Ex-Dem. Politician Robert Telles Found Guilty Of Murder, Sentenced To Life In Prison

Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles appears in court for an arraignment on an open murder charge in Las Vegas Justice Court at the Regional Justice Center on September 20, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Telles has been charged in the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.

Former Democrat politician Robert Telles has been found guilty of murdering investigative reporter Jeff German.

The jury began deliberating on Monday. By Wednesday, they came to the guilty verdict. Telles was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 20 years. 

Telles was charged with first-degree murder with a deadly weapon against a victim 60 years of age or older. German, the deceased, was discovered dead outside of his home in 2022 with multiple stab wounds. 

German was a longtime journalist in Las Vegas who had written pieces condemning the Clark County public administrator’s office and Telles.

The testimony of six defense witnesses—including Telles—and 28 prosecution witnesses concluded on Friday. 

Telles claimed in his testimony that he was being “framed” by those connected to an alleged scheme, leveling accusations against police, real estate brokers, business owners, and colleagues. He claimed it was payback for his relentless pursuit of eliminating corruption that he observed among the eight or so staff members in his office that dealt with probate property matters.

“I’m not crazy. I’m not trying to avoid responsibility,” Telles told the jury on Friday. “I didn’t kill Mr. German, and I’m innocent.”

German’s stories about him in the Las Vegas Review-Journal cost Telles the Democratic primary for a second elected term in May 2022. According to the reports, Telles had a romantic relationship with a female employee at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office, and there was also turmoil and bullying.

Prosecutor Christopher Hammer said that Telles “did it because Jeff wasn’t done writing.”

“It’s like connecting the dots,” he said.

The day before German was fatally stabbed, Telles found out that, in response to the reporter’s request for public records, county officials were going to give German access to email and text messages that he and the woman had exchanged.

Defense lawyer Robert Draskovich told the jury on Monday that neither German’s blood nor DNA was discovered on Telles, in his car, or at his house, pleading with them to “ask yourself what is missing.”

However, Telle’s DNA was found beneath German’s fingernails. 

Draskovich showed an image during closing arguments that showed of a silhouette of a person who did not look like Telles driving a maroon SUV that evidence showed was key to the crime.

On Monday, jurors sent the judge a note asking for a court technician to show them how to zoom in on laptop video while in the jury room, then remained an hour past the usual court closing time.

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