This week, a jury found former Nevada politician Robert Telles guilty of assassinating investigative journalist Jeff German over articles he had written about him exposing the Clark County public administrator's alleged misconduct in office. German's investigation, which aired internal allegations accusing the local official of corruption, bullying his staff, and having an affair with a subordinate, led to Telles stabbing the dogged reporter to death in retaliation.
The two-week Telles trial made national news, given the gruesomeness of the crime and the motive underlying German's premeditated murder.
However, the media, for the most part, neglected to mention that the now-convicted murderer was a Democratic official.
The New York Times, NBC News, ABC News, Rolling Stone, and The Hill all made no mention of the killer's party affiliation when covering his conviction.
German's series of stories critical of Telles, who was seeking a second term, ultimately cost the then-incumbent candidate the Democratic primary in June of 2022.
Prior to German's slaying, Telles had publicly railed against the reporter on his official campaign website, calling the accusations "false" and "another" "manufacture[d] scandal." Under the site's subsection titled "The Truth," Telles claimed German was conspiring with his Democratic challenger, assistant public administrator Rita Reid, to publish the pieces probing his handling of the county office, which oversees the estates of those who have died. Reid, the top supervisor under Telles, was one of the whistleblowers, among a half-dozen current and former employees German interviewed, who sounded the alarm on Telles's toxic behavior in the workplace.
"Jeff German and John Cahill [who was Telles's predecessor] may not be done trying to drag me through the mud," Telles wrote of German's findings. "To ensure that Democrats rally around Rita, they would have to turn most Democratic voters against me even now when I should be irrelevant. Don't be surprised if the articles keep coming."
After losing his re-election bid to Reid, on September 2, 2022, the deadly Democrat repeatedly stabbed The Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter outside his home, where Telles was "lying in waiting," and then left the 69-year-old victim to die.
German, who suffered seven fatal stab wounds, including four to his neck and one that cut his carotid artery, according to the autopsy report, was working on a follow-up article at the time Telles murdered him, his own outlet revealed.
German had recently filed a new round of public records requests for emails and text messages exchanged between Telles and three other county officials, including a coroner, Reid, and estate coordinator Roberta Lee-Kennett, the subordinate staffer allegedly involved in an "inappropriate relationship" with Telles.
Co-workers, who said the affair was used to "secure power and privileges above others in the office," videotaped the two in the backseat of Lee-Kennett's vehicle. Videos of the clandestine meetings, copies of which German obtained, showed Telles and Lee-Kennett secretly canoodling in her car parked across the street from the Clark County Government Center.
Scandalized, the Telles staffers said it was "unacceptable" and "disgusting" to see of a public servant in a public place. Both were married, though Telles said they were only hugging and talking strictly about important office-related issues while Lee-Kennett said she just wanted Telles to hear her concerns face-to-face. At trial, Telles admitted they had an affair.
"He did it because Jeff wasn't done writing," the prosecution told jurors.
When he was slain, German had an outstanding request for government records involving Telles. Within hours of his assassination, German was texting with a Telles staff member, who had informed him that several workers were resigning.
Telles was wearing a white hazmat suit when Review-Journal reporters attempted to question him at his house as law enforcement closed in.
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
He was eventually identified via surveillance footage, which captured Telles in disguise donning a neon-orange shirt and an oversized sunhat.
While executing a search warrant on Telles's residence, authorities discovered a wide-brimmed straw hat that had been sliced into pieces in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence. DNA found under German's fingernails also matched that of Telles.
Telles was convicted of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon on a person 60 years or older and sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years served. The jury also unanimously found the murder committed by means of elder abuse.
German, author of the true crime book "Murder in Sin City," centered his intrepid reporting on crimes perpetrated by politicians, government malfeasance, and political scandals. The veteran journalist's award-winning work exposing wrongdoing and the city's criminal underbelly spanned four decades.
In the lead-up to his murder, German had spent months documenting the turmoil surrounding Telles's oversight of the public administrator's office. The first installment of German's investigation spotlighted a 19-page confidential retaliation complaint filed with the Clark County Office of Diversity claiming Telles fueled a hostile work environment and mistreated his workers.
"The county has failed to protect employees from a mentally and emotionally abusive situation that has continued now for two years-plus, and the mental and physical health ramifications have been felt by most of the full-time employees in this department of only eight full-time employees," the complaint read.
Telles denied the allegations of office abuse and blamed the unrest on a handful of disgruntled "old-timers" left over from Cahill's administration.
"They are unhappy with the way the office has been taken out of their control," Telles said. "All my new employees are super-happy and everyone's productive and doing well. We've almost doubled the productivity in the office."
On X, a paranoid Telles lashed out at German, fearing he was preparing "lying smear piece #4." Believing that German was "obsessed" with him, Telles even called the reporter a "Typical bully."
Telles lashed out at German in a series of public Twitter posts, some of which call him a bully and accuse the reporter of preparing “lying smear piece #4. pic.twitter.com/9lQyGTGzsa
— Briana Erickson (@ByBrianaE) September 7, 2022
"I think he's mad that I haven't crawled into a hole and died," Telles tweeted.
The defense described Telles's reaction to German's reporting as a "reasonable response to criticism, which comes from the job."
Prosecutors said Telles had hundreds of photographs taken of German's home in his possession, stored on his cell phone and computer.
Telles was still complaining about German's coverage days before his death, Reid told the Review-Journal.
"You have not had truly bad bosses if you think I tortured you," Telles texted Reid in an August 28, 2022, message shared with the newspaper. "You've ruined my life's path and damaged the office." The district attorney's office said German's reporting “ruined his political career, likely his marriage."
On the witness stand, Telles admitted that he thought German's reporting would prevent him from ever working as a lawyer again in Las Vegas.
"Unequivocally, I'm innocent. I didn't kill Mr. German," Telles insisted. "Somebody framed me."
As for the knife cut on his fingertip, which prosecutors suggested must have happened mid-murder, Telles claimed it was from making chicken fried rice.
An attorney by trade, Telles testified in defiance of his defense lawyer, who had strongly advised against his client taking the stand and risk answering questions under oath. The judge then allowed Telles to testify "by way of narration" instead of a standard question-and-answer format.
Telles has a violent past documented in criminal court. In 2020, about a year after he entered office, Telles was arrested during an alcohol-fueled domestic violence dispute involving his wife and children.
Robert Telles faced prior charges in 2020, one for domestic violence https://t.co/CcXJUfMC8s pic.twitter.com/yUTX27whcr
— Brett Clarkson (@BrettClarkson_) September 13, 2022
"He just won't leave us alone," his wife said on a 911 call recording acquired by the Review-Journal. "He had too much to drink tonight, and it's just ... me and my kids are scared."
Telles had grabbed her around the neck as they were driving home, the police report said, and he hit the steering wheel as well in a fit of rage, causing the car to swerve. As responding officers tried to place Telles under arrest, he resisted by flexing his arms and collapsing onto a chair. Body-worn police cameras showed a drunk Telles taken out of his house in handcuffs.
"You guys just wanna take me down because I'm a public official," Telles said repeatedly, slurring his words as he was put in a police cruiser.
However, the domestic battery charge filed against Telles was dismissed "per negotiations," and he received a suspended sentence on the resisting police charge. As a result, he was required to attend a "Corrective Thinking" class, which focused on anger management. Telles completed the behavior-modification course, and the case was dismissed.
Ordered to "stay out of trouble," Telles obviously did not.
German was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
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