Former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles will serve at least 28 years in jailed for fatally stabbing a Las Vegas journalist, he accused of smearing him

Robert Telles was convicted of the September 2022, fatal stabbing of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German

Telles, 47, was angry because German, 69, covered him unfavorably which cost him the chances of re-election

Despite insurmountable evidence, including DNA and surveillance footage, Telles maintains he was framed by a vast conspiracy

Former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, [photo], has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for the murder. He was convicted of the 2022 fatal stabbing of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, 69, who covered him unfavorably

A former Las Vegas Democratic politician has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for the murder of a journalist who covered him unfavorably. 
Former Clark County Public Administrator, Robert Telles, 47, was convicted of the 2022 fatal stabbing of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, 69.
German was found dead after writing a series of stories about Telles, a former Clark County Public Administrator, including reporting on an alleged affair between him and a staffer.
Telles was arrested after his DNA was found under German’s fingernails. He maintained his innocence throughout his two years in custody and claimed he was framed. He pled not guilty and testified in his own defense.
During the eight-day trial, jurors listened to testimony from dozens of witnesses, detectives, forensic experts, and Telles himself. His attorney, Robert Draskovich at the time said the Jury’s long deliberation was ‘clearly to benefit the defense.’

The man murdered by Telles was 69-year-old Jeff German, [photo] a respected reporter who spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas. His killer claimed he wrote smear pieces which derailed his chances of re-election

‘Unequivocally, I am innocent,’ Telles told the jury. He was convicted and lost his law license. He would lose his primary for a second term in office after German’s chronicled turmoil and bullying at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office and his romantic relationship with a female staffer

The jury deliberated nearly 12 hours over three days before finding Telles guilty. His attorney announced his client’s intends to appeal his conviction. 
The victim, Jeff German was a respected veteran Nevada journalist who spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas.
Telles, by profession a lawyer lost his primary for a second term in office after German’s stories in May and June 2022 described turmoil and bullying at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office, spiced with a romantic relationship between Telles and a female employee.
His law license had been suspended following his arrest.
German was a respected reporter who spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas
Police sought public help to identify a person captured on neighborhood security video driving a maroon SUV and walking while wearing a broad straw hat that hid his face and an oversized orange long-sleeve shirt. 

German had published a series of articles accusing Telles, a father-of-three, of having an affair with staffer Roberta Lee-Kennett, 45, seen [right with her husband], and for facilitating a toxic workplace. At trial Telles, for the first time, admitted the affair

Prosecutor Pamela Weckerly showed footage of the person wearing orange slipping into the side yard where German was stabbed, slashed and left dead.
At Telles’ house, police found a maroon SUV and cut-up pieces of a straw hat and a gray athletic shoe that looked like those worn by the person seen on neighborhood video, although the orange long-sleeve shirt and the murder weapon were never found.
Telles testified for several rambling hours at his trial.
While admitting for the first time that reports of the office romance were true, he denied killing German Instead he claimed, he was ‘framed’ by a broad conspiracy involving a real estate company, police, DNA analysts, former co-workers and others.
He told the jury he was victimized for crusading to root out corruption: ‘I am not the kind of person who would stab someone. I didn’t kill Mr. German,’ Telles said.
‘And that’s my testimony.’
However the prosecution tendered strong evidence against Telles, including his DNA beneath German’s fingernails. 

Despite solid DNA evidence Telles, [right], his maintained that he was framed for the murder of German [left], in a 90-minute plea to the jury last week, adding that the ordeal had ‘been a nightmare, frankly’

Surveillance footage showed Robert Telles near German’s home on the morning of his death wearing an orange hi-visibility vest and large straw hat in an apparent attempt to disguise himself, police said.Telles claims all the evidence was planted  

Prosecutor Christopher Hamner said Telles blamed German for destroying his career, ruining his reputation and threatening his marriage.
Telles told the jury he took a walk and went to a gym at the time German was killed. But evidence showed Telles’ wife sent text messages to him about the same time killed asking, ‘Where are you?’ 
Prosecutors said Telles left his cellphone at home so he couldn’t be tracked.
German was the only journalist killed in the U.S. in 2022, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The nonprofit has records of 17 media workers killed in the U.S. since 1992.
Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator at the committee, said in August that Telles’ conviction sent “an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated.’