A politician from Dem Vegas was found guilty of murdering a journalist, according to Robert Telles' verdict.

On Wednesday, a jury convicted a former Las Vegas-area Democratic politician, who was accused of murdering an investigative journalist who had published critical articles about him, of the crime.

On Monday, jurors commenced deliberations to decide if they concurred with the prosecution's assertions that Robert Telles, 47, murdered veteran investigative journalist Jeff German in September 2022, following German's publication of critical articles about Telles and his workplace behavior, including accusations of an inappropriate romantic relationship with a female coworker.

On Monday, the panel of seven women and five men deliberated for about six hours after attorneys gave closing arguments.

On Monday, the judge received a request for additional notepaper and a court technician to demonstrate how to magnify laptop video in the jury room.

During closing arguments on Monday, prosecutor Christopher Hamner stated that German's work of exposing Telles was not yet complete, which ultimately led the politician to take out the veteran journalist.

Telles lost his bid for re-election in the Democratic primary after German's first stories in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May 2022 exposed Telles' misconduct while heading an obscure county office that handles unclaimed estates. Prior to his election in 2018, Telles practiced civil law, but his law license was suspended following his arrest several days after German's death.

"Hamner stated that the reason for the murder was that Jeff was still writing, and it was like piecing together the dots. The murder was a result of Jeff's writing destroying Hamner's career, reputation, and marriage. It exposed things that Hamner did not want the public to know."

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Robert Draskovich, the defense attorney, contended that the prosecution's evidence did not meet the legal threshold and emphasized Telles' testimony on the stand that he was falsely accused of combating corruption in the industry. He has consistently proclaimed his innocence.

"Draskovich stated that the highest standard in this country is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which is not presumption, preponderance of the evidence, or clear and convincing. This concept was borrowed from Old English common law, and our founding fathers believed it was better to let ten guilty men go free than to wrongfully convict an innocent person."

In 2022, the only journalist killed in the U.S. was German, as per the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Telles learned that Clark County officials were about to release email and text messages shared with the woman, which could lead to another story, according to Hamner.

German was killed the next day.

Telles accused German of writing stories that harmed his career, tarnished his reputation, and endangered his marriage, according to prosecutors.

In a side yard outside his home, German was discovered with multiple stab wounds and slashes, and Telles is accused of waiting for him in a criminal complaint.

German's home was targeted by a person wearing an orange work shirt, a wide-brimmed straw hat, carrying a shoulder bag, and walking towards it, as seen in a video circulated by police days later, resulting in Telles' arrest.

Evidence, including DNA from Telles found on German's fingernails and cut-up pieces of a straw hat and shoes found at Telles' house, was presented by prosecutors to show that the person seen on video outside German's home was Telles.

Telles' defense attorney, Hamner, pointed out that two crucial pieces of evidence were missing from the case against his client: the orange work shirt and the knife used to attack German. He questioned why anyone trying to frame Telles would have overlooked these items when compiling the evidence inventory.

In the trial, it was revealed that Telles possessed numerous images of German's residence and surroundings on his mobile device and computer.

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 were among other photos taken from Telles' devices that included results of internet searches through a password-protected site that retrieved German's name, home address, vehicle registration, and date of birth.

The photo was taken on Aug. 23, 2022, just under two weeks before German was discovered lifeless in a pool of blood.

A maroon SUV with a distinctive orange outfit and big straw hat was seen driving by a Review-Journal photographer outside Telles' home several days after the killing.

A timeline and videos were presented by prosecutor Pamela Weckerly, showing Telles' maroon SUV leaving his neighborhood at approximately 9:01 a.m. on September 2, 2022, and driving on streets near German's home a short time later.

A person wearing a bright orange outfit similar to one seen on camera walking to German's home was seen driving an SUV and slipping into a side yard.

On the stand, Telles repeatedly referred to that person as the killer of the German.

A text message discovered on the defendant's phone, which was allegedly deleted but retrieved through his wife's Apple Watch, cast doubt on his alibi as it revealed her asking about his whereabouts during the time of the murder.

According to prosecutors, Telles failed to respond because he left his cellphone, which could track him, at home.

A dozen German relatives sat in silence in the quiet courtroom on Monday. Telles could face a prison sentence if found guilty.

Planet Chronicle Digital's Bradford Betz contributed to this report.