Nevada politician found guilty of murder of reporter Jeff German

A former Nevada politician has been found guilty of the premeditated murder of a journalist who wrote articles critical of his time in office.

Robert Telles, 47, has been in prison without bail since 2022 for stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative journalist Jeff German.

During the trial, prosecutors presented the jury with DNA evidence found under Mr German's fingernails that they said belonged to Telles, who had pleaded not guilty.

A 12-member jury returned a guilty verdict on Wednesday after two days of deliberation. A few hours later, the same jury sentenced Telles to life in prison.

Telles, who was elected Clark County public administrator in 2018, sat expressionless in the courtroom on Wednesday as the judge called the jury.

Then he bowed his head as the guilty verdict was read.

“The jury unanimously concludes that the murder was intentional and deliberate,” juror number two told the court.

In a separate hearing on Wednesday, Telles was sentenced to life imprisonment. He will be eligible for parole after 20 years in prison.

The seven women and five men on the jury deliberated for about twelve hours starting Monday before the panel reached its conclusion.

The trial had lasted over two weeks.

Dozens of witnesses testified in court, including detectives, forensic experts, people who knew the ex-politician, and Telles himself.

He claimed that he had been framed.

“This whole thing has been like a nightmare,” he said about a week after the trial began. “I want to make it very clear: I am innocent. I did not kill Mr. German.”

In September 2022, 69-year-old German was found outside his Nevada home after being stabbed seven times in the neck and torso.

Prosecutors accuse Telles of killing Mr German because of unflattering articles the journalist had written about his conduct as an elected official.

One alleged that Telles had an “inappropriate” relationship with one of his female employees, and several others alleged hostile behavior in his Las Vegas office.

Telles, a Democrat, lost his primary for a second term as public administrator in 2022 after Mr. German's stories were published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal before the election.

Surveillance footage seized by the police and presented to the jury shows Mr German's attacker wearing a large straw hat and sneakers outside the journalist's house.

Authorities later found remains of similar items in Telles' house, albeit in cut-up form.

Prosecutors claimed that Telles was seen on surveillance video hiding in the bushes outside Mr German's house and then attempting to dispose of evidence.

Telles' defense attorneys argued that the shredded evidence was planted in the ex-politician's home to frame their client. They denied that German's article was “a motive for murder.”

But prosecutors released the DNA evidence, a timeline and video of Telles' SUV driving through the streets near Mr. German's home shortly before he was killed. The driver of the car is wearing an outfit similar to the person seen in the surveillance video.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom on Wednesday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson celebrated the jury's decision.

“The jury hit the nail on the head this time,” he said. “They hit a home run with the right verdict.”

A veteran reporter, Mr. German had spent more than four decades covering the city and its corruption.

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

Glenn Cook, editor in chief of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, said in a statement that the jury's verdict provided “some measure of justice” for Mr. German.

“Jeff (German) was killed because he was doing the kind of job he took great pride in: his reporting held an elected official accountable for bad behavior and empowered voters to elect someone else to the job.”