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Jeff German was one of the pre-eminent investigative reporters of his era. He plied his trade for over 40 years in Las Vegas until his life was tragically cut short in 2022, in a killing that shocked the nation. At the time of his induction into the Hall of Fame, it appeared likely the assailant was the subject of his latest investigation.
In the remembrances that followed German’s death, the professional attributes mentioned most frequently by those who knew him and worked with him were courage, relentlessness and an innate sense of fairness and justice.
His fearlessness was necessary because he pulled no punches and reported on powerful and sometimes dangerous people, including mobsters, corrupt politicians and shady businessmen.
He got his start in journalism as an intern for his hometown paper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He moved to Vegas in the late 1980’s to work for the Las Vegas Sun, where he worked as a columnist and reporter for over two decades, covering organized crime, government, politics, and the courts.
At the Sun, German reported on the MGM Grand fire that killed 85 people in 1980, helped break the story of the 1997 murder of bookie and mob associate Herbert Blitzstein, and reported on the FBI investigation a few years later into bribes and unreported campaign contributions accepted by Clark County Commissioners.
He also reported on the 1998 death of Ted Binion, heir to the Binion’s Horseshoe fortune, and wrote a book about it in 2001. “Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss” was later made into a movie.
German was laid off from the Sun in 2009 and joined the Las Vegas Review-Journal the following year as an investigative reporter. At the Review-Journal he helped expose overspending at the Convention and Visitors Bureau and inspection failures that preceded the deadly Alpine Motel Apartments fire. He also reported extensively on the 1 October mass shooting and broke the story that the shooter had fired shots at jet fuel tanks at the Las Vegas airport, hoping to cause massive destruction even before murdering 60 people at a music festival.
In his final year at the Review-Journal, he co-hosted the award-winning podcast, “Mobbed Up: The Fight for Las Vegas.” And in the investigation that may have led to his death, he reported on turmoil and misconduct in the Public Administrator’s office. The head of that office, Robert Telles, has been charged with German’s murder.
