A former Las Vegas area elected official was found guilty on Aug. 28 in the murder of a veteran investigative reporter.
A jury deliberated a day and a half before finding Robert Telles guilty the murder of Jeff German, a Las Vegas Review-Journalreporter, who was found stabbed to death outside his home on Sept. 3, 2022.
At the time of his death, German, 69, was investigating Telles, a Democratic public administrator who handled unclaimed estates.
In his reports, German described his office as “mired in turmoil and internal dissension over the past two years, with allegations of emotional stress, bullying and favoritism leading to secret videotaping of the boss and a co-worker outside the office.”
At one point, German quoted current and past employees who alleged a hostile work environment and an “inappropriate relationship” Telles allegedly had with a staffer.
A month later, Telles lost his 2022 Democratic primary bid and criticized the Review-Journal for their coverage.
In the days after the slaying, police released surveillance video of a suspect wearing a wide brimmed straw hat and a reflective orange jacket, carrying a duffle bag.
Investigators recovered a matching straw hat that had been cut up, as well as a pair of shoes the suspect was described as wearing at Telles’ home.
Robert Telles.
K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty
The police also identified a maroon-colored GMC Denali stopping multiple times around the neighborhood. Authorities said the Denali was registered to Telles’ wife.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed Telles’ DNA was found beneath German’s fingernails, according to the Associated Press.
Telles, 47, testified that he didn’t know how his DNA wound up under German’s fingernails, per AP.
During long, rambling testimony, Telles denied killing German and claimed that he had been framed by a real estate company opposed to his plan to clean up corruption.
“I’ve never beat anybody up, I’ve never killed anybody. I didn’t kill Mr. German. That’s my testimony,” Telles said, per CNN.
Prosecutor Christopher Hamner argued Telles killed German because “Jeff’s writing destroyed his career, it destroyed his reputation, it threatened probably his marriage and exposed things that even he admitted he did not want the public to know,” he said Monday, per CNN. “He did it because Jeff wasn’t done writing.”
