Jurors to hear opening statements in trial of former politician accused of killing Las Vegas reporter

LAS VEGAS — Jurors are expected to hear opening statements Wednesday in the trial of a Las Vegas-area politician accused of killing an investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of him.

The death of journalist Jeff German, who spent 44 years covering the city, its government and its courthouses, and the arrest a few days later of Robert Telles, the elected official accused of killing him, stunned Sin City and the world of journalism.

A jury of 12 people and several alternates was seated Tuesday. Prosecutors are expected to present the jury with what they say is strong physical evidence, including DNA believed to be Telles’s that was found under German’s fingernails.

Reporting to court Monday for the first day of trial, Telles’ defense attorney Robert Draskovich called the case “difficult” but said Telles was eager to tell his story to a jury. That could happen during defense testimony next week.

Telles, 47, has pleaded not guilty to murder and faces life in prison if convicted. He has said he did not kill German, that he was framed and that police mishandled the investigation.

The 2022 Labor Day weekend killing made national headlines. German was the only journalist killed in the United States among 69 media workers killed worldwide that year, according to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

German, who lived alone, was found dead, injured and stabbed, outside his home. He was 69 years old.

Police quickly released video of a person wearing an orange work shirt and a large straw hat walking toward German’s home the day of the murder. Police also released images of a distinctive brown SUV like the one a Review-Journal photographer saw Telles washing outside his home days later. Telles was arrested the next day and has been jailed ever since.

Prosecutors say articles German wrote for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in early 2022 about Telles and a county office in turmoil provided a motive for the killing. Telles ran as a Democrat in 2018 to become Clark County estate administrator. He lost his elected position after his arrest.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, who knew German, said in a statement Monday that “the State of Nevada looks forward, on behalf of Jeff and his family, to finally seeing justice served.” Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

German’s relatives have not spoken publicly about the killing and declined to comment on the trial through a family spokesman and a friend.

Progress toward trial has been delayed in part by a legal battle the Review-Journal has waged in state Supreme Court to protect public disclosure of confidential sources on German’s cellphone and computers.