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Jurors hear murder trial against ex-politician and collect photos and identification documents about murdered Vegas reporter

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hundreds of photos of the home and neighborhood of a slain investigative journalist were found on the cellphone and computer of a local Democratic politician accused of “lying in wait” and killing the reporter after he wrote several critical articles about the official, a Nevada jury heard Monday.

Other photographs taken with Robert Telles' equipment included an image of a single gray athletic shoe with a distinctive black pattern and a shot of Telles' work computer in the office of the Clark County Public Administrator and Guardian with the results of an Internet search through a password-protected site that yielded the name, home address, vehicle registration and birth date of slain reporter Jeff German.

Prosecutor Christopher Hamner told jurors the photo was taken on August 23, 2022 – less than two weeks before German was stabbed and killed in the side yard of his home.

“This picture came from Mr. Telles' phone?” Hamner asked Matthew Hovanec, a digital forensics chief in Las Vegas who testified Monday about the “extraction” of the data from Telles' devices.

“That’s true,” Hovanec replied.

Detective Justine Gatus, the lead Las Vegas Police Department homicide investigator in the German case, was the main and final witness Monday as prosecutors concluded their argument after four days of testimony from more than two dozen witnesses.

Telles has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison if the jury finds him guilty. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

Telles insists he did not kill German and was framed for the crime. He plans to testify, defense attorney Robert Draskovich said Monday, and is expected to take the stand Tuesday afternoon to conclude his defense.

Gatus cited Las Vegas Review-Journal articles about Telles and the county office that German wrote and published in May and June 2022 that describe a county office in turmoil.

“You were not flattering,” the detective noted.

At the same time, in social media posts, Telles derided German and the articles as misrepresentations of his efforts to fight corruption within a political and social network of the real estate industry's “old guard.”

Gatus testified that the gray sneaker, which featured a Nike logo and four black spots on the sole, was “identical” to a sneaker jurors had previously seen in neighbors' security camera footage showing a figure dressed in orange sneaking into the side yard of German's home, where German was later found dead over Labor Day weekend 2022.

Neither an orange shirt nor a murder weapon were admitted as evidence in the case. But one of those shoes, cut into pieces and stained with blood of unknown origin, was found in a plastic bag in Telles' home after his arrest.

German's killing in September 2022 at age 69 made him the only reporter killed in the United States among the 69 news media workers killed worldwide that year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. German covered Las Vegas mobsters and public officials for 44 years for the Las Vegas Sun and later for the rival Review-Journal.

About 10 of Telles' family members and friends were present each day of his trial but did not comment publicly on the killing. They declined to comment Monday.

Last week, jurors heard testimony from forensic experts that Telles' DNA was found under German's fingernails and that they also saw surveillance video that showed the suspect driving through German's neighborhood.

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