A jury on Wednesday found a former Las Vegas-area Democratic politician guilty of murder in the slaying of an investigative journalist who had written a critical article about him.
Jurors began deliberating Monday on whether to agree with prosecutors' allegations that Robert Telles, 47, stabbed veteran investigative journalist Jeff Jarman to death in September 2022, just months after Jarman wrote an article critical of Telles and his workplace behavior, including allegations of an inappropriate romantic relationship with a female colleague.
The Las Vegas jury deliberated for about four hours Monday before taking an evening break. The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated for about six hours Tuesday after a two-week trial. Lawyers delivered closing arguments Monday morning.
On Monday, they sent a letter to the judge asking for more notepads and a court technician who could show them how to zoom in on the laptop video in the jury room.
Las Vegas Democrat confounded by three-word text message at murder trial
Jurors will resume deliberations Tuesday in the trial of former Las Vegas-area Democratic politician Robert Tellez (left), who is accused of murdering investigative journalist Jeff Jarman (bottom right), with prosecutor Christopher Hamner (top right). (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal; Pool, Main and Top Right; Elizabeth Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal via Getty)
Prosecutor Christopher Hamner said in closing arguments Monday that German had not yet finished his work prosecuting Telles, which ultimately led to the removal of the veteran journalist.
Tellus lost his Democratic primary bid for a second term after German first wrote an article for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May 2022 about Tellus's conduct leading an unnamed county office that handles unclaimed property. Tellus practiced civil law before being elected in 2018, and his license to practice law was suspended after he was arrested days after German's murder.
“And he did it because Jeff hadn't finished writing it yet,” Hamner said. “It's like he connected the dots. He killed him because Jeff's writing had ruined his career. It ruined his reputation. It probably threatened his marriage. It exposed things that he himself admitted he didn't want public knowledge to know.”
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His lawyer, Robert Draskovich, argued the prosecution's case did not meet legal standards and reminded jurors of testimony by Telles that he was framed for fighting corruption in the industry. Telles continues to maintain his innocence.
“Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is the highest standard in this country,” Draskovich said. “It's not a presumption. It's a preponderance of the evidence. It's not clear and convincing. It's proof and a reasonable doubt. This concept is borrowed from old English common law. Our Founding Fathers thought it would be better to let 10 guilty people go free than to wrongly convict an innocent person.”
Jarman was the only journalist killed in the United States in 2022, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
The day before German was stabbed, Telles learned that Clark County authorities were responding to a reporter's public records request to provide German with emails and text messages that Telles and the woman had shared. Hamner said more news could begin soon.
The next day, Gelman was killed.
Prosecutors said Telles accused German of writing the article, ruining her career, damaging her reputation and threatening her marriage.
Las Vegas Democrat accused of murdering journalist testifies: “I am absolutely innocent”
Sudden text messages presented at the murder trial of former Las Vegas Democratic politician Robert Telles appear to shed mystery into his whereabouts on the day of the murder. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via The Associated Press, Pool)
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.
Telles 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.
Prosecutors said they had presented 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 resembled those worn by a man seen on video outside German's house.
Hamner acknowledged that two key pieces of evidence — the orange work shirt and the knife used to attack Jarman — were not found. He questioned why those trying to frame Telles had left them out of the evidence list.
During the trial, jurors heard that Telles had hundreds of photos of German's home and neighborhood stored on his phone and computer.
Other photos taken from Telles' device included an image of a pair of gray athletic shoes with a distinctive black pattern, a photo of Telles' work computer at the Clark County Commissioner's Office, and the results of an Internet search through a password-protected site that displayed German's name, home address, vehicle registration number and date of birth.
Hamner pointed out to the jury that the photo was taken on Aug. 23, 2022, just under two weeks before Jarman was found dead in a pool of blood.
Clark County Executive Robert Tellez, 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)
Police also released photos of a distinctive maroon SUV — the same one a Review-Journal photographer saw Tellez washing a car outside his home a few days after the murder — with an occupant wearing orange clothing and a large straw hat.
Prosecutor Pamela Weckerly presented a timeline and video showing Telles' maroon SUV leaving the neighborhood near his home just after 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2022, and then traveling down a road near German's home shortly thereafter.
The driver of the SUV was wearing bright orange clothing similar to that worn by a person seen on camera walking up to Jarman's home and slipping into the backyard.
Telles himself repeatedly referred to that man on the stand as Jarman's killer.
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Photo evidence of Robert Teles' Yukon Denali SUV. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The text messages discovered were allegedly deleted from the defendant's phone and recovered from his wife's Apple Watch, in which the wife asks where the defendant was at the time of the murder, shrouding the defendant's alibi.
Prosecutors told the jury they believe Tellez didn't respond because he left his cell phone and tracking device at home.
Robert Telles washes his car in front of his home in Las Vegas on September 6, 2022. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal via The Associated Press, File)
About a dozen German family members sat silently in a hushed courtroom on Monday. Telles faces life in prison if convicted.
― Fox News Digital's Bradford Betts contributed to this report.
