A former Democratic politician from Las Vegas has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for the murder of a journalist who covered him unfavorably.
Robert Telles, 47, was convicted of the 2022 fatal stabbing of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, 69.
German was found dead after writing a series of stories about Telles, a former Clark County public administrator, including a report about an alleged affair between him and an employee.
Telles was arrested after his DNA was found under German’s fingernails. He maintained his innocence during his two years in custody and claimed he was framed. He pleaded not guilty and testified in his own defense.
During the eight-day trial, jurors heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, detectives, forensic experts and Telles himself. His attorney, Robert Draskovich, told the Review-Journal that the multi-day deliberation was “clearly to benefit the defense.”
Robert Telles, 47, has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for the murder of a journalist who reported unfavorably to him. He is photographed in court in August.
The jury deliberated nearly 12 hours over three days before finding Telles guilty.
Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, has said that Telles intends to appeal his conviction.
German was a respected journalist who spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas.
Telles lost his primary for a second term after German’s stories in May and June 2022 described turmoil and intimidation in the Clark County public administrator/guardian’s office and a romantic relationship between Telles and a female employee. His law license was suspended following his arrest.
Police sought the public’s help in identifying a person captured on neighborhood security video driving a maroon pickup truck and walking while wearing a loose straw hat that hid his face and an oversized long-sleeved orange shirt.
Prosecutor Pamela Weckerly showed footage of the person dressed in orange sliding into the side yard where German was stabbed, cut and left for dead.
At Telles’ home, police found a brown pickup truck and pieces of a straw hat and gray sneakers that resembled those worn by the person seen in the neighborhood video. Authorities did not find the orange long-sleeved shirt or the murder weapon.
Telles testified for several hours at his trial, admitting for the first time that reports of the office romance were true.
He denied killing German and said he was “framed” by a broad conspiracy involving a real estate company, police, DNA analysts, former co-workers and others. He told the jury he was the victim of a crusade to root out corruption.
‘I’m not the kind of person who would stab someone. ‘I didn’t kill Mr. German,’ Telles said. “And that is my testimony.”
But the evidence against Telles was strong, including his DNA under German’s fingernails.
Prosecutor Christopher Hamner said Telles blamed German for destroying his career, ruining his reputation and threatening his marriage.
Telles told the jury he was out for a walk and went to a gym around the time German was killed. But evidence showed that Telles’ wife sent him text messages around the same time he was killed asking, “Where are you?”
Prosecutors said Telles left his cellphone at home so he couldn’t be tracked.
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 workers killed in the United States since 1992.
Katherine Jacobsen, program coordinator for the United States, Canada and the Caribbean on the committee, said in August that Telles’ conviction sent “an important message that the murder of journalists will not be tolerated.”