMPD enacted its major case protocol Saturday in the homicide investigation,” a department statement said. “This brings together a variety of resources to maximize the investigative effort and apply a sense of urgency to the apprehension of the suspect.”
German worked for the Las Vegas Sun more than 20 years before he moved to the Review-Journal in 2010. While at the Sun, German covered courts, politics, labor, government and organized crime. A former fellow Sun reporter, Cathy Scott, remembered German as a dedicated reporter who worked hard to cover the city and its happenings.
She reminisced with the Review-Journal how she and German scooped the 1997 killing of Las Vegas mafioso Herbert “Fat Herbie” Blitzstein in Las Vegas. German, she said, covered a lot of organized crime stories.
“He was a hard news guy,” Scott said. “He worked hard and had tons of sources … a dyed-in-the-wool newsman. That’s who he was. He was dedicated to the craft.”
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