Jury deliberates on fate of ex-politician accused of murdering Las Vegas investigative journalist

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A jury began deliberations Monday in the trial of a former Las Vegas-area Democratic politician accused of killing an investigative journalist. Prosecutors said the official blamed the journalist for writing stories that destroyed his career, ruined his reputation and threatened his marriage.

“And he did it because Jeff wasn't finished writing,” said prosecutor Christopher Hamner during the defendant's closing argument. Robert Telles and reporter Jeff German. “It's like connecting the dots.”

The jury deliberated for about four hours before retiring for the evening and reconvening on Tuesday.

They had previously sent a message to the judge asking for more note paper and a court technician to show them how to zoom in on a laptop video in the jury room. They stayed an hour longer than the court's usual 5 p.m. closing time.

Telles lost his Democratic primary for a second term after German first reported for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May 2022 on Telles' conduct as head of an obscure district office that manages unclaimed estates. The reports described Unrest and bullying at Telles' workplace and a romantic relationship between Telles and a co-worker.

A day before German's stabbing, Telles learned that Clark County officials were planning to provide German with the emails and text messages Telles and the woman had exchanged in response to the reporter's public records request. Another story is forthcoming, Hamner said.

“The murder occurred the very next day … about 15 hours later,” prosecutor Pamela Weckerly said as she presented the jury with a timeline and videos of Telles' maroon SUV leaving the neighborhood near his home shortly after 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2022, and driving on streets near German's home a short time later.

The driver of the SUV was seen wearing a bright orange outfit that resembled that of a person caught on camera walking toward German's house and disappearing into a side yard.

“This person stays and lurks,” Weckerly said, replaying a video from a neighbor's house showing German's garage door open and walk into the side yard, where he was attacked shortly after 11:15 a.m.

A little over two minutes pass before the figure in orange appears, walking down a sidewalk. German does not reappear.

The prosecutor said it was premeditated murder because the evidence showed it was committed deliberately and knowingly. Although the prosecution did not possess the murder weapon, the evidence that one was used was clear.

Weckerly also focused on a text message from Telles' wife that he did not respond to, in which she asked, “Where are you?” about 45 minutes before evidence showed German was killed.

Hamner and Weckerly told the jury that they believed Telles did not respond because he left his cell phone – and thus the ability to locate him – at home.

German's body was found the next day and Telles' DNA was found under German's fingernails. When asked about the DNA, Telles said he believed it had been planted.

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: “Ask yourselves what is missing.”

Draskovich presented for the first time a new video clip showing a view of a maroon SUV like Telles' through the passenger window with the shadowy silhouette of a driver at the wheel. The image was prosecution evidence that was not shown to the jury.

The driver was not Telles, said the lawyer, pointing out that his client was completely bald.

The jury again heard about the cut-up pieces of a broad straw hat and a gray trainer found in Telles' house that were similar to those worn by the person wearing the orange shirt, which was never found.

“You are the only ones who will judge the facts,” Draskovich told the jury in his closing argument before the jury was reduced to 12 people, took a lunch break and began deliberating shortly before 2 p.m. on whether they all believe Telles murdered German.

“I'm not crazy. I'm not trying to avoid responsibility,” Telles told the jury Friday to conclude his second and final round of self-directed testimony in his defense. “I did not kill Mr. German and I am innocent.”

The statement came on the day German would have turned 71. He was originally from Milwaukee and was a respected journalist who 44 years of reporting on crime, courts and corruption Vegas

Telles, 47, is a lawyer who practiced civil law before being elected in 2018. His license to practice law was revoked after his arrest a few days after German's murder. If found guilty, he faces life in prison.

Jurors were attentive throughout the trial, watching Telles on the witness stand and at the defense table. On Monday, he sat with a frown on his face, squinting slightly at the computer images in front of him as Weckerly and Hamner spoke.

In his testimony, he named office colleagues, real estate agents, business owners and police officers whom he accused of framing him for German's killing. He said it was retaliation for his fight against corruption he found in his office of about eight employees who handled estate matters.

“I'm not the type of person who would stab someone. I did not kill Mr. German,” Telles said Thursday. “And that is my statement.”

Where Telles was when German was killed remained a central issue throughout the trial as Weckerly and Hamner presented 28 witnesses and hundreds of pages of photographs, police reports and videos.

Telles and five other people testified for the defense during the trial. No family member of Telles was called to the witness stand or identified in the courtroom.

About a dozen members of the German family sat in silence in the quiet courtroom on Monday. They declined to comment to the Associated Press.

The murder attracted widespread attention. German was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The nonprofit organization has records of 17 media professionals killed in the USA since 1992.