Democratic official charged with murdering reporter who exposed his affair refuses to deny doing it

A Las Vegas Democratic official who was charged with murdering a reporter who exposed his affair refused to discuss the case in a jailhouse interview and claimed he lives his life to do ‘good for others.’ 

Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, 45, has been accused of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, 69, earlier this month. 

In a new jailhouse interview with the newspaper, Telles refused to answer any questions about the German case as it is still being investigated. 

However, he insisted he has ‘certainly made mistakes’ in his past. 

‘I’ve just really try to do my best, to live my life doing good for others, and I’m hoping that, again, with everything that’s rolling around in the media these days, that people really see that,’ he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal from inside the walls of the Clark County Detention Center. 

Despite his inability to discuss the case, Telles was arrested on September 7 after DNA evidence found under German’s fingernails allegedly matched the public official’s. 

German was found stabbed to death outside his home on September 3, a day after a straw hat-wearing suspect was found on surveillance footage near the journalist’s home. 

German – who worked in Sin City for most of his career – died of ‘multiple sharp force injuries’ in a homicide, the Clark County Office of the Coroner Medical Examiner said earlier this month. 

When police searched Telles’ home, they found bloodied shoes and a cut up straw hat. 

Telles’ car – a red GMC – was also found to match the vehicle seen on surveillance. Reporters also stalked the public official’s home and found him washing his car after the incident. 

When Telles – who admitted he did not know if he’d resign from office – was arrested, he reportedly had self-inflicted cuts on his arms. 

Prosecutors have accused the public official of ‘lying in wait’ to kill the journalist, who had extensively reported on the turmoil in Telles’ office, including an alleged inappropriate relationship with a staffer. 

He admitted to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that there was ‘hostility’ in the office, despite his efforts ‘to improve that office,’ he claimed. 

‘It’s unfortunate that that narrative somehow grew legs and ran,’ he said.  

The married man – who has had contact with his wife and children – was open to talking about the domestic violence case against him. 

In March 2020, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence after his wife Mae Ismael called the police and told them Telles was ‘going crazy.’

Telles admitted to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he ‘struggled with alcohol’ at the time and that moment was a ‘wake-up call.’ 

‘I don’t drink anymore,’ he told the outlet. ‘My wife and I have a much better relationship [now].’ 

He said he has been sober since that night and had only uncontrollably drank on special occasions beforehand. 

‘It was just me blacking out and, again, not being in control of what was going on,’ he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

The case was eventually dismissed and he received a suspended 90-day sentence for resisting arrest – where he allegedly told officers while being arrested: ‘You guys just want to take me down because I am a public official.’ 

Telles claimed he doesn’t remember speaking to officers.  

According to the local paper’s obituary, German reported on an extensive range of grizzly topics in Las Vegas, including courts, politics, labor, government and organized crime.

Glenn Cook, the Review-Journal’s executive editor, said earlier this month that German had not communicated any concerns about his personal safety or any threats made against him to anyone in the newspaper’s leadership.

He said in a statement: ‘The Review-Journal family is devastated to lose Jeff.

‘He was the gold standard of the news business. It’s hard to imagine what Las Vegas would be like today without his many years of shining a bright light on dark places.’

German joined the Review-Journal in 2010 after more than two decades at the Las Vegas Sun, where he was a columnist and reporter who covered corruption and organized crime.

He was known for his stories about government malfeasance and political scandals and coverage of the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival that killed 60 people and wounded more than 400 others.

German held a master’s degree from Marquette University and was the author of the 2001 true-crime book ‘Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss,’ the story of the death of Ted Binion, heir to the Horseshoe Club fortune.

Cathy Scott, a former coworker, noted how she and German broke the story of the killing of Las Vegas mafia associate Herbert ‘Fat Herbie’ Blitzstein in 1997 in Las Vegas.

German covered a lot of organized crime stories, including hosting a season of the Review-Journal’s true crime podcast, ‘Mobbed Up: The Fight for Vegas.’

The podcast was described as being about how ‘mafia crime families wielded hidden control over more than a third of the Strip’s casinos, and federal and state agents were waking up to the enormous task of pushing them out.’

He also broke stories about government corruption, political candidates having inappropriate campaign finances and told stories of the rise and fall of the mob in Las Vegas.