A Democrat politician in Nevada has been found guilty of murdering longtime Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German.
As Slay News previously reported, former Democrat Clark County public administrator Robert Telles has been on trial for the September 2022 murder of German.
Telles, a former administrator of estates, was arrested in September 2022, as Slay News reported at the time.
He has remained jailed since his arrest.
The former Las Vegas-area Democrat was charged with murder just days after German, a veteran Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter, was found slashed and stabbed to death outside his home over Labor Day weekend.
The court heard that the Democrat stabbed German to death after the reporter wrote about scandals within Telles’ office before he lost a primary election in June 2022, CNN reported.
After three days of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict in the trial of 47-year-old Telles.
German had spent years covering the corruption within Las Vegas politics.
However, the story that ultimately led to the murder of German, who had spent 40 years in journalism, focused on a little-known public office, prosecutors said.
BREAKING: Robert Telles, the former elected Clark County Public Administrator, was found guilty Wednesday of murdering Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.
UPDATES: https://t.co/Mp5kCzdZka pic.twitter.com/36Fopw9w5p— Las Vegas Review-Journal (@reviewjournal) August 28, 2024
In May 2022, German reported that multiple employees who worked with Telles alleged that he created a “hostile work environment.”
German’s report also claimed that Telles had an “inappropriate” relationship with a staffer.
Telles finished in third place in his 2022 primary election.
He blamed German’s reporting for his loss.
Prosecutors said during the trial that surveillance video taken outside of German’s home showed a man wearing a large sunhat, orange jacket, and gray Nike sneakers waiting in the bushes before stabbing the reporter when he got home.
The suspect left in a maroon SUV that was later found to belong to Telles.
Police also executed a search warrant and found a large sunhat and gray Nike sneakers that were cut up and hidden, according to prosecutors.
During closing arguments on Monday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly said that Telles “was clearly incredibly upset that those articles were written and that it resulted in him losing that primary.”
Telles testified during the trial and claimed that his former colleagues, a real estate company, and police hired an assassin to kill German and frame him.
Telles’s attorney Robert Draskovich did not endorse his client’s theory, however.
“It’s understandable why he believes this wide-reaching conspiracy,” Draskovich told the court.
“What other options does he have under these circumstances?”
Following the verdict, the Review-Journal, where German worked before his murder, released a statement, saying:
“Today a Clark County jury delivered a measure of justice for Jeff German, and we hope it brings some solace to his family, friends, and colleagues.
“Jeff was killed for doing the kind of work in which he took great pride: His reporting held an elected official accountable for bad behavior and empowered voters to choose someone else for the job.”
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