{"id":106747,"date":"2024-08-13T00:04:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T00:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/trial-begins-for-nevada-official-accused-of-murdering-journalist\/"},"modified":"2024-08-13T00:04:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T00:04:12","slug":"trial-begins-for-nevada-official-accused-of-murdering-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/trial-begins-for-nevada-official-accused-of-murdering-journalist\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial begins for Nevada official accused of murdering journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jason Marz\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(LAS VEGAS) — The trial against Robert Telles — the former Nevada county official who allegedly murdered a journalist he blamed for ruining his career and marriage — began Monday with jury selection.<\/p>\n

The former Clark County public administrator is accused in the death of 69-year-old Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, who was found stabbed to death outside his home in September 2022.<\/p>\n

Telles, 47, was arrested days later after DNA evidence found in his home tied him to the crime scene, police said. He has been held without bail ever since.<\/p>\n

A day before the murder, according to police, Telles was spotted approaching German’s house, where he allegedly had an altercation with him.<\/p>\n

The next day, Telles allegedly disguised himself in a straw hat and reflective vest, left his phone at home, then headed to German’s home, where he was accused of stabbing the journalist seven times, according to police.<\/p>\n

While executing a search warrant at the local politician’s home, police found the hat, as well as a pair of shoes with blood on them — both of which they said had been cut up, purportedly in an effort to destroy evidence.<\/p>\n

His DNA was also found on German’s hands and fingernails, police said.<\/p>\n

Police took Telles into custody with what they said were non-life-threatening, self-inflicted stab wounds.<\/p>\n

Telles has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and could face life in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n

“He’s been looking forward to trial,” Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, told The Associated Press. “He wants to tell his story.”<\/p>\n

Draskovich did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.<\/p>\n

Prior to his death, German had published an investigation into the hostile work environment in Telles’ office, which included accusations of bullying, retaliation and an “inappropriate relationship” between Telles and a staffer. Telles denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” shortly after his arrest, Rita Reid — one of Telles’ former coworkers — called German a “hero” for exposing the turmoil in Telles’ office, which she said she and colleagues blew the whistle on.<\/p>\n

When she first learned of German’s death, Reid said her “first thought was Robert Telles.”<\/p>\n

“His death was absolutely devastating to myself and my co-workers, the people that he advocated for,” Reid said of German. “He was our hero.”<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo previously described it as an “unusual” case, and said that “the killing of a journalist is particularly troublesome.”<\/p>\n

“It is troublesome because it is a journalist. And we expect journalism to be open and transparent and the watchdog for government,” Lombardo said. “And when people take it upon themselves to create harm associated with that profession, I think it’s very important we put all eyes on and address the case appropriately such as we did in this case.”<\/p>\n

German was the only journalist killed in the U.S. in 2022, with a total of at least 67 journalists killed worldwide that year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Marz\/Getty Images (LAS VEGAS) — The trial against Robert Telles — the former Nevada county official who allegedly murdered a journalist he blamed for ruining his career and marriage — began Monday with jury selection. The former Clark County public administrator is accused in the death of 69-year-old LasRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}