Do you remember Robert Telles? It’s more of a local story out of the Las Vegas area. But he’s the public administrator charged with murdering Jeff German, the investigative reporter who documented his stormy tenure as public administrator for Clark County.
Telles was accused of fostering a toxic workplace environment, having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, and being an incompetent administrator prone to mismanagement. He had already lost his re-election bid, being booted in a June 2022 primary, so he was gone regardless.
Las Vegas Metro Police confirm they are executing a search warrant at the home of Clark County Administrator Robert Telles in connection with the murder of Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, who had written several pieces on him, leading to a primary loss in June.
— David Charns (@davidcharns) September 7, 2022
Robert Telles just arrived at his house. Reporters asked him if he had any comment. I asked why police towed his vehicle. He had no comment. Story: https://t.co/3CSa7B4XeS pic.twitter.com/tgQ7JuI9BX
— Brett Clarkson (@BrettClarkson_) September 7, 2022
NEW: @LVMPD arrested Clark County Administrator Robert Telles on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of our colleague @reviewjournal investigative reporter Jeff German. https://t.co/qcCh1ZM5qw
— Lorraine Longhi 🌵 (@lolonghi) September 8, 2022
He was slapped with murder charges in September 2022. The initial reports indicate that German and Telles had a physical altercation on the day the former died. Telles’ car matched the vehicle driven by the person of interest in this matter. On September 7, a search warrant was issued for Telles’ home, leading to his arrest on suspicion of murder.
Since then, Telles has defended his time as public administrator from jail and called for the judge presiding over the murder case in March. An attorney by trade, Telles has opted to defend himself in these proceedings (via Las Vegas Review-Journal):
Telles is representing himself against a murder charge in connection with the killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, who was fatally stabbed in front of his home in September.
A court hearing … was scheduled to appoint Telles standby counsel, who could advise him during court proceedings, but Telles instead asked to file a motion.
“I have here a motion for your honor’s recusal that I would like to have heard before any other orders,” Telles told District Judge Michelle Leavitt.
The judge responded: “If you want to file a motion to disqualify, that’s not the way you do it. You’ll be required to follow the rules.”
Leavitt said that a different judge would have to rule on the motion, as a marshal took a document from Telles to be filed during the court hearing. A copy of the motion was not available.
In court last week, Leavitt questioned Telles for nearly 30 minutes about his knowledge of the criminal legal system before allowing him to represent himself.
[…]
In court, prosecutors have pointed to several pieces of evidence against Telles in German’s slaying, including DNA found underneath the reporter’s fingernails and clothing and bloody pieces of a shoe found at Telles’ house matching items worn by a suspect seen in surveillance footage wandering German’s neighborhood the day he was killed.
Telles has held the position that he’s been framed for the murder. He filed a motion against Las Vegas Police, claiming that law enforcement planted the incriminating evidence at his home. The matter was reviewed by the Clark County Citizen Review Board, which later referred the matter to internal affairs (via Las Vegas Review-Journal):
The Clark County Citizen Review Board has referred Robert Telles’ complaint against Las Vegas police to internal affairs before making a final decision.
A screening panel of five members reviewed Telles’ complaint during a closed meeting...
Telles, the former Clark County public administrator, has been accused of fatally stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German outside German’s home in September. Telles has been in custody since Sept. 7.
[…]
Since his arrest, Telles has said he was framed and claimed evidence tying him to German’s killing was planted at his home. He is representing himself in the ongoing criminal case and in April asked the court for a motion to compel police to move him to a different housing unit in Clark County Detention Center to conduct more legal research and have more recreation time.
The point is that if Telles were a Republican, this would get wall-to-wall coverage, with the obvious narrative being that the GOP is unhinged and will kill reporters they don’t like. That’s reportedly what happened here, but Telles is a Democrat, so it’s relegated to the local news beat. German wrote several stories about Telles, who he chalked up to whining from disgruntled former employees. It certainly doesn’t look good for Mr. Telles.
