Former Official Guilty of Murdering Las Vegas Reporter

UPDATE Aug 29, 2024 12:00 AM CDT

The former politician convicted of murdering a journalist who wrote unflattering stories about him and his office has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Robert Telles will be eligible for parole after 20 years, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The Clark County DA said the verdict should send "a clear message that any attempts to silence the media or to silence or intimidate a journalist will not be tolerated."

Aug 28, 2024 3:04 PM CDT

A former politician in Nevada has been found guilty of murdering a journalist who wrote about allegations of wrongdoing in his office. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the jury deliberated for around 12 hours over three days before finding Robert Telles guilty of killing Jeff German, an investigative journalist for the paper. Telles, former Clark County public administrator, was arrested days after German, 69, was stabbed to death outside his Las Vegas home two years ago. Prosecutors said Telles, 47, was angered by German's reporting on alleged bullying and favoritism in his office, and on an alleged relationship with a female employee, NBC News reports. He slammed German's reporting and the Review-Journal in posts online after he narrowly lost a re-election bid months before the murder.

Evidence against Telles included surveillance footage—and his DNA under German's fingernails—but he claimed he had been framed by corrupt officials and a real estate network. "Jeff 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," Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said in a statement. "Robert Telles could have joined the long line of publicly shamed Nevada politicians who've gone on with their lives, out of the spotlight or back in it. Instead, he carried out a premeditated revenge killing with terrifying savagery."

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Cook added that the community has "lost much more than a trusted journalist. Jeff was a good man who left behind a family who loved him and friends who cherished him. His murder remains an outrage. He is missed." The trial will now move into the penalty phase. The AP reports Telles faces life in prison without parole, life with parole eligibility at 20 years, or 20 to 50 years in prison. (More Las Vegas stories.)