Robert Telles, 47, was Clark County public administrator until losing the 2022 Democratic Party primary. He blamed stories written about him by the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Jeff German. So he murdered German, a crime for which he was convicted today in a Nevada courtroom.
During trial, prosecutors presented the jury with DNA evidence found under Mr German's fingernails that they said belonged to Telles – who had pleaded not guilty. A jury of 12 returned a guilty verdict on Wednesday, after deliberating for two days. Telles, who was elected Clark County public administrator in 2018, sat blank faced in court on Wednesday as the judge called in the jury.
Telles was sunk by a good old-fashioned plethora of evidence: not only the DNA under German's fingernails, but clothing seen in security footage was found cut up in his home, other video showed his car near the crime scene, and then there were those campaign-killing stories in the paper.
One alleged that Telles had an "inappropriate" relationship with a member of his staff, and several others alleged hostile behaviour in his Las Vegas office.
A statement from Gleen Cook, executive editor of the Review-Journal: "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."
