Jury resumes deliberations in trial of ex-politician accused of murdering Las Vegas reporter

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A jury will resume deliberations Tuesday in the trial of a former Las Vegas-area Democratic politician accused of killing an investigative journalist. Prosecutors say he wrote stories that destroyed his career, ruined his reputation and threatened his marriage.

Robert Telles, the former elected county administrator for unclaimed property, is charged with murder in the stabbing death of reporter Jeff German two years ago. Jurors deliberated for about four hours Monday and will return to deliberations Tuesday.

Telles “did it because Jeff wasn't finished writing,” prosecutor Christopher Hamner said during his closing argument Monday. “It's like connecting the dots.”

The jurors messaged the judge late Monday asking that a court technician show them how to zoom in on a laptop video in the jury room, then stayed an hour past the court's usual 5 p.m. closing time.

Earlier, in his closing argument, Telles' defense attorney Robert Draskovich surprisingly presented a silhouette image of a person who did not look like Telles and was driving a maroon SUV, which the evidence suggested was the key to the crime.

Telles lost his Democratic primary for a second term after German’s stories about him appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May 2022. The reports described Riots and bullying in the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian's office and a romantic relationship between Telles and an employee.

The day before German was stabbed, Telles learned that county officials were about to provide German with the emails and text messages exchanged between Telles and the woman in response to the reporter's public records request.

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

In some photos taken from surveillance camera video, the driver of the SUV was seen wearing a bright orange outfit similar to that of a person caught on camera walking to German's house and sneaking into a side yard.

“This person stays and lurks,” Weckerly said, replaying a video from a neighbor's house showing German's garage door open and walk into the side yard, where he 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.

Weckerly also focused on a text message from Telles' wife that he didn't respond to, asking, “Where are you?” about 45 minutes before German was killed. Hamner and Weckerly told the jury they believed Telles left his cell phone at home so he couldn't be tracked.

German's body was found the next day, but the murder weapon was not. Telles' DNA was found under German's fingernails.

In his testimony, Telles named office colleagues, real estate agents, business owners and police officers whom he accused of framing him for German's killing. He said it was retaliation for his fight against corruption he observed in his office of about eight employees who handled estate cases.

“I'm not crazy. I'm not trying to avoid responsibility,” Telles told the jury on Friday. “I did not kill Mr. German and I'm innocent.”

No trace of German's blood or DNA was found on Telles, in his vehicle or in his home, Draskovich said Monday, urging the jury to “ask yourselves what is missing.”

Draskovich introduced the new video clip for the first time, focusing on a view of a maroon SUV like Telles's seen through the passenger window, with the driver's shadow silhouette at the wheel. The image was prosecution evidence that had not been introduced before.

German, a native of Milwaukee, was a respected journalist who 44 years of reporting on crime, courts and corruption Vegas

Telles, 47, is a lawyer who practiced civil law before being elected in 2018. His license to practice law was revoked after his arrest a few days after German's murder. If found guilty, he faces life in prison.

Over four days, 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 witness stand or identified in the courtroom.

About a dozen German family members sat together in the silent courtroom throughout the trial. They declined to comment.

The murder attracted widespread attention. German was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The nonprofit organization has records of 17 media professionals killed in the USA since 1992.