The former politician who killed Las Vegas journalist Jeff German sentenced to "20 years to life"

CPJ graph of journalists or media professional killed while working in the U.S.

Two years ago Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German was murdered while reporting stories centered on former Democratic politician Robert Telles. Telles was recently found guilty of German's murder, reports Ken Ritter of The Associated Press. The Nevada jury decided Telles will "serve 20 years to life in prison for killing German, who wrote articles critical of his conduct in office."

German's body was found in a side yard of his home over Labor Day weekend in 2022. Investigators quickly focused on Telles, who was arrested and held without bail a few days after German's death was discovered. Ritter writes, "Jurors deliberated for nearly 12 hours over three days before their unanimous vote that Telles ambushed and attacked the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter."

Telles showed little response while his "verdict was read in Clark County District Court," Ritter reports. "Telles didn’t speak then or when he learned his sentence. . . . His defense attorney told reporters outside court that his client plans to appeal. . . . Jessica Coleman, a county employee, was among several co-workers who urged German in 2022 to investigate Telles’ conduct heading the office of unclaimed estate and probate property cases. She sobbed after the verdict was read."

German was the only U.S. journalist killed in 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S., Canada and Caribbean program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, issued a statement 'saying "the verdict 'sends an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated. . . . It is vital that the murder of journalists should be taken seriously and perpetrators held accountable.'"

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