Robert Telles: Former politician guilty of murdering investigative journalist
Robert Telles, who now faces a possible life sentence with no parole, stabbed Las Vegas reporter Jeff German to death outside his home on 2 September 2022.
Thursday 29 August 2024 01:01, UK
A former politician has been found guilty of killing an investigative reporter who wrote articles critical of him.
Robert Telles, former Clark County public administrator, was convicted of murder with a deadly weapon.
The jury in Las Vegas, Nevada, deliberated for 10 hours before finding the 47-year-old guilty of stabbing reporter Jeff German to death outside his home on 2 September 2022.
"He took the life of an individual who was simply doing his job," county prosecutor Christopher Hamner said.
Telles was later sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
The Las Vegas Review Journal journalist spent months reporting on complaints that Telles had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and oversaw an abusive workplace.
The state's evidence against Telles included his DNA found underneath Mr German's fingernails and video of the attacker's car that matched a vehicle registered to Telles' wife.
The former official told the court he was set up after trying to expose an alleged kickback scheme tied to a real estate company.
In cross examination, Mr Hamner asked Telles how images of the victim's house ended up on his phone, how a shoe identical to that worn by the killer ended up under his sofa, and how his DNA got on Mr German.
Telles said the evidence was planted in a conspiracy.
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Soon after one of Mr German's stories on Telles was published, the former official failed in his June 2022 re-election bid.
Mobile phone messages showed Telles was "distraught".
Roberta Lee-Kennett, the office colleague Telles had an affair with, said the official "hated" Mr German.
Mr German, who was well known in Las Vegas for decades of reporting on government corruption and organised crime, continued to investigate Telles until he was murdered.