A former Nevada politician was convicted Wednesday of stabbing to death in Las Vegas an investigative journalist who had written articles critical of the defendant, CNN reported.
Robert Telles was a Clark County public administrator when reporter Jeff German published a story for the daily Las Vegas Review-JournalApparently enraged by the text, the 47-year-old man killed the journalist in September 2022. He disguised himself and hid outside his victim’s residence before attacking the man, prosecutors said.
Mr. German had written about allegations of wrongdoing within the Clark County public administrator’s office. He also said Mr. Telles created a hostile work environment and had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, according to CNN.
The murder was “willful, deliberate and premeditated,” the jury said.
Mr. Telles faces a prison sentence of up to life.
“He murdered him because Jeff’s articles destroyed his career, his reputation, likely threatened his marriage and revealed things that, by his own admission, he didn’t want the public to know,” prosecutor Christopher Hamner said.
Mr. Telles had defended himself by referring to a plot in which a real estate company had hired an assassin to kill the journalist and frame him.
The trial began in mid-August and the jury began deliberating on Monday.
“Today (Wednesday) also brought some justice to journalists killed around the world. Our jobs are increasingly risky and sometimes dangerous,” said Glenn Cook, editor-in-chief of the newspaper where the victim worked.
