Robert Telles: Murder Conviction, Appeal, and Shield-Law Ruling

Robert Telles, the former Clark County, Nevada, public administrator, was convicted of first-degree murder on August 28, 2024, for stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German to death outside German’s home in September 2022. The Robert Telles murder trial ended with a sentence of 28 years to life in prison, and Telles is now appealing the conviction to the Nevada Supreme Court.¹

Who Robert Telles Was and Why German Was Reporting on Him

Telles, a Democrat, won election as Clark County Public Administrator in 2018 and took office in January 2019. The office manages the estates of people who die without a will or known heirs.²

In March 2022, four employees who worked under Telles contacted Jeff German, a veteran investigative reporter at the Review-Journal.³ German’s first story, published in May 2022, described a toxic workplace and an inappropriate romantic relationship between Telles and a subordinate, Roberta Lee-Kennett. Staff had secretly recorded video of the two meeting in the backseat of a car in a parking garage and provided it to German.⁴

The reporting contributed to Telles losing the June 14, 2022, Democratic primary to Rita Reid, one of the employees who had come forward.² When German was killed, he was working on another story that would have released internal messages between Telles and Lee-Kennett.³

The Killing and the Evidence Against Telles

German, 69, was found stabbed to death at his Las Vegas home on September 2, 2022. He had suffered seven stab wounds and appeared to have fought his attacker.⁵

A neighbor’s security camera captured someone wearing a large straw sun hat and a bright orange safety vest walking to German’s home at 11:15 a.m. and leaving about two minutes later.⁶ Other footage showed a maroon GMC Yukon Denali registered to Telles’s wife driving near German’s home that morning. Real estate agents who had dealt with Telles recognized the vehicle in published surveillance images and contacted police.⁵

On September 7, 2022, police searched Telles’s home and found a straw hat cut into pieces and a bloody sneaker matching the footwear in the surveillance footage. DNA under German’s fingernails matched Telles. When officers arrived to arrest him, Telles barricaded himself in his bathroom. A SWAT team used a drone and robot to observe him before taking him into custody, and officers noted superficial wounds they suspected were from an attempted suicide.⁷

The Trial

Telles’s trial began August 12, 2024, before Judge Michelle Leavitt. Prosecutors presented eight days of evidence and called 28 witnesses. Beyond the DNA, surveillance video, and matching vehicle, they showed that Telles had downloaded more than 100 images of German’s home and neighborhood to his phone weeks before the killing, and that his work computer contained searches for German’s address and for how to “bury” a news story.⁸

The state argued the motive was revenge. German’s reporting had cost Telles the primary and threatened to expose more. German was killed the day after Telles learned of a public records request for emails between him and Lee-Kennett.⁴

Telles testified in his own defense. He admitted the affair but said he had been framed, pointing to Compass Realty & Management, a company he claimed he had reported for a housing kickback scheme, and alleging the company had conspired with law enforcement to plant evidence.⁶ Detective Derek Jappe, who had looked into the kickback claims, testified he found no evidence of wrongdoing on Telles’s part, and the district attorney’s office had concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute the scheme Telles reported. Compass Realty called Telles’s accusations “unconscionable and irresponsible.”⁹

The jury deliberated for nearly 12 hours over three days and, on August 28, 2024, found Telles guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.¹

The Sentence

On October 16, 2024, Judge Leavitt sentenced Telles to life in prison with parole eligibility after 20 years, plus eight consecutive years for sentencing enhancements. The enhancements reflected use of a deadly weapon, the victim’s age (over 60), and lying in wait. With credit for the roughly two years he had already served, Telles faces a minimum of about 26 more years before parole eligibility. He was also ordered to pay $23,347.71 in restitution to the German family.¹⁰ Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said the judge “gave him the maximum.”¹¹ Telles told the court, “I did not kill Mr. German.”¹²

The Appeal

Telles’s defense filed a notice of appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court in November 2024.¹³ After several extensions, a public defender filed a 252-page opening brief on August 26, 2025, raising three main arguments:

The trial court wrongly excluded a defense expert, former Seattle Police Lieutenant David T. Sweeney, who would have supported the framing theory by challenging the search warrant.
The search warrant contained omissions and misrepresentations.
Judge Leavitt failed to notify the defense about a jury note suggesting jurors had been deadlocked before reaching a verdict.¹⁴

As of early 2026, no hearing has been scheduled and the appeal remains pending.¹³

The Employee Lawsuit and County Settlement

Separately from the criminal case, the four employees who had first taken their story to German — Jessica Coleman, Aleisha Goodwin, Noraine Pagdanganan, and Rita Reid — filed a federal lawsuit on May 17, 2024, against Clark County and Telles. They alleged Telles created a hostile and discriminatory work environment and that the county ignored years of complaints, with HR telling employees “nothing could be done” because Telles was an elected official.¹⁵¹⁶

Pagdanganan settled her claims for $10,000 in May 2025. On April 7, 2026, Clark County commissioners unanimously approved a $375,000 settlement covering the remaining three plaintiffs: $240,000 to Goodwin, $90,000 to Coleman, and $45,000 to Reid. The county made no admission of wrongdoing. Total payout across all four women: $385,000.¹⁷¹⁸

The claims against Telles personally are still active. From prison, he filed a counterclaim alleging the women’s lawsuit was slanderous and part of a conspiracy to have him fired. That counterclaim is in discovery with no hearings scheduled as of mid-2026.¹⁹

The Shield-Law Ruling on German’s Devices

The case produced one further legal outcome worth knowing about. After German’s death, Las Vegas police seized his personal cellphone and five computers. The Review-Journal sued to block investigators from searching them, invoking Nevada’s shield law.²⁰ On October 5, 2023, in Las Vegas Review-Journal, Inc. v. State of Nevada, the Nevada Supreme Court held that reporter’s privilege does not expire when a journalist dies. The court called a direct police search “like the fox guarding the henhouse” and ordered a neutral team — former U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen and former Clark County District Attorney David Roger — to review the devices and flag protected material before anything reached investigators.²¹

Telles is currently serving his sentence in Nevada state prison. Rita Reid, who has served as Clark County Public Administrator since defeating him in the 2022 primary, has said she plans to retire when her current term ends.²²

1
NPR. Las Vegas Reporter Murder Official Sentenced
2
Rolling Stone. Robert Telles Jeff German Murder Arrest History
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CBS News. Jeff German Slain Las Vegas Journalist Robert Telles Arrest DNA Evidence
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Court TV. NV v. Robert Telles Investigative Reporter Murder Trial
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NY1. Police Officials: DNA Found at Slain Reporter’s Crime Scene
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Los Angeles Times. Jury Reaches Verdict in Trial of Former Politician Accused of Killing Las Vegas Reporter
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KTSM. DNA From Under Las Vegas Journalist’s Fingernails Led to Elected Official
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. State Rests Case in Robert Telles Murder Trial
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RV Times. Robert Telles Returns to Stand in Trial Over Las Vegas Reporter’s Killing
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KTNV. Judge Adds 8 Years to Robert Telles Prison Sentence
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CNN. Robert Telles Sentencing
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10News. Judge Adds 8 Years to Sentence of Former Elected Official
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Fox 5 Vegas. New Documents Submitted in Robert Telles Supreme Court Appeal
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News 3 Las Vegas. Robert Telles Petitions Nevada Supreme Court for New Trial
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8 News Now. Clark County Employees File Federal Lawsuit Against Robert Telles
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. County Oversight Failures Didn’t Start With Robert Telles
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Employee Who Sued Over Handling of Telles Complaints
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Fox 5 Vegas. Clark County Approves Settlement
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KTNV. Employees Reach Settlements With Clark County
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CPJ. Legal Battle to Protect Slain Reporter Jeff German’s Electronic Devices
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Nevada Supreme Court Protects Phone, Computers of Slain Reporter
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Officials to Vote on $375K Settlement