LAS VEGAS — A former Nevada politician was sentenced to life in jail after being discovered responsible on Wednesday of killing journalist Jeff German in September 2022.
Because the jury’s foreperson learn out the responsible verdict, former Clark County public administrator Robert Telles seemed down and shook his head.
Telles was sentenced to life in jail with eligibility for parole after a minimal of 20 years served.
In a press convention after the decision was introduced, Clark County District Lawyer Steven Wolfson thanked the jury for his or her work on the case.
“At the moment’s verdict ought to ship a message, and that message is a transparent message that any makes an attempt to silence the media, or to silence or intimidate a journalist, is not going to be tolerated,” Wolfson mentioned.
Prosecutors mentioned former Clark County public administrator Robert Telles, 47, stabbed the Las Vegas Evaluate-Journal reporter to dying after German uncovered corruption in his workplace, destroying each his political profession and his marriage. German’s story detailed an allegedly hostile work surroundings in Telles’ workplace — together with bullying, retaliation and an “inappropriate relationship” between Telles and a staffer — all of which Telles denied.
Telles was arrested days after German was discovered lifeless exterior his Las Vegas residence. Police mentioned DNA proof present in Telles’ residence tied him to the crime scene, and a straw hat and sneakers — which the suspect was seen sporting in surveillance footage — had been discovered reduce up in his residence. His DNA was additionally discovered on German’s palms and fingernails, police mentioned.
He had pleaded not responsible to homicide.
In her opening assertion, Chief Deputy District Lawyer Pamela Weckerly walked by the timeline of the homicide and the way Telles got here to be pinpointed because the suspect.
“In the long run, this case is not about politics,” Weckerly mentioned. “It isn’t about alleged inappropriate relationships. It isn’t about who’s a very good boss or who’s a very good supervisor or favoritism at work — it is nearly homicide.”
Telles took the stand in his personal trial on Aug. 21, “unequivocally” sustaining his innocence and insisting he was “framed” in a sweeping conspiracy by an actual property firm that he mentioned he was investigating for alleged bribery.
“Any individual framed me for this, and I consider that it’s Compass Realty, and I consider it is for the work that I’ve accomplished in opposition to them,” Telles instructed the courtroom.
In an announcement to the Las Vegas Evaluate-Journal in January, Compass Realty proprietor Takumba Britt denied Telles’ conspiracy claims, calling him a “determined man who has been charged with violently murdering a beloved native journalist” who would “do and say something to flee answering for this cost.”
Wolfson additionally hit again in opposition to Telles’ conspiracy claims after the jury introduced its verdict.
“There was no conspiracy,” Wolfson mentioned. “The one conspiracy was between him and his evil thoughts.”
When police took Telles into custody, he had what they mentioned had been non-life-threatening, self-inflicted stab wounds. His protection lawyer, Robert Draskovich, mentioned the suicide try was not out of guilt, however as a result of Telles’ “life was coming aside.”
Draskovich echoed Telles’ claims of a conspiracy in opposition to him, saying in his opening assertion the “previous guard” within the public administrator’s workplace had been upset by Telles’ efforts to root out inside corruption. He additionally claimed that, due to German’s monitor file of investigating corrupt figures, there have been different individuals who could have wished him lifeless.
“There have been others that had way more motive to make it appear to be [Telles] was the killer, and to conduct this killing as a result of Jeff German was a very good reporter — he would in the end get to what the reality was,” Draskovich mentioned.
Forward of sentencing on Wednesday, German’s three siblings addressed the courtroom, talking about what their oldest brother meant to them.
“Jeff was our chief — he was the older brother all of us leaned on,” his brother, Jay German, mentioned.
The siblings remembered him as a “great” uncle, a “fearless” journalist and a lover of soccer and sitcoms.
His sister, Jill Zwerg, who mentioned German was “like a second father,” recalled how he purchased a complete spherical of champagne for the bar when she instructed me she’d gotten engaged.
“He is so deeply missed day-after-day,” Zwerg mentioned by tears.
Telles’ spouse and ex-wife additionally spoke, tearfully asking the jury to not sentence him to life in jail with out parole.
“I might love in some unspecified time in the future to provide my kids the prospect to have their father again,” his spouse, Mary Ann Ismael, mentioned.
Telles wept as his mom, Rosalinda Anaya, took the stand.
“I settle for the decision, however in the event you might — please — give my son the prospect of parole,” Anaya mentioned. “His household remains to be very younger and I would really like for him to sometime be again with them once more.”
Earlier than sending the jury off to deliberate on sentencing, Draskovich urged jurors to not hand down a life sentence.
“Give him the chance — give his kids the chance — many years from now, to have their father again,” Draskovich mentioned.
However prosecutors argued a life sentence — both with or with out parole — was crucial in such a case. Clark County Chief Deputy District Lawyer Chris Hamner mentioned Telles “determined to be choose, jury, and actually executioner” of German “as a result of he merely wasn’t glad about what was being written about him.”
“When you consider the scenario he was in, the world wasn’t going to finish. He merely misplaced an election,” Hamner mentioned. “The way in which Robert Telles selected to deal with this was devastating, and it was his selection and his selection alone.”
German was the one journalist killed in the US in 2022, with a complete of at the very least 67 journalists killed worldwide that yr, based on the Committee to Shield Journalists.
Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo beforehand described the case in opposition to Telles as “uncommon,” and mentioned that “the killing of a journalist is especially troublesome.”
“It’s troublesome as a result of it’s a journalist. And we count on journalism to be open and clear and the watchdog for presidency,” Lombardo mentioned. “And when folks take it upon themselves to create hurt related to that occupation, I believe it is essential we put all eyes on and deal with the case appropriately akin to we did on this case.”
In an announcement printed by the paper, Las Vegas Evaluate-Journal government editor Glenn Prepare dinner praised the decision “as a measure of justice” for German, in addition to for “slain journalists all around the world.”
“Jeff was killed for doing the form of work through which he took nice pleasure: His reporting held an elected official accountable for dangerous habits and empowered voters to decide on another person for the job,” Prepare dinner wrote. “Robert Telles might have joined the lengthy line of publicly shamed Nevada politicians who’ve gone on with their lives, out of the highlight or again in it. As an alternative, he carried out a premeditated revenge killing with terrifying savagery.”
“Let’s additionally do not forget that this neighborhood has misplaced way more than a trusted journalist,” Prepare dinner added. “Jeff was a very good man who left behind a household who liked him and pals who cherished him. His homicide stays an outrage. He’s missed.”
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