Former Las Vegas politician Robert Telles was found guilty of killing investigative journalist Jeff German, who had exposed misconduct in Telles ‘ department, by a Clark County jury on Wednesday in Nevada. The judge came to the conclusion that Telles lay waited outside of German’s house before launching a deadly weapon attack.
” Justice has been served”, Clark County attorney Steve Wolfson said, emphasizing the importance of the conviction. The ruling from today may send the message that any attempts to silence or terrify a blogger will not be tolerated.
The two-week test revealed that German, a 69-year-old writer with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, had published an article months before his death detailing a dangerous job culture under Telles ‘ management. The article highlighted issues of bias and claims of an inappropriate relationship with a team member and was released just before Telles ‘ election campaign. Telles lost his election campaign despite the claims being disproven.
The judge of seven people and five people was led by the information that Telles had driven to German’s house in September 2022 and carried out the harsh action despite his neglect of the charges and allegations of a plot against him.
The court may then decide whether to sentence Telles to life in prison for first-degree murder involving aggravating circumstances that could result in a life sentence.
Glenn Cook, executive director of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, remarked on the value of the court’s verdict, saying that” Jeff was killed for doing the type of job in which he took great pride: holding an elected official responsible for bad habits and empowering voters to choose someone else for the work.”
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 15 reporters have lost their jobs in the United States since 1992.
