LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jurors are set to hear opening statements Wednesday in the trial of a Las Vegas-area politician accused of killing an investigative reporter who wrote articles critical of him.
The death of reporter Jeff German, who spent 44 years covering the city, its government and its courthouses, and the arrest several days later of Robert Telles, the elected public official accused of killing him, stunned Sin City and the world of journalism.
A 12-person jury and several alternates were finalized Tuesday. Prosecutors are expected to present to the jury what they say is strong physical evidence, including DNA believed to be from Telles found beneath German’s fingernails.
Heading into court on Monday for the first day of trial, Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, called the case “difficult,” but said Telles looked forward to telling his story to a jury. That could come during defense testimony next week.
Telles, 47, has pleaded not guilty to murder and could face life in prison if convicted. He has said he didn’t kill German, was framed and that police mishandled the investigation.
The killing on Labor Day weekend 2022 made national headlines. German was the only journalist killed in the U.S. among 69 news media workers slain worldwide that year, according to data by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
German, who lived alone, was found slashed and stabbed to death outside his home. He was 69.
Police quickly circulated video of a person wearing an orange work shirt and a wide straw hat walking toward German’s home on the day of the killing. Police also released images of a distinctive maroon SUV like one that a Review-Journal photographer saw Telles washing outside his home days later. Telles was arrested the following day and has been jailed ever since.
Prosecutors say articles that 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 administrator of estates. 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 is looking forward, on behalf of Jeff and his family, to finally seeing that justice is achieved.” Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
German’s relatives have not spoken publicly about the killing and declined through a family spokesperson and friend to comment on the trial.
Progress toward trial was delayed in part by a legal battle the Review-Journal took to the state Supreme Court to protect public disclosure of confidential sources on German’s cellphone and computers.