The former Nevada governor is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a Reuters reporter
Written by Andrew Hay
(Reuters) – A Las Vegas, Nevada, jury on Wednesday found a former county sheriff guilty of murdering an investigative reporter who wrote a critical story about him, sentencing him to life in prison and becoming eligible for parole after 20 years.
Robert Telles, a former Clark County community director, was convicted of murdering Las Vegas Review Journal reporter Jeff German in 2022 in a case that highlighted the growing danger to journalists in the United States.
The jury found the killing “premeditated, premeditated and premeditated,” saying Telles “waited” for German, 69, before stabbing him to death outside his Las Vegas home.
“A reporter wrote a story, or a series of stories, and lost his life because of it because someone, a politician, an outgoing politician, just didn't like them,” said District Attorney Christopher Hamner.
Telles' attorney, Robert Draskovich, asked the judge to show leniency and give him a chance to go free since he had no prior criminal record.
Telles shook his head as the court clerk read the verdict. In a public demonstration, German family members cried and hugged each other. Employees of the Clark County public administrator's office, some of whom asked German to investigate Telles, hugged him and wiped away tears, all wearing red shirts and pins showing the reporter's face.
Glenn Cook, editor-in-chief of the Las Vegas Review Journal: , said in a statement.
“In many countries, the killers of journalists are not punished,” said Cook. “That's not the case in Las Vegas.”
German spent months reporting complaints that Telles oversaw an abusive workplace and had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
The state's evidence included Telles' DNA found under German's fingernails and a video of the car driven by the attacker that matched the car registered to Telles' wife.
The former officer told the court that he was arrested for the murder of Germany after he tried to reveal the allegations that he was killed.
Las Vegas defense attorney Robert Langford, who was not involved in the case, said the DNA evidence under German's fingernails was “incontrovertible evidence.”
Shortly after one of the German stories about Telles, 47, was published in June 2022, the former official lost his bid for re-election in a rival Democratic primary for the office of public administrator.
The day before German's murder, Telles learned that a reporter had obtained information through a records request about communications between Telles and his former partner.
“The conviction sends an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated,” said Katherine Jacobsen, US, Canadian and Caribbean coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a press rights organization.
German has been known for decades reporting on corruption and organized crime in Nevada's largest city. His book “Murder in Sin City” inspired the 2008 film “Sex and Lies in Sin City” about the murder of gambling magnate Ted Binion.
He was the only journalist killed in the US in 2022 among 69 news workers and journalists killed worldwide, according to CPJ data.
The United States has dropped 10 places to 55th in the 2024 list of journalists' safety, according to the World Press Freedom Index published by the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.
The study pointed to a decline in public trust in the media and disagreements among political officials as the cause of the decline.
