The news came as no surprise. Without fanfare Thursday, the Clark County Grand Jury officially approved the murder indictment of former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles in the Sept. 2 stabbing death of longtime Las Vegas investigative reporter Jeff German.

Telles’ initial arraignment on the murder charge is scheduled for October 26 before District Judge Tierra Jones, according to court records.

Held since his Sept. 7 arrest at the Clark County Detention Center, Telles is now formally charged with premeditated murder with the use of a deadly weapon against a victim age 60 or older. German, 69, was stabbed at least seven times. The reporter’s body was found Sept. 3 in the side yard of his northwest Las Vegas home.

Homicide detectives used residential security camera images from the day of the murder and tracked a suspect disguised in a floppy hat and other garb commonly worn by road workers from German’s house to a Maroon GMC Denali matching the description of a vehicle registered to Telles’ wife. A search warrant conducted at Telles’ home recovered shoes and pieces of a hat identical to the items worn by the killer. Prosecutors say DNA recovered from under German’s fingernails matched Telles’ DNA.

Police believe Telles murdered German in response to critical articles he published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in the weeks before the 2022 primary. The stories quoted longtime staffers who accused Telles of creating a hostile workplace and maintaining an “inappropriate relationship” with a favored employee. Telles, who denied the claims, blamed German’s reporting for his narrow defeat that still left him on the job until his term ended in January.

The public administrator supervised an office that processes assets of people who die without a will or identifiable family members.

A district judge removed the probate attorney from office on Oct. 5. On Wednesday, the Nevada Supreme Court temporarily suspended his law license after reviewing a State Bar of Nevada disciplinary complaint that not only listed the murder charge, but added that Telles is also suspected of transferring “significant funds from his trust account in early 2022, after he left private practice and assumed the job of public administrator.”  The trust account transfers, said to be nearly $200,000, suggest “potential mishandling or misappropriation of client funds.”

Earlier this week, prior to the indictment, Telles’ public defender Edward Kane argued for $100,000 bail and home confinement for his client after noting that Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson had recently mentioned to reporters the potential of a “high bail” in the case.

“The state today argues that the evidence is so strong that he should be denied bail,” Kane said. “The District Attorney of Clark County said, ‘I’ve examined that evidence, and I think a high bail is warranted.’ I think we start from there. In my experience, all murder cases are either no bail or high bail. This isn’t a no-bail case. The district attorney has already said so.”

With Telles’ wife and mother in the courtroom, Kane reminded the judge his client was a Southern Nevada resident of more than 20 years and would not pose either a danger to the community or a flight risk despite the gravity of the charge. Why, he’d even given brief interviews jailhouse with the press shortly after his arrest. 

“… Mr. Telles is a danger to no one,” Kane said. “The offense with which he was charged is a personal dispute, if the state’s theory and evidence holds up, between my client and Mr. Jeff German. There is no evidence that he’s a danger to anyone else. … His home is here, and his family is here. He is not in any sense of the word a flight risk.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner countered that available proof makes the presumption of guilt overwhelming, and bail wasn’t appropriate.

“I appreciate the creative argument taking quotes [from] the district attorney to the media as some sort of catch-all, but statements to the media to not trump the Nevada Constitution,” Hamner said. “… Talking to reporters doesn’t get you out of that. Saying that you’re disappointed doesn’t get you out of that, and that is a huge problem for the defense in this case.”

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron ordered Telles held without bail, and a day later the grand jury agreed after hearing the presentation of Chief Deputy DA Pamela C. Weckerly.

The reporter’s murder has ignited a legal fight between the Review-Journal and police prosecutors, and public defenders for control of German’s laptops and other personal devices. Supported by nearly five dozen press organizations, the newspaper argues that confidential source material, names, and work product held on the devices are protected by state and federal privacy laws and the First Amendment. Authorities and defense counsel contend the devices could contain evidence in the murder case, or reveal others who might have had a motive to kill the reporter.

District Judge Susan Johnson on Wednesday blocked the search of German’s laptops, cell, and hard drive. Then she distanced herself from the case after noting the case was being jointly appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court by the defense, prosecution, and police.

“I don’t think I have jurisdiction anymore,” Johnson said. “Let’s see what the supreme court says.”

Barring unforeseen revelations, with little daylight in sight Telles faces an increasingly predictable fate. 

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family’s Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in Time, Readers Digest, The Daily Beast, Reuters, Ruralite and Desert Companion, among others. He also offers weekly commentary on Nevada Public Radio station KNPR.