A former Nevada politician has been found guilty of first degree murder for the death of a journalist who wrote critical stories about his time in office.
Robert Telles, 47, has been jailed since 2022 for the stabbing of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative journalist Jeff German.
During trial, prosecutors presented the jury with DNA evidence found under Mr German’s fingernails that they said belonged to Telles – who had pleaded not guilty.
A jury of 12 returned a guilty verdict on Wednesday, after deliberating for two days. Several hours later, the same jury sentenced Telles to life in prison.
Telles, who was elected Clark County public administrator in 2018, sat blank faced in court on Wednesday as the judge called in the jury.
He then bowed his head as the guilty verdict was read.
“The jury unanimously finds the murder willful, deliberate and premeditated,” juror number two told the court.
Telles was given a life sentence in a separate hearing later on Wednesday. He is eligible for parole after he serves 20 years in prison.
The seven women and five men that composed the jury deliberated for roughly 12 hours, beginning on Monday, before the panel reached its conclusion.
The trial had stretched across two weeks.
Testimony in court came from dozens of witnesses, including detectives, forensic experts, those who knew the ex-politician, and Telles himself.
He alleged that he had been framed.
“This thing has been kind of a nightmare,” he said about a week into the trial. “I want to say unequivocally – I’m innocent. I didn’t kill Mr German.”
In September 2022, Mr German, 69, was found after he had been stabbed seven times in the neck and torso outside his Nevada home.
Prosecutors accused Telles of killing Mr German over unflattering articles the journalist had written about his behaviour as an elected official.
One alleged that Telles had an “inappropriate” relationship with a member of his staff, and several others alleged hostile behaviour in his Las Vegas office.
Telles, a Democrat, lost his primary for a second term as public administrator in 2022 after Mr German’s stories were published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal ahead of the election.
Security footage recovered by police and shown to the jury caught Mr German’s assailant wearing a large, straw hat and sneakers outside the journalist’s home.
Authorities later found the remnants of similar items at Telles’s house, though they had been cut up.
The prosecution alleged that it was Telles who had appeared in the security video, claiming that he had hid in the bushes outside Mr German’s house and then attempted to dispose of evidence.
Telles’s defense attorneys argued that the shredded evidence had been planted at the ex-politician’s home as part of an effort to frame their client. They disputed that Mr German’s articles were “a motive for a murder”.
But prosecutors shared the DNA evidence, a timeline and video of Telles’s SUV driving on the streets near Mr German’s home just before his murder. The driver of the car is wearing an outfit similar to the one worn by the person seen in the security footage.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom on Wednesday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson celebrated the jury’s decision.
“The jury hit the ball out of the park this time,” he said. “They hit a home run by getting the right verdict.”
A veteran reporter, Mr German had spent more than four decades covering the city and corruption.
He had one more article to publish about Telles at the time of his death.
Glenn Cook, the executive editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, issued a statement that said the “jury delivered a measure of justice” for Mr German with its verdict.
“Jeff (German) 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.”
By BBC News
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