Robert Telles found guilty in murder of RJ reporter Jeff German
A jury found Robert Telles guilty of first-degree murder for killing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German nearly two years ago, and determined he will spend life in prison with the possibility of parole for the crime.
“I’m just so relieved, overwhelmed and relieved,” current Clark County Public Administrator Rita Reid said through tears, after the verdict was read to a crowded courtroom on Wednesday afternoon.
A panel of seven women and five men found Telles, the former Clark County public administrator, guilty in the September 2022 slaying. The jury spent nearly 12 hours over the course of three days deliberating until reaching a guilty verdict, and then deliberated for just over an hour before determining that Telles should spend his life in prison with the possibility of parole in 20 years.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told reporters on Wednesday that the verdict should “send a message.”
“And that message is a clear message that any attempts to silence the media or to silence or intimidate a journalist will not be tolerated,” he said.
Jurors weighed eight days of testimony from dozens of witnesses, including detectives, forensic experts and those who knew Telles, along with three days of testimony from Telles himself. Telles gave a narrative testimony to the jury, without being interrupted by his attorney, before facing cross-examination by prosecutors.
The panel deliberated for four hours on Monday, about six hours on Tuesday, and two hours Wednesday before returning the guilty verdict. The trial stretched over two weeks before attorneys gave closing arguments on Monday morning.
In the courtroom, Telles stood with a lowered head as a clerk read the verdict. He shook his head back and forth after the decision was announced, echoing the gesture he made throughout his trial.
Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, told the Review-Journal he was happy with a sentence that allows Telles the chance to be released from prison in the future.
In the Review-Journal newsroom, where journalists had gathered around an editor’s desk to watch live video of the trial, Executive Editor Glenn Cook stood and hugged staff, some wiping tears from their eyes.
“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,” Cook wrote in a statement. “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.
“Robert Telles could have joined the long line of publicly shamed Nevada politicians who’ve gone on with their lives, out of the spotlight or back in it. Instead, he carried out a premeditated revenge killing with terrifying savagery.”
Cook thanked the prosecutors and police who pursued the case, adding that the verdict also “brought a measure of justice for slain journalists all over the world.”
“In many countries, the killers of journalists go unpunished,” Cook said. “Not so in Las Vegas. Our thanks to police and prosecutors, whose diligent work won this conviction.”
Cook also wrote that the Las Vegas community lost more than a journalist when German was murdered.
“Jeff was a good man who left behind a family who loved him and friends who cherished him,” Cook said. “His murder remains an outrage. He is missed.”
Veteran criminal defense attorney Tom Pitaro, with whom German had cultivated a decades-long relationship, said he was relieved at the verdict and thought the trial was “fair.”
“Telles had his day in court, and he had it in the way he wanted it with his own testimony, but the evidence was overwhelming,” Pitaro said. “There was no way to get around some of those facts. … Now we can remember Jeff as the reporter he was, not just as a victim of a vicious crime.”
Pitaro recalled German constantly digging for stories and working quickly to stay ahead of the competition. Pitaro watched live video of the trial from his downtown office, where German would sometimes show up in search of the latest scoop.
“He’s an integral part of all our careers,” the lawyer said. “There’s no defense attorney in town who won’t have a Jeff story, and all of them will be good. He was a fair reporter, but he was tenacious as hell. He was a tenacious reporter, but not vindictive. He gave people a fair chance. And I don’t know if we’re ever going to get anyone back that tenacious. It’s a community loss. We had a unique guy here who was not afraid to take on big names. And I don’t know if we’re going to get anybody back like him. I hope so for our community’s sake, and I mean that sincerely.”
Prominent local defense attorney David Chesnoff recalled knowing German for almost 45 years. Chesnoff said he was glad the case resulted in a verdict that “attributes responsibility to Telles.”
“I think Jeff was a courageous guy, and worked very hard at his craft,” Chesnoff said. “And he didn’t deserve that kind of ending.”
Prosecutors said Telles, now 47, fatally stabbed German over articles the journalist had written about his conduct as an elected official, including allegations he created a hostile work environment and had an “inappropriate” relationship with a staffer.
The state also alleged that part of the motive for the killing was to prevent German from writing about Telles again.
Chief Deputy District Attorneys Christopher Hamner and Pamela Weckerly told reporters on Wednesday evening that they were surprised by the lengthy deliberations, but that they were happy the jurors were attentive.
“They were very thoughtful in going through the evidence, but I think mostly we’re happy on behalf of Mr. German’s family that there was a just verdict in this case,” Weckerly said.
During the trial’s penalty phase, prosecutors pushed for a life sentence, but told jurors it would be up to the panel to decide if Telles would be eligible for parole.
“I think at that point, we knew that the jurors had spent a lot of time with the case, and we also knew that there were two families involved in it,” Weckerly said. “It’s a complicated situation. We’re dealing with someone who doesn’t have an extensive criminal history.”
After attorneys spoke with jurors on Wednesday evening, Draskovich told the Review-Journal there were a “couple of hold-outs” in the panel, with at least one juror leaning toward not guilty up until Tuesday night.
“They were really concerned about the photograph,” Draskovich said
He was referencing surveillance footage police said was the assailant’s Yukon Denali, but that Draskovich argued showed the driver with hair despite Telles being bald.
“They decided they would just roll up their sleeves and go through all of the evidence,” Draskovich said.
‘A cold-blooded killer’
Former Clark County District Attorney David Roger, a longtime source for German, said he had considered the reporter a friend. He called Telles “a cold-blooded killer.”
“I felt a sense of relief in the verdict,” Roger said. “I felt probably more empathy and concern for Jeff’s family. I had a keen interest in this case. I watched this case carefully. I had a comfort level that the prosecution had a very strong case and that Mr. Telles would be found guilty and brought to justice.”
As a reporter, German was “like a mad dog with a bone,” Roger recalled.
“He would not let up until he got to the truth,” he said, “and that’s what we want from journalists. Jeff was the type of reporter who wouldn’t finish writing about a story until he was satisfied that every fact and every public concern was addressed.”
A disguise
Before he was killed, German had sought emails and text messages between Telles and other county officials, including correspondence with his employee Roberta Lee-Kennett. Telles admitted at trial that the two had an affair.
County officials had alerted Telles about the release of those records the day before German was slain.
Telles admitted during his testimony that he had feared German’s reporting would prohibit him from ever working as a lawyer again in Las Vegas.
Telles tried to disguise himself in an orange reflective vest and large, straw hat, before attacking the journalist outside his home on Sept. 2, 2022, prosecutors said, showing jurors a neighbor’s home surveillance video that captured the slaying from a distance.
The state’s evidence against Telles included his own DNA found underneath German’s fingernails, plus surveillance footage and items found at his home matching the assailant’s clothing.
Former Metropolitan Police Department Detective Cliff Mogg testified about surveillance footage he said shows Telles’ Yukon Denali leaving his neighborhood the morning German was killed, driving around German’s neighborhood, and then driving back toward Telles’ home.
Draskovich has portrayed Telles as a public official who was trying to expose corruption within the public administrator’s office, while prosecutors have attempted to discredit Telles’ claims that he was framed.
Telles testified last week, telling the jury that he was framed for German’s killing by officials and a disgruntled real estate company.
He claimed that he was looking into independent administrators in probate cases regarding property of people who died in Clark County. He alleged that the homes were being flipped for profit, without benefiting the families of the deceased, and that he was “fighting” Compass Realty & Management over the sales.
The company has called his accusation “unconscionable and irresponsible.” A detective testified that there was not enough evidence to pursue a prosecution over Telles’ claims.
Wolfson said Telles’ claims of a conspiracy were “ludicrous.”
“There was no conspiracy,” Wolfson said. “The only conspiracy was between him and his evil mind.”
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Review-Journal assistant city editor David Ferrara and staff writers Noble Brigham and Estelle Atkinson contributed to this report.
