The jury in the trial of Robert Telles found the former elected official of Clark County, Nevada, guilty of murder in Death of investigative reporter Jeff German on Wednesday.
The jury began deliberating on Monday. They will begin determining the sentence on Wednesday afternoon. Telles faces a life sentence.
Telles, 47, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of premeditated murder with a deadly weapon of a victim 60 years of age or older in connection with the German's death in 2022. who was found with numerous stab wounds in front of his houseGerman was a longtime Las Vegas journalist who had written critical articles about Telles and the Clark County Public Administrator's office.
The testimony of 28 prosecution witnesses and six defense witnesses, including Telles himself, ended on Friday. He stated that something had been “set up” for him by people involved in an alleged plot, blaming office colleagues, real estate agents, business owners and the police. He said it was retaliation for his fight against corruption he had witnessed in his office of about eight employees handling estate matters.
“I'm not crazy. I'm not trying to avoid responsibility,” Telles told the jury on Friday. “I did not kill Mr. German and I'm innocent.”
Telles lost his Democratic primary for a second term after German's stories about him appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May 2022. The reports described turmoil and bullying in the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian's office, as well as a romantic relationship between Telles and a female employee.
Telles “did it because Jeff wasn't finished writing,” prosecutor Christopher Hamner said during his closing argument Monday. “It's like connecting the dots.”
The day before German was stabbed, Telles learned that county officials were about to provide German with the emails and text messages exchanged between Telles and the woman in response to the reporter's public records request.
No trace of German's blood or DNA was found on Telles, in his vehicle or in his home, defense attorney Robert Draskovich said Monday, urging the jury to “ask yourselves what is missing.”
Telles' DNA was found under German's fingernails.
Draskovich also presented a surprise image in his closing arguments, a piece of prosecution evidence that had not been shown to the jury before. It showed the silhouette of a person who did not look like Telles, driving a maroon SUV, and who, the evidence showed, was key to the crime.
The jurors messaged the judge late Monday asking that a court technician show them how to zoom in on a laptop video in the jury room, then stayed an hour past the court's usual 5 p.m. closing time.
The murder attracted widespread attention. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, German was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022. The nonprofit organization has kept records of 17 media workers killed in the United States since 1992.
