Robert Telles was sole suspect in Las Vegas journalist’s murder; homicide lieutenant calls verdict ‘relief’
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The leader of Las Vegas Metro police’s homicide bureau said Robert Telles, a former Clark County politician, was the only suspect in the investigation into who killed journalist Jeff German.
A jury convicted and sentenced Telles, 47, Wednesday after a more than two-week trial. Telles, an elected official who ran the county’s public administrator’s office, will serve life in prison with the possibility of parole on a first-degree murder charge, the panel ordered.
“Relief,” Lt. Jason Johansson said about the verdict. “It meant a lot that we were able to have the spotlight on us and show that the professionalism that is done on every investigation and have it highlighted as you see as all these different witnesses come forward on the stand.”
Johansson, who watched the trial daily, called the investigation a team effort across his bureau and the entire department.
Around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, Las Vegas Metro police received a 911 call from a person who said they had found German deceased in a yard on the side of his home, a report obtained by the 8 News Now Investigators that year said. German was found with seven stab wounds, including ones to his neck and torso, the report said.
As police spread out to find surveillance video, they discovered a neighbor had captured a person walking in the area and arriving to German’s property the day before. The suspect, later identified as Telles, walked into German’s yard and attacked German as he was coming out of his garage.
Shortly after the coroner’s office identified German, 69, as the murder victim, Metro police enacted a major case protocol. In this system, each department is on notice to provide support to the case.
“It wasn’t until the pictures and the vehicle were released that really the traction on this case like took off on this investigation,” Johansson said.
On Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, Metro police released images of a suspect wearing a straw hat and orange shirt. Police also showed a photo of an SUV later determined to be the one Telles drove to kill German.
During a medical examination of German’s body, police recovered a suspect’s DNA from under his fingernails. While awaiting the DNA results, investigators found a car matching the description of the SUV seen outside of German’s home in Telles’ driveway. It was around the same time that Metro investigators also discovered German’s prior reporting about Telles and the issues inside the public administrator’s office. German had published several stories about Telles’ office and a now-confirmed affair, saying it was in “turmoil” in the months leading up to his stabbing death.
“What do you think was the one thing that really did Robert Telles in?” 8 News Now Investigator David Charns asked Johansson.
“The minute we had the shoes and the hat, the car, I believed we had the right guy at that moment in time,” he said.
Through video and other investigative means, detectives tracked Telles’ car leaving his neighborhood and driving to the murder scene.
In a rare move, Telles took the witness stand during the trial, presenting a narrative to the jury and answering questions from prosecutors. His defense counsel did not question him due to ethics rules.
After the jury convicted him, Telles continued to shake his head.
“Is Robert Telles your typical murderer?” Charns asked Johansson.
“Take out the fact that Jeff German was a reporter, just the motivation that someone did you wrong and you want to retaliate by murder, those actions could be common to a lot of the murders I have but I wouldn’t say this investigation is anywhere close to my normal investigations. The day you decide that you’re serving a search warrant on a politician’s house related to a homicide investigation, I think we’ve lost all sense of normalcy.”
Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt will sentence Telles on the enhancements regarding his charges – the fact that he used a deadly weapon and that German was older than 60 years old – on Oct. 16.
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