Las Vegas officer says he was charged with murder of reporter

A former Las Vegas officer accused of killing a reporter who wrote negative stories about him has testified in his defense, telling jurors he was framed.

Robert Telles, 47, has been in prison since 2022 for allegedly stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.

“I have waited almost two years for this day,” the former Clark County public administrator told jurors at the beginning of his testimony.

Prosecutors have presented evidence, including DNA found under Mr German's fingernails, allegedly belonging to Mr Telles.

“Frankly, this thing has been a nightmare,” Mr. Telles said as he addressed the jury during the second week of the trial.

“I want to make it very clear now: I am innocent. I did not kill Mr. German. And I have a lot to tell you all.”

The prosecution concluded its evidence on Monday after hearing 28 witnesses within four days.

A homicide investigator testified that more than 100 pictures of Mr German's house were found on Telles' cellphone. The investigator claimed the suspect had been “surveilling” the journalist.

Mr. German, 69, was stabbed seven times in the neck and torso in broad daylight outside his Nevada home on September 2, 2022.

In his testimony, Mr Telles said he only learned the details of Mr German's death from the coroner's testimony last week.

“I think the manner in which he was murdered speaks to something or someone who knows what he is doing,” Telles said in his testimony.

“The idea that Mr. German had his throat slit and his heart pierced, uh, you know, I don't think anyone could do something like that without some training, without some expertise.

“And I personally am not battle-hardened.”

“Someone framed me,” he told the jury, naming a local real estate company that had previously dismissed his allegations as “desperate.”

Mr Telles, who has pleaded not guilty, is expected to continue his testimony on Thursday.

As part of his reporting on crime and corruption in government, Mr German had written four articles about Mr Telles, accusing him of bullying in his office and of having an affair with a subordinate.

At the time of his death, Mr. German had yet to publish another article about Mr. Telles.

After the first story came out, Mr. Telles, a Democrat who took office in 2018, lost his re-election bid.

Four women had told Mr German that the agency had turned into a toxic workplace after Mr Telles took over.

They said Mr Telles threatened them and ordered them not to speak to each other.