Former Nevada politician Robert Telles was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after being found guilty of murder in the 2022 stabbing death of a prominent Las Vegas investigative journalist over unflattering articles he had written about Telles’ leadership in office.
After two days of deliberations, the jury of 12 found Telles guilty of first-degree murder earlier Wednesday.
He will be eligible for parole after at least 20 years in prison. Telles had faced a possible sentence of life without parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
“Robert Telles decided to be judge, jury and literally the executioner of a man who was simply trying to his job — to report the news. He executed him,” Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner told jurors in asking that they impose a life sentence.
Telles was convicted of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal journalist Jeff German in September 2022. German had written a series of negative stories about Telles, who was Clark County public administrator, and Telles lost his bid for re-election in a primary earlier that year.
German, 69, was found stabbed to death outside his home in the Bronze Circle neighborhood of Las Vegas on Sept. 3, 2022.
Telles, 47, who had served as Clark County public administrator, was arrested on Sept. 7 and charged with open murder with a deadly weapon. He has been in jail without bail ever since.
German had written stories about allegations of bullying and favoritism in Telles’ office. He also reported allegations that Telles had a romantic relationship with a female employee — which Telles admitted for the first time in court last week was true.
The politician was angry that German was pursuing other stories of possible misdeeds, police have said.
Telles narrowly lost his bid for re-election for his office, which oversaw the estates of Clark County residents who die without legal next of kin, in a June 2022 primary. After losing his seat, he took to social media to criticize German’s reporting and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
During the trial, prosecutors said Telles was motivated by revenge for German’s reporting. Telles, who testified in his own defense, claimed that he was framed and police mishandled the investigation.
The jury was shown security video that depicted a person wearing bright orange clothing and a straw hat entering German’s yard, where they stayed “lying in wait” for German. When German opened his garage and entered that side yard, he was attacked and brutally stabbed. Another video showed a person in orange getting into a maroon SUV, similar to a Telles family vehicle.Â
When investigators searched Telles’ home with a warrant shortly after German’s murder, they found partly destroyed shoes and a cut up pieces of a straw hat resembling the suspect’s clothes.
Prosecutors had also said Telles’ DNA was found under German’s fingernails. Telles testified that he believed it was planted.
Prosecutors also presented a text from Telles’ wife that said, “Where are you?” That text came at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 2, 2022 — the same time the security video showed the maroon SUV in German’s neighborhood.
Telles proclaimed his innocence when he took the stand.
When asked about the articles German had written, he said “I wasn’t happy about them” but added “I don’t know that I ever hated him.”Â
Telles named colleagues in his office, real estate agents and business owners that he claimed framed him for German’s killing in retaliation for his claimed efforts to uproot corruption when he served as public administrator.Â
However, Telles couldn’t provide an explanation for how people he claimed conspired to frame him for the murder were able to put key pieces of evidence in his home.
“You know, the idea that Mr. German’s throat was slashed and his heart was stabbed. … I am not the kind of person who would stab someone. I didn’t kill Mr. German,” Telles said. “And that’s my testimony.”
Telles was convicted of first-degree murder, with sentencing enhancements that he used a deadly weapon and that he committed the crime against an elderly person.
Telles’ attorney, Robert Draskovich had told jurors that any sentence would involve a long period in prison and asked for mercy. “In order for justice to be justice there has to be an element of mercy,” he said.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson after the verdict rejected the claims that Telles was framed.
“I think they’re ludicrous,” Wolfson told reporters. “There was no conspiracy. The only conspiracy was between him and his evil mind.”