Ex-politician accused of killing Vegas reporter says he would have won re-election if victim hadn’t published damaging pieces

(CNN) — The former Nevada politician accused of fatally stabbing a Las Vegas investigative reporter testified Thursday that he would have won a reelection in the primary race for Clark County Public Administrator had the victim not published damaging articles about him.

Robert Telles, 47, has pleaded not guilty to murder with use of a deadly weapon in the September 2022 death of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German.

The defense has said Telles was framed for the death because he was trying to make changes in his political office that upset the “Old Guard.” Prosecutors have alleged Telles, angry about German’s articles exposing turmoil in his political office, wore a disguise and hid outside the reporter’s home before fatally stabbing him.

“You believe if Mr. German had not written these four articles, you would have won the race, correct?” prosecutor Christopher Hamner asked during Telles’ second day of testimony. “I do believe that, yes,” Telles responded.

Telles said while he was hopeful he would win the primary race, he wasn’t sure he was going to, and was ready to resume work in probate law in the event of a loss. He eventually came in third place.

In response, Hamner showed text messages between Telles and a coworker where the defendant said he was worried the articles would follow him “for years to come” and would jeopardize his career and his future.

Though the prosecution questioned Telles on the evidence presented against him by witnesses, he maintained there was a conspiracy to frame him for the killing, testifying a professional assassin killed German, DNA found underneath the victim’s fingernails that matched Telles was planted and his phone was hacked to show Google images of German’s house.

During the second day of his sprawling narrative testimony, Telles said he did not destroy a shoe and hat matching those worn by the assailant, but he did not have an answer as to how that was done.

“I did not cut up a shoe and hide it under my couch. I did not cut up a hat and put it in an open door of my toolbox,” Telles said.

After several objections from the prosecution that were sustained by the judge, Telles again proclaimed his innocence.

“I’ve never beat anybody up, I’ve never killed anybody. I didn’t kill Mr. German. That’s my testimony,” Telles said.

Telles said on the day of German’s killing, he was at home watching TV before going for a walk and heading to the gym. He showed a phone log of his activities that day, saying there was nothing “suspicious” about it.

But the day ended with Hamner showing an inconsistency between Telles phone records and text exchanges on his wife’s Apple Watch, which included a message from his wife asking, “Where are you?”

The trial will resume Friday at 9:30 a.m.

Telles lost reelection bid in 2022

German, 69, wrote about the underbelly of “Sin City” and had covered mobsters, crooked officials and corrupt government agencies in an ink-stained life. Yet prosecutors said it was his coverage of a little-known office run by an elected Clark County official that led to his killing.

German had written about allegations of wrongdoing in the Clark County Public Administrator’s office, reporting that Telles created a hostile work environment and carried on an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.

In response to the articles, Telles published posts on his campaign’s website and wrote a letter to German in which he called the allegations “false” and insisted German was trying to “drag me through the mud.” In June 2022, Telles lost his bid for reelection in the Democratic primary.

The reporter was found dead with multiple stab wounds outside his home on September 2, 2022. Just 15 hours before German was killed, Telles had received an email related to a public records request, according to prosecutors.

The indictment alleges the killing was “willful, deliberate and premeditated,” and/or perpetrated by “lying in wait” for him.

CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed to this report.

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