Jury hears ex-politician on trial for murder amassed photos, ID records about slain Vegas reporter

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hundreds of photos of a slain investigative journalist’s home and neighborhood were found on the cellphone and computer of a local Democratic politician accused of “lying in wait” and killing the reporter, who had written several articles critical of the official, a Nevada jury was told Monday.

Other photos taken from Robert 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 slain reporter Jeff German’s name, home address, vehicle registration and date of birth.

Prosecutor Christopher Hamner noted for jurors that photo was taken Aug. 23, 2022 — less than two weeks before German was slashed and stabbed to death in a side yard of his home.

“This image came out of Mr. Telles’ phone?” Hamner asked Matthew Hovanec, a Las Vegas digital forensics supervisor who testified Monday about “extracting” the data from Telles’ devices.

“It did,” Hovanec responded.

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Detective Justine Gatus, the primary Las Vegas police homicide investigator of German’s death, was the main — and final — witness called Monday as prosecutors rested their case after four days of testimony from more than two dozen witnesses.

Telles has pleaded not guilty to murder and faces the possibility of life in prison if the jury finds him guilty. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

Telles insists he didn’t 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.

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.

“They weren’t flattering,” the detective observed.

Social media posts by Telles at the same time derided German and the articles as false depictions of his efforts to fight corruption amid a political and social “old guard” real estate network.

Gatus testified that the gray sneaker with a Nike logo and four black marks on the sole was “identical” to one jurors saw earlier in neighbors’ security camera images of a figure wearing orange who slipped into a side yard of German’s home where German was later found dead on Labor Day weekend 2022.

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 plastic shopping bag in Telles’ home following his arrest.

German’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.

About 10 of his family members and friends have attended each day of Telles’ trial, but have not spoken publicly about the killing. They declined as a group on Monday to comment.

Jurors last week heard from forensic scientists who said Telles’ DNA was found beneath German’s fingernails, and saw security video of the suspect driving through German’s neighborhood.