Jury deliberates again in trial of former politician accused of killing Las Vegas reporter | National News

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury resumed deliberations Wednesday in the murder trial of a former Democratic politician accused of killing a Las Vegas investigative journalist two years ago over stories the reporter wrote two years ago about the official's conduct in public office.

The sentencing panel, consisting of seven women and five men, resumed its work in Clark County District Court on Monday and Tuesday after eight days of hearings and more than ten hours behind closed doors.

Robert Telles is accused of stabbing reporter Jeff German to death in a side yard of German's home on Labor Day weekend 2022 after he wrote articles about Telles and the county office responsible for unclaimed estates.

Telles denied killing German, claiming that a vast conspiracy framed him for German's killing in retaliation for his efforts to root out corruption in his office.

“I'm not the type of person who would stab someone. I did not kill Mr. German,” he testified. “And that is my statement.”

Defense attorney Robert Draskovich showed the jury a picture during closing arguments Monday of a person whose profile did not resemble Telles' driving a maroon SUV that evidence shows played a key role in the crime. He noted that no blood or DNA from German was found on Telles, in his vehicle or at his home.

He asked the jury to ask themselves: “What evidence is missing?”

Prosecutor Christopher Hamner told jurors that finding Telles guilty was like “connecting the dots” based on the overwhelming evidence they had heard, including DNA matching Telles' found under German's fingernails.

Hamner insisted that German fought to the death with his attacker and that Telles blamed German for destroying his career, ruining his reputation and threatening his marriage.

Telles lost his primary for a second term after German's stories appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May and June 2022. They described turmoil and bullying in the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian's office and a romantic relationship between Telles and a co-worker.

Hamner said Telles learned from county officials just hours before German's murder that the reporter was working on another story about the relationship.

Prosecutors presented a timeline and videos showing Telles' maroon SUV leaving the neighborhood near his home shortly after 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2022, and driving on streets near German's home a short time later.

The driver of the SUV is seen wearing a bright orange outfit similar to that of a person seen on camera walking to German's home and slipping into a side yard where German was attacked shortly after 11:15 a.m.

A little over two minutes later, the figure in orange appears, walking down a sidewalk. German does not reappear.

Evidence showed that Telles' wife texted him around 10:30 a.m. asking “Where are you?” Prosecutors said Telles left his cellphone at home so he couldn't be tracked. Telles told the jury he went for a walk and went to a gym in the afternoon.

German, 69, was a respected journalist who covered crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas for 44 years. About a dozen of his family members and friends followed the trial. They declined to comment.

Telles, 47, is a lawyer who practiced civil law before his election in 2018. He was disbarred after his arrest and faces life in prison if found guilty.

Weckerly and Hamner presented 28 witnesses and hundreds of pages of photos, police reports and videos. Telles and five others testified for the defense. No family member of Telles was called to the stand or identified in the courtroom.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, German was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022. The nonprofit has records of 17 media workers killed in the United States since 1992.

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