Former officer charged with murder of Las Vegas journalist says he was framed

A former Nevada state official accused of murdering a Las Vegas journalist reiterated in court Thursday his claim that he was being set up.

“I'm not the type of guy who would stab someone. I would never beat someone up,” Robert Telles, a former Clark County public servant, told the jury.

Telles is on trial for the murder of Las Vegas Review Journal Journalist Jeff German. The 69-year-old investigative reporter was found stabbed to death outside his home in a Las Vegas suburb on September 3, 2022.

“I did not kill Mr. German,” Telles said in court. “And that is my statement.”

Telles, 47, is charged with murder with a deadly weapon against a victim aged 60 or older. If convicted, he faces a life sentence.

The killing of journalists is rare in the United States, and this case marks the first time a current or former elected U.S. official has been tried for such a crime.

At the beginning of the trial, prosecutors described how frustrated Telles was with the Germans' reporting about him.

German had portrayed Telles as a tough boss who bullied his employees and had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. When Telles later lost re-election in 2022, he published a letter online criticizing the Review Journal for his reporting.

During the two days that Telles has been on the witness stand, he has been allowed to give his testimony in the form of a commentary rather than in the usual question-and-answer format.

At the time, he claimed that he had been framed for the crime by an “old guard” political and social real estate network because he tried to fight corruption in his office.

“I just knew something strange was going on,” Telles said.

“Someone framed me for this,” he said, without saying who. “The way Mr. German was murdered … suggests to me that something or someone knows what he's doing.”

Regarding the stab wounds inflicted on German, Telles said: “That's a kind of expertise. I mean, and I'm not trained in combat.”

Prosecutors have described the evidence against Telles as “overwhelming.” That evidence includes Telles' DNA found under German's fingernails.

On Thursday, Telles expressed doubts about this evidence and suggested it was part of a conspiracy to pin the blame on him.

“Are you really denying that your DNA is under the fingernails?” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Hamner asked Telles during cross-examination.

“Without knowing the truth, yes, I am,” replied Telles.

At Telles' home, police found cut-up pieces of a straw hat and a gray sneaker similar to those worn by a person seen on neighborhood surveillance video wearing an oversized orange long-sleeved shirt in the side yard of German's home.

“Your DNA is in the shoes found in your house, right?” asked Hamner.

“I don’t know if that’s the case,” Telles replied.

Telles later said, “I believe there are officers who are willing to do what is necessary if they feel a colleague needs help to fill in the gaps in a case.”

Earlier this week, a detective read in court text messages Telles had sent to German in which Telles had said he was frustrated with the coverage of him in German. Telles' internet search history showed queries about how to “hide” a news story, the detective testified.

No family members of Telles were called as character witnesses. Several family members and friends of German were present at the trial but refused to speak to the media, The Associated Press reported.

The trial is scheduled to continue on Friday.