LAS VEGAS A Nevada jury has found a former politician from the Democratic Party guilty of murder in the death of an investigative journalist who had written articles criticising the politician’s actions while in public office. On Wednesday in Clark County District Court, Robert Telles shook his head slightly when the decision was announced. His trial began on August 12 and jurors heard evidence for eight days before deliberating for over twelve hours.
Telles, 47, has been jailed without bail since his arrest several days after Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German was found stabbed to death in a side yard of his home over Labor Day weekend 2022.
Jurors now will hear evidence in the penalty phase of trial before deciding Telles’ sentence.
Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. Telles faces life in prison without parole, life with parole eligibility at 20 years, or 20 to 50 years in prison.
Democratic candidate for Clark County district attorney Steve Wolfson would not explain to the media why he declined to pursue the death penalty, but he did tell The Associated Press on an individual basis that “in and of themselves” neither German’s role as an investigative reporter nor Telles’ status as an elected official were decisive factors. He declined to provide further details. Outside the courtroom, he expressed astonishment at the jury’s protracted deliberations but confidence that they gave due consideration to the evidence. “The jury hit the ball out of the park this time,” he stated. “They hit a home run by getting the right verdict.”
Telles denied putting German to death. He said that a large group of people had set him up for German’s murder as payback for his attempts to expose wrongdoing at his workplace. “I don’t consider myself to be the type to stab someone. He declared, “I did not kill Mr. German in court. “And that’s my testimony.”
Upon hearing the verdict, Jessica Coleman, a colleague from the troublesome county office, broke down in tears as she left the courthouse. “At last. At last,” she said. “Finally the system is working.” During Monday’s final statements, defence attorney Robert Draskovich presented the jury a picture of a person whose profile didn’t resemble Telles’ driving a maroon SUV that the evidence indicated was crucial to the crime. He mentioned that Telles’s blood or DNA was not detected on him, in his car, or at his residence. He posed the question, “What evidence is missing?” to the jury.
Finding Telles guilty, according to prosecutor Christopher Hamner, would be like “connecting the dots” based on the copious amounts of evidence shown to the jury, including DNA matching Telles discovered under German’s fingernails.
Hamner maintained that German fought to the death with his attacker and that Telles blamed German for destroying his career, ruining his reputation and threatening his marriage.
Telles lost his primary for a second elected term after German’s stories appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May and June 2022. They described turmoil and bullying at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office and a romantic relationship between Telles and an employee.
Hamner said Telles learned from county officials just hours before German was killed that the reporter was working on another story about that relationship.
Prosecutors presented a timeline and videos showing Telles’ maroon SUV leaving the neighborhood near his home a little after 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2022, and driving on streets near German’s home a short time later.
The SUV’s driver may be seen walking to German’s house and entering a side yard where German was attacked shortly after 11:15 a.m.; the individual wearing the bright orange attire is similar to the one shown on video.
After a little over two minutes, the person dressed in orange materialised and proceeded along a pavement. German vanished from sight. According to the evidence, Telles’ wife texted him at 10:30 a.m. and asked, “Where are you?” Telles couldn’t be found because, according to the prosecution, he left his phone at home. Telles reported to the jury that he went for a walk in the afternoon and then to the gym.
German, 69, was a well-known journalist who covered corruption, courts, and crime in Las Vegas for 44 years. A dozen or so of his friends and relatives have watched the trial. Collectively, they have declined to comment. Telles is a lawyer who worked in civil law prior to his election in 2018. After his arrest, his licence to practise law was suspended. Weckerly and Hamner produced hundreds of pages of images, police records, and video, along with testimony from 28 witnesses. Telles gave a defence witness testimony along with five others. No one from the Telles family was recognised in the trial gallery or called to the stand.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, located in New York, reports that German was the first journalist to die in the United States in 2022. According to the organisation, 17 media professionals have died in the United States since 1992.
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