A former Nevada politician has been convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a journalist who wrote critical articles about his time in office.
Robert Telles, 47, has been in prison since 2022 for stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative journalist Jeff German.
During the trial, prosecutors presented the jury with DNA evidence found under Mr German’s fingernails that they said belonged to Telles, who has pleaded not guilty.
After two days of deliberation, a jury of 12 people found the defendant guilty on Wednesday.
Telles, who was elected Clark County public administrator in 2018, sat stunned in court Wednesday as the judge called the jury in.
He bowed his head as the guilty verdict was read.
Telles is currently awaiting sentencing and could face life in prison.
The seven women and five men on the jury deliberated for about 12 hours, starting Monday, before the panel reached its conclusion.
The trial lasted for two weeks.
Testimony in court came from dozens of witnesses, including detectives, forensic experts, people who knew the former politician and Telles himself.
He alleged that he was framed.
“This is like a nightmare,” he said about a week after the trial. “I want to say it unequivocally — I am innocent. I did not kill Mr. German.”
In September 2022, Mr. German, 69, was found stabbed seven times in the neck and torso outside his home in Nevada.
Prosecutors allege Telles killed Mr. German because of unflattering articles the journalist wrote about his conduct as an elected official.
One person accused Telles of having an “inappropriate” relationship with an employee, and several others alleged hostile behavior at his Las Vegas office.
Telles lost his primary for a second term as public administrator in 2022 after German’s article was published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal before the election.
Security footage collected by police and shown to the jury captured Mr German’s attacker wearing a large straw hat and sneakers outside the journalist’s home.
Authorities later found remains of similar objects at Telles’ home, although they had been chopped up.
Prosecutors allege Telles, who appeared in the security video, claimed he hid in bushes outside Mr German’s home and then tried to destroy evidence.
Telles’s defence lawyers argued that the shredded evidence was brought to the former politician’s home as part of an attempt to frame their client. They countered that Mr German’s writings were a “motive for murder”.
But prosecutors shared DNA evidence, a timeline and video of Telles’ SUV driving on a street near Mr. German’s home shortly before he was killed. The driver was wearing a similar outfit to the one seen in the security footage.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom on Wednesday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson praised the jury’s decision.
“This time the jury hit the ball out of the park,” he said. “They hit a home run by coming up with the right verdict.”
A veteran reporter, Mr. German spent more than four decades covering the city and corruption.
He still had one more article to publish on Telles at the time of Telles’ death.
Glenn Cook, executive editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, issued a statement saying that “the jury did justice” to Mr. German with its verdict.
“Jeff (German) was killed for doing the job he was so proud of: His reporting held an elected official accountable for bad behavior and empowered voters to choose someone else for the job.”
