Murder of Las Vegas reporter raises concern among other journalists
State trooper Robert Telles is accused of killing Jeff German. Telles’ digital trail suggests he viewed the victim’s investigative work with malice.
Fox – 26 Houston
A former elected official in Las Vegas was found guilty Wednesday of murdering a journalist who wrote critical articles about him.
Robert Telles, a former public administrator in Clark County, Nevada, was convicted of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German over Labor Day weekend in 2022.
Prosecutors have indicated they will not seek the death penalty. The jury, which found the killing to be “random, deliberate and premeditated,” will hear more evidence before deciding on the sentence. Telles could receive life without parole, life with the possibility of parole after 20 years, or 50 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years. The use of a deadly weapon could also increase the sentence.
“He took the life of a man who was just doing his job,” said prosecutor Christopher Hamner in his closing argument.
District Attorney Steve Wolfson said the verdict sends a message that attacks against members of the media will not be tolerated.
The case drew national attention because it was the only case of a media worker being killed in the United States this year, compared to 69 worldwide, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The jury began deliberations on Monday, two weeks after the trial began.
German, 69, had spent more than four decades covering government and organized crime for Las Vegas’ two leading newspapers when he was found stabbed and slashed just outside his home on Sept. 3, 2022. Police believe he was ambushed and fought back before succumbing to his injuries.
German had reported on Telles’ office in recent months, describing it in May 2022 as an abusive workplace that was “immersed in turmoil and internal strife” caused by the administrator’s “inappropriate relationship” with a female employee.
Telles, a Democrat who lost re-election in June of that year, had learned shortly before the attack that more articles about him would appear, police said.
Cellphone messages indicate that Telles was “desperate” after losing his job. Roberta Lee-Kennett, the office colleague with whom Telles had an affair, testified that Telles “hated” German. He denied this in court.
Investigators quickly linked him to the murder because surveillance camera video showed German’s attacker wearing a reflective orange jacket and a wide-brimmed straw hat, driving a maroon Yukon Denali that authorities said looked like an SUV owned by Telles. The defense suspected someone else was driving the vehicle.
After DNA found under German’s fingernails was linked to Telles’, he was arrested at his Las Vegas home following a lengthy standoff with police and hospitalized with injuries that authorities said were self-inflicted. Telles, 47, has been in jail ever since.
“The DNA evidence under the defendant’s fingernail is irrefutable evidence,” said Las Vegas defense attorney Robert Langford, a former prosecutor.
During four days of testimony from 28 state witnesses, the jury was told that Telles’ electronic devices contained more than 100 photographs of German’s house and street, along with information about his address and vehicle registration.
Police said a search of Telles’ home uncovered a straw hat and a sneaker that matched those worn by the perpetrator. Both had been cut up, apparently in an attempt to destroy evidence. The murder weapon and orange jacket were not found, and the source of the blood on the sneaker could not be identified.
Telles pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, arguing that he was framed by police.
“The way Mr. German was murdered … speaks to me that someone or something knows what he’s doing,” Telles said Thursday during his more than two-hour, at times confused, testimony, according to the Associated Press. “You know, the idea that Mr. German’s throat was cut and his heart was pierced.”
“I’m not the type of person who would stab someone,” Telles said. “I did not kill Mr. German. And that’s my statement.”
Also on Thursday, prosecutors presented a text message from Telles’ wife asking where he was around the time German was killed in a side yard of his home. Telles had testified that he had not paid attention to the news that morning while engaging in activities such as walking and going to the gym.
The estate and probate lawyer was elected in 2018 and ran an office responsible for handling unclaimed estates of deceased people. He complained about German’s critical stories in social media posts, claiming the reporter was “obsessed” with him and “mad that I didn’t crawl in a hole and die.”
Contributors: Reuters
