A former county official was found guilty on Wednesday of murdering a longtime Las Vegas reporter who wrote articles critical of him. The highly unusual case had raised fears about press freedom in the United States and in particular the risks facing local journalists.

The reporter, Jeff German, was stabbed to death outside his home in September 2022. Police investigators, and now a Clark County jury, concluded that his attacker was Robert Telles, who ran a county office that handles the estates of those who die without apparent heirs.

A few months before his death, Mr. German wrote an article for The Las Vegas Review-Journal describing employees’ complaints that Mr. Telles had created a toxic work environment, demonstrated favoritism and had an improper relationship with a staff member. Mr. Telles denied the allegations. He lost his re-election bid a month after the article came out, and Mr. German kept reporting.

Prosecutors suggested that was why, on a hot September day, he went to Mr. German’s suburban home and hid in bushes at the side of the house, waited for Mr. German and then stabbed him to death.

Jurors were persuaded, convicting Mr. Telles of murder in the first degree.

Pamela Weckerly, the Clark County chief deputy district attorney, said the back story to the case was less important than the crime itself.

“In the end, this case isn’t about politics,” Ms. Weckerly said during her opening statement. “It’s not about alleged inappropriate relationships. It’s not about who’s a good boss or who’s a good supervisor or favoritism at work. It’s just about murder.”