{"id":2327646,"date":"2024-08-20T15:15:53","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T19:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-politician-on-trial-for-murder-of-investigative-journalist\/"},"modified":"2024-08-20T15:21:45","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T19:21:45","slug":"democratic-politician-on-trial-for-murder-of-investigative-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democratic-politician-on-trial-for-murder-of-investigative-journalist\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic Politician on Trial for Murder of Investigative Journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocratic-politician-on-trial-for-murder-of-investigative-journalist%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2327646&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During a court trial in Nevada, a \u200djury was presented evidence linking local Democratic politician Robert\u200b Telles \u200cto the murder \u200cof investigative journalist \u2063Jeff German. Telles is accused of murdering\u200b German, who had written critical articles about \u200bhim. Digital forensic evidence revealed numerous photos on Telles&#8217; \u200bdevices, including images of German&#8217;s home\u200c and personal information, taken shortly before the murder \u200con August 23, 2022. The prosecution highlighted that a gray sneaker found at Telles&#8217; home matched one seen in security footage\u2064 near the crime scene. Telles \u2063has pleaded not guilty and claims he was framed. He is facing\u2064 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-whitmer-plot-jury-doesnt-convict-on-conspiracy-charges-two-men-walk-free\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Whitmer Plot Jury Doesn\u2019t Convict On Conspiracy Charges; Two Men Walk Free\">potential life sentence<\/a>, with the prosecution\u200b not seeking \u2063the death penalty. German was notably \u200bone of \u2062the\u2062 few <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/secy-pompeo-calls-for-release-of-chinese-citizen-journalist\/\" title=\"Secy. Pompeo calls for release of Chinese citizen journalist\">journalists killed<\/a> \u200din the U.S. in 2022, and he was known for covering\u200b organized crime and \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shocking-number-of-front-line-health-care-workers-refusing-covid-19-vaccine\/\" title=\"Shocking Number of Front Line Health Care Workers Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine\">public officials<\/a> in\u2063 Las Vegas. The defense is expected to present Telles&#8217; testimony in his own defense soon.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section>\n<p>Hundreds of photos of a slain investigative journalist&rsquo;s home and neighborhood were found on the cellphone and computer of a local Democratic politician accused of &ldquo;lying in wait&rdquo; and killing the reporter, who had written several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/andrew-cuomo-wants-to-reopen-indoor-dining-for-valentines-day-the-new-york-times-isnt-having-it\/\" title=\"Andrew Cuomo Wants To Reopen Indoor Dining For Valentine\u2019s Day. The New York Times Isn\u2019t Having It.\">articles critical<\/a> of the official, a Nevada jury was told Monday.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Other photos taken from Robert Telles&rsquo; devices included an image of a single gray athletic shoe with a distinctive black pattern and a shot of Telles&rsquo; work computer at the Clark County <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/california-lawmaker-quits-democratic-party-goes-republican-unprecedented-move\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public<\/a> Administrator and Guardian office along with results of internet searches through a password-protected site that retrieved slain reporter Jeff German&rsquo;s name, home address, vehicle registration and date of birth.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutor Christopher Hamner noted for jurors that the photo was taken August 23, 2022 &mdash; less than two weeks before German was slashed and stabbed to death in a side yard of his home.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This image came out of Mr. Telles&rsquo; phone?&rdquo; Hamner asked Matthew Hovanec, a Las Vegas digital forensics supervisor who testified Monday about &ldquo;extracting&rdquo; the data from Telles&rsquo; devices.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It did,&rdquo; Hovanec responded.<\/p>\n<p>  <script> \t\t\t\tif( ! getCookie( 'ff_subbed' ) ) if( typeof FFADS.replace_ict !='undefined' ) if( FFADS.replace_ict ) eval( FFADS.replace_ict ); \t\t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Detective Justine Gatus, the primary Las Vegas police homicide investigator of German&rsquo;s death, was the main &mdash; and final &mdash; witness called Monday as prosecutors rested their case after four days of testimony from more than two dozen witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>Telles has pleaded not guilty to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/drone-spots-dead-body-son-top-rock-band-drummer-arrested-murder-charge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">murder<\/a> and faces the possibility of life in prison if the jury finds him guilty. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.<\/p>\n<p>Telles insists he did not kill German and was framed for the crime. He intends to testify, defense lawyer Robert Draskovich said Monday, and is expected to take the witness stand to cap his own defense case, possibly Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Gatus cited Las Vegas Review-Journal articles about Telles and the county office that German wrote, published in May and June 2022, about a county office in turmoil.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t flattering,&rdquo; the detective observed.<\/p>\n<p>Social media posts by Telles at the same time derided German and the articles as false depictions of his efforts to fight <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/dont-look-look-sen-josh-hawley-blasts-biden-official-corruption-problem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">corruption<\/a> amid a political and social &ldquo;old guard&rdquo; real estate network.<\/p>\n<p>Gatus testified that the gray sneaker with a Nike logo and four black marks on the sole was &ldquo;identical&rdquo; to one jurors saw earlier in neighbors&rsquo; security camera images of a figure wearing orange who slipped into a side yard of German&rsquo;s home where German was later found dead on Labor Day weekend 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Neither an orange shirt nor a murder weapon was entered as evidence in the case. But one of those shoes, cut to pieces and bearing spots of blood from an unidentified source, was found in a plastic shopping bag in Telles&rsquo; home following his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>German&rsquo;s killing in September 2022, at age 69, made him the the only reporter killed in the U.S. among 69 news media workers killed worldwide that year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. German spent 44 years covering Las Vegas mobsters and public officials at the Las Vegas Sun and then at the rival Review-Journal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\">  <\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> <label>* Name<\/label> <br \/> <input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> <\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> <label>* <\/label> <br \/> <input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> <\/div>\n<p> <label>* Message<\/label> <br \/> <textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> <input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\">  <\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\">  <\/div>\n<style> \t\t\t \t\t\t.insticator-unit.type-commenting{margin: 0 10px 25px 10px}@media screen and (max-width:1060px){#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{margin: 0 auto 25px auto !important;}}#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{height: 280px !important; width: 336px !important} \t\t<\/style>\n<div class=\"insticator-unit type-commenting\">\n<div class=\"insticator-ads\">   <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"insticator-ads additional\">   <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A local Democratic politician, Robert Telles, is accused of &#8220;lying in wait&#8221; and murdering an investigative journalist who had published several critical articles about him. During a Nevada jury&#8217;s proceedings on Monday, it was revealed that hundreds of photos of the journalist&#8217;s home and neighborhood were discovered on Telles&#8217; cellphone and computer. Among these images was a notable picture of a gray athletic shoe with a unique black pattern, as well as screenshots from Telles&#8217; work computer at the Clark County Public Administrator and Guardian office. These included results from internet searches conducted through a password-protected site that retrieved information such as the slain reporter Jeff German\u2019s name, address, vehicle registration details, and date of birth. Prosecutor Christopher Hamner pointed out that one particular photo was taken on August 23, 2022\u2014just days before German was brutally killed in his yard.<\/p>\n<p>Detective Justine Gatus served as the main witness for the prosecution after four days of testimony from over two dozen witnesses. Telles has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and could face life imprisonment if convicted; however, prosecutors are not pursuing the death penalty. He maintains his innocence and claims he has been framed for German&#8217;s murder. His defense attorney stated that Telles plans to testify in his own defense.<\/p>\n<p>Gatus referenced articles written by German about Telles\u2019 county office published in May and June 2022 which portrayed it negatively during a period of turmoil. At that time, Telles had made social media posts criticizing German\u2019s reporting as false representations aimed at undermining his efforts against corruption within an established real estate network.<\/p>\n<p>The detective also noted that one gray sneaker found at Telles\u2019 home matched shoes seen in security footage showing someone wearing orange entering German\u2019s yard shortly before he was found dead over Labor Day weekend 2022. Although neither an orange shirt nor any murder weapon were presented as evidence during the trial, one shoe\u2014damaged and stained with unidentified blood\u2014was discovered in a plastic bag at Telles&#8217; residence following his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>German&#8217;s death at age 69 marked him as the only U.S.-based reporter among 69 journalists killed worldwide in 2022 according to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists. He had dedicated 44 years to covering organized crime figures and public officials first for Las Vegas Sun then later for its competitor Review-Journal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2327647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cebf346f4ed946099fafadc17de32608-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[38703,38704,4349,4633,4853],"class_list":["post-2327646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-democratic-politician","tag-investigative-journalist","tag-murder","tag-scandal","tag-trial"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cebf346f4ed946099fafadc17de32608-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2327646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2327646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2327647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2327646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2327646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2327646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}