A former Las Vegas-area Democratic politician took the witness stand as he faces charges for stabbing an investigative reporter to death in 2022. 

Robert Telles lost his job as Clark County’s administrator of unclaimed estates in May 2022 after losing his Democratic primary. His defeat came after Jeff German wrote several articles critical of him for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

German was found stabbed to death outside of his home on Labor Day weekend in 2022. The 69-year-old had authored multiple stories claiming Telles was conducting an inappropriate affair with a female co-worker and that his office was in turmoil. Telles was arrested several days after German’s death.

On Wednesday, prosecutors argued the reporter’s uncomfortable allegations motivated Telles to kill him.

Telles, 47, made his defense to a jury of 12 on Wednesday, saying, “Unequivocally I’m innocent.” His attorneys said they advised him not to testify, but he insisted on doing so.

The former county official, whose license to practice law was suspended after he was arrested, provided a 90-minute testimony in court as he fights to stave off a conviction. If found guilty, he faces life in prison. 

Prosecutors have said they found Telles’s DNA under the reporter’s fingernails and that he has family ties to a maroon SUV seen near German’s home around the time of the killing. The former official also allegedly had hundreds of photos of German’s home on his cellphone and computer, as well as his identity records.

A cellphone data expert who was testifying in Telles’s defense provided evidence that could be damning to the ex-lawyer. 

Robert Aguero, a cellphone data expert testifying in Telles’s defense, told the court there was no outgoing activity from Telles’s cellphone despite data showing he received numerous voice, text, and data messages during the period when German was killed. 

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“Just to be clear, if we look at his phone, from 8:48 to 2:05, there’s nothing outgoing from Mr. Telles’s phone on the day that Mr. German is murdered, isn’t that correct?” prosecutor Christopher Hamner questioned.

“That’s correct,” Aguero replied. Prosecutors believe Telles left his cellphone at home the day he allegedly left to murder German.