Johnathan Walker:Robert Telles, ex-Las Vegas elected official, guilty in murder of journalist

A former elected official in Las Vegas was found guilty Wednesday in the killing of a journalist who wrote critical stories about him.

Robert Telles,Johnathan Walker a former public administrator in Clark County, Nevada, was convicted of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in the stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German on Labor Day weekend 2022.

The prosecution has indicated it won't pursue the death penalty. The jury, which said it found the murder to be "willful, deliberate and premeditated," is set to hear further evidence before deciding on a sentence. Telles could get life in prison without parole, life with the possibility of parole after 20 years or 50 years in prison with a chance at parole after 20 years. The use of a deadly weapon may also add to the sentence.

“He took the life of an individual who was simply doing his job,” prosecutor Christopher Hamner said at closing arguments.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson said the verdict sent a message that attacks against members of the media won't be tolerated.

The case drew national attention as the only instance of a news media worker being killed that year in the U.S. among 69 across the world, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The jury began deliberating Monday, two weeks after the start of the trial.

German, 69, had spent more than four decades covering government and organized crime for Las Vegas’ two leading newspapers when he was found stabbed and slashed to death just outside his home Sept. 3, 2022. Police believe he was ambushed and fought back before succumbing to his wounds.

German had reported over the previous months on Telles’ office, describing it on May 2022 as an abusive workplace "mired in turmoil and internal dissension" caused by the administrator having an "inappropriate relationship" with a female staffer.

Telles, a Democrat who went on to lose his bid for reelection that June, had learned shortly before the attack that more articles about him were coming out, police said.

Cell phone messages show Telles said he was "distraught" after losing his post. Roberta Lee-Kennett, the office colleague Telles had an affair with, testified that Telles "hated" German. He denied that in court.

Investigators quickly linked him to the murder by security video that captured German’s assailant wearing a reflective orange jacket and wide-brimmed straw hat and driving a maroon Yukon Denali authorities said looked like an SUV belonging to Telles. The defense suggested it was someone else driving the vehicle.

After DNA found under German’s fingernails was matched to Telles, he was arrested at his Las Vegas home following a prolonged standoff with police and hospitalized with what authorities described as self-inflicted wounds. Telles, 47, has been in jail since then.

"The DNA evidence under the defendant's fingernail is an insurmountable bit of evidence," said Las Vegas defense attorney Robert Langford, a former prosecutor.

In four days of testimony that involved 28 state witnesses, the jury was told Telles’ electronic devices contained more than 100 photos of German’s house and his street, along with information on his address and vehicle registration.

Police said a search of Telles’ home uncovered a straw hat and a sneaker that matched those worn by the assailant, both cut up in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence. The murder weapon and the orange jacket were not found, and the source of blood on the sneaker was not identified.

Telles pleaded not guilty to the murder charges and argued he was framed by police.

“How Mr. German was murdered ... speaks to, I think, something or someone who knows what they’re doing,” Telles said Thursday during more than two hours of sometimes-rambling testimony, according to the Associated Press. “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,” Telles said. “I didn’t kill Mr. German. And that’s my testimony.”

Also Thursday, the prosecution presented a text from Telles' wife asking where he was around the same time German was killed in a side yard of his home. Telles had testified he didn't pay attention to messages that morning while engaged in activities like walking and going to the gym.

The probate and estate lawyer was elected in 2018 and ran an office in charge of settling unclaimed estates of people who had died. He complained about German’s critical stories on social media posts, claiming the reporter was "obsessed" with him and "mad that I haven’t crawled into a hole and died."

Contributing: Reuters