Jury selection begins Monday for a former Las Vegas-area politician accused of killing an investigative journalist who wrote a story critical of his office.
Former Clark County Democratic property manager Robert Tellez has remained jailed since his arrest in September 2022. Just days before that, Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German was found slashed and stabbed to death outside his home over Labor Day weekend in 2022.
Jarman, 69, was the only journalist killed in the United States among at least 67 media workers killed around the world that year, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
German, a Milwaukee native, has spent 44 years investigating confidential sources in Las Vegas, its government and its courts.
He gained widespread respect for his coverage of the courts, organized crime, government corruption, political scandals and mass shootings, first for the Las Vegas Sun and then the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Prosecutors say the motive for the killing was an article he wrote in early 2022 about Tellez and the turbulent county office.
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German was found slashed and stabbed to death in the backyard of her home after Telles “lied in wait” for her to come outside, the complaint said.
Clark County Executive Robert Telles, right, talks with Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German in his office on May 11, 2022, in Las Vegas. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via The Associated Press, File)
Telles, 47, was arrested a few days later after police released a video showing a man wearing an orange work shirt, a wide-brimmed straw hat and carrying a shoulder bag walking toward German’s home.
Police also released photos of the same distinctive maroon SUV that a Review-Journal photographer saw Tellez washing a car outside his home a few days after the murder.
Telles grew up in El Paso, Texas, and lived in Colorado before moving to Las Vegas. He became an attorney in 2015 and ran for Clark County Trustee in 2018 as a Democrat. After his arrest, he lost the election and had his law license suspended. He has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and could face life in prison if convicted. He remains incarcerated as he prepares to face a jury.
“Everything has been turned upside down,” veteran Las Vegas lawyer Tom Pitaro told The Associated Press about German’s death.
Pitaro also supervised Telles at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas law school about 10 years ago.
“When you think about this murder of a respected journalist who holds public office, I think people are shocked and wondering how this could have happened,” Pitaro said.
“The defendant has been looking forward to trial and is eager to tell his story,” Telles’ lawyer, Robert Draskovich, said ahead of Monday’s hearing, according to the Associated Press.
Former Clark County Executive Robert Tellez, who is accused of murdering investigative journalist Jeff German, argues during a hearing at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal, File)
More than 100 potential jurors have filled out questionnaires about what they heard about Germán’s murder and Tellez’s arrest. Interviewing and selecting the 12 jurors and several alternate jurors could take several days. Testimony is expected to take less than two weeks. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
But first, Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt is scheduled to hear a final request Monday to dismiss the case against Tellez and halt the trial.
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In court filings, Tellez claims he was unlawfully detained by police before his arrest, that officer body camera footage from the traffic stop that led to his detention was wrongfully deleted, and that hospital blood tests taken after his arrest and after he was treated for cuts on his wrists that he described as self-inflicted were not included as evidence in the case.
While Mr. Leavitt refused other requests to dismiss the case, Ms. Telles continued to represent herself, hiring and firing lawyers. Ms. Telles argued that Mr. Leavitt was biased against her and twice tried to remove her from the case.
Robert Telles washes his car outside his home on September 6, 2022 in Las Vegas. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal via The Associated Press, File)
Prosecutors say they have strong evidence, including DNA believed to be Telles’s found under German’s fingernails and pieces of a straw hat and shoe found in Telles’ home that resemble those worn by a man seen on video outside German’s house.
Telles had wanted the trial to begin quickly, but it has been delayed in part by a legal battle in the state Supreme Court by the Review-Journal to protect the release of confidential sources stored on German’s cellphone and computer, arguing that the names and unpublished materials are protected from disclosure under the First Amendment and Nevada law.
Police argued that their investigation was not complete until they had searched for devices that could contain evidence. The court first gave the newspaper, its lawyers and consultants time to review its files.
Lawyers for the Review-Journal told the judge last week that the review process would be completed in time to turn over the records to police, prosecutors and Telles’ lawyers before jury selection begins.
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Telles also wants Leavitt to block her from testifying in a hostile work environment and discrimination lawsuit filed in federal court by four other women against Telles and Clark County.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
