A US politician shook his head and looked downcast after he was found guilty of murdering a journalist who wrote critical stories about him.
Robert Telles, 47, had his eyes on the ground as he shook his head at length while listening to a Clark County jury’s decision in the case that sparked concerns around freedom of the press.
Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, 69, was discovered stabbed to death in September 2022, after writing unflattering stories about Telles
The stories included a report of an alleged affair that Telles – the county public administrator at the time – had with a staff.
Telles, a Democrat, lost his re-election bid a month after German’s stories stated that he harboured a hostile work environment and showed favouritism.
Prosecutors said that Telles hid in bushes at German’s home and waited for him to arrive home, then fatally stabbed him. Telles was arrested five days later.
"In the end, this case isn’t about politics," said Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly.
"It’s not about alleged inappropriate relationships. It’s not about who’s a good boss or who’s a good supervisor or favouritism at work. It’s just about murder."
Telles’ attorney, Robert Draskovich, had stressed that cops did not consider evidence that could suggest there were other suspects in the crime, and that the former administrator had even joked about German’s stories online.
"These articles were not a motive for a murder," Draskovich said. "And we all know, killing a journalist does not kill a story.
Telles denied murdering German and told the court, "Unequivocally, I am innocent."
The jury on Wednesday afternoon, August 28, found Telles guilty of first-degree murder.
He faces life behind bars without parole, life with parole eligibility after 20 years, or 20 to 50 years in prison.
Moments after the verdict, Katherine Jacobsen, who is the US, Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, stated that it "sends an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated".
"It is vital that the murder of journalists should be taken seriously," said Jacobsen, “And perpetrators held accountable.”
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