A former Las Vegas Democratic politician on trial for allegedly killing a veteran investigative journalist who had written critical stories about the official, took the stand on Wednesday to give his side of the story and plead his innocence.
“Unequivocally I’m innocent,” Robert Telles, 47, declared from a Nevada witness box facing 12 jurors and two alternates.
Telles, a former Democratic Clark County administrator of estates, is charged with murdering Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative journalist Jeff German in September 2022, just months after German wrote unflattering articles about Telles and his workplace conduct, including allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a female coworker.
German was found slashed and stabbed to death in a side yard outside his home, where Telles is accused in a criminal complaint of “lying in wait” for German to come outside.
Robert Telles on the witness stand, left, on Wednesday where he denied killing journalist Jeff German; Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly questions Las Vegas police Crime Scene Analyst Christie Baxter on evidence at the trial, top right; and the Las Vegas strip. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP | Clive Mason – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Telles faces life in prison if he is convicted and insists he has been framed by a real estate firm for trying to fight corruption that he saw in his office. He has never accounted for what he was doing that day and is expected to resume providing testimony on Thursday.
“This is the day I’ve been waiting for,” Telles said after his attorney received permission from the trial judge to let Telles testify “by way of narration” instead of a standard question-and-answer format.
His attorney, Robert Draskovich, then sat down. He had strongly advised his client not to take the stand and risk questioning under oath from two prosecutors who rested their murder case Monday after four days, 28 witnesses and hundreds of pages of photos, police reports and video evidence that weigh heavily against Telles.
“I didn’t kill Mr. German,” Telles said. “When I share an opinion with you, that’s my right. And it’s your right to decide whether or not you agree with my opinion or not, whether you want to doubt my opinion or not. I’m just hoping that I’m not stopped from sharing with you what I have to say.”
“I’ve been sitting in a cell for almost two years,” Telles told jurors, adding more than once that he was “very nervous.”
German’s family looked puzzled at times while Telles was on the stand,” Fox 5 reports, while jurors could be seen taking notes throughout his testimony. At times, exhibits were not ready for Telles to show the jury. The judge told the defendant to continue on without those exhibits presented, despite Telles arguing that the jury needed to see those exhibits.
Telles went on to tell the jury about his background, beginning with high school, how he became a lawyer after a couple of unrelated jobs and how he met his wife. They have three children together.
He said the way German was killed was indicative of someone who knew what they were doing.
Robert Telles, right, talks to Review-Journal reporter Jeff German in his Las Vegas office, on May 11, 2022. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, File)
“The idea that Mr. German’s throat was slashed and his heart was stabbed I don’t know if anybody can do that without training,” Telles said. “Somebody framed me for this and I believe it was Compass Realty, and it related to the work I’ve done against them.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Compass Realty for comment.
An athletic club manager testified that records showed Telles’ membership was used to check in at a Las Vegas location just after noon the day German was killed. But he also said video of guests arriving and departing at that time was no longer available.
Earlier, a cellphone data expert testifying in Telles’ defense conceded during questioning by a prosecutor that Telles’ phone showed no outgoing activity from 8:48 a.m. to 2:05 p.m. that day – a period in which evidence has shown German was killed. Police and prosecutors have said they think Telles left his phone at home.
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Telles was arrested days after German’s death following police circulating video of a person wearing an orange work shirt and a wide-brimmed straw hat toting a shoulder bag and walking toward German’s home.
Prosecutors say they have strong evidence, including DNA believed to be from Telles found beneath German’s fingernails and cut-up pieces of a straw hat and shoes found at Telles’ house that resembled those worn by the person seen on video outside German’s home.
Police also released images of a distinctive maroon SUV like one that a Review-Journal photographer saw Telles washing outside his home several days after the killing.
Robert Telles is sworn in on the eighth day of his murder trial at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Wednesday. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
On Monday the jury heard that Telles had hundreds of photos of German’s home and neighborhood on his cellphone and computer.
Other photos taken from Telles’ devices included an image of a single gray athletic shoe with a distinctive black pattern and a shot of Telles’ work computer at the Clark County Public Administrator and Guardian office with results of internet searches through a password-protected site that retrieved German’s name, home address, vehicle registration and date of birth.
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Prosecutor Christopher Hamner noted for jurors that the photo was taken on Aug. 23, 2022 – less than two weeks before German was found dead in a pool of blood.
Telles grew up in El Paso, Texas, and lived in Colorado before moving to Las Vegas. He became a lawyer in 2015 and ran as a Democrat in 2018 to become Clark County administrator of estates. He lost his elected position after his arrest and his law license was suspended.
Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty and Telles has remained jailed.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report