By Andrew Hay
(Reuters) – A jury in Las Vegas, Nevada, found a former elected county official guilty on Wednesday of killing an investigative reporter who had written articles critical of him, a case that highlighted the growing threats facing journalists in the United States.
Robert Telles, former Clark County public administrator, was convicted of murder with a deadly weapon after more than 10 hours of deliberation. Prosecutors accused him of stabbing reporter Jeff German, 69, to death outside his home on September 2, 2022.
“He took the life of a man who was just doing his job,” District Attorney Christopher Hamner said in his closing argument of the two-week trial.
Prosecutors’ evidence included Telles’ DNA found under German’s fingernails and a video of the attacker’s car, which matched the vehicle registered to Telles’ wife.
The former official, a Democrat, said in court that he was set up after trying to expose an alleged bribery scheme linked to a real estate company.
On cross-examination, District Attorney Christopher Hamner asked Telles how the pictures of German’s house got on his phone, how a shoe identical to the killer’s ended up under his couch, and how his DNA got on German.
Telles, 47, said the evidence was planted as part of a conspiracy by co-workers, a real estate firm, police and possibly the district attorney to murder German and frame Telles for the murder.
When Telles was questioned about his testimony during the two-day cross-examination, he repeatedly stressed that he was innocent and did not kill German.
The journalist spent months reporting on complaints that Telles had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and oversaw a workplace that was abusive.
Shortly after one of German’s stories was published, Telles failed in his bid for re-election in June 2022, losing in a Democratic primary to a rival from his own office.
Cellphone messages indicate that Telles was “distraught” after the loss. Roberta Lee-Kennett, the office colleague with whom Telles had an affair, testified that Telles “hated” German. Telles denied this in court.
German continued to investigate Telles until he was murdered.
In Las Vegas, he was known for his decades of reporting on government corruption and organized crime in Nevada’s largest city.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a press rights advocacy group, German was the only journalist murdered in the United States among 69 media workers and journalists killed worldwide in 2022.
According to the Press Freedom Index published by the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, the United States has fallen ten places to 55th in a ranking of journalists’ safety for 2024.
The study cited declining public trust in the media and hostility from political officials as reasons for the decline.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by David Gregorio)
