Telles Murder Trial: Opening statements complete, witnesses being called to stand

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - With all the jurors in place the trial for former Clark County administrator Robert Telles now moves forward.

Day 3 of the Robert Telles trial wrapped up just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. It was a busy day in court as witnesses were called in after the state and defense both gave their opening statements.

Telles is a former Clark County elected official who is accused of murdering investigative reporter Jeff German back in September 2022; months after he had written a series of articles on Telles. Those articles were brought before the jury on Wednesday.

The state started by presenting its case to the jury of seven men and seven women.

They showed German’s last moments at a taco shop on the morning of September 2, 2022, and then shortly after we see the moment when Telles allegedly shows up at German’s house.

“The transaction time was 9:03 a.m. so detectives go and pull the video from Roberto’s taco shop to see if they can find Jeff German and he is alive and well,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner said during opening statements. He went on to discuss what happened when German arrived home. “Mr. German opens his garage and goes over to the side yard and he is attacked,” he added.

As the state continued to lay out the circumstances around this crime, they also showed jurors German’s body. Telles’ reaction seems visibly distraught by the images.

Telles’ defense questions the evidence and says there was no motive to kill German.

“No blood whatsoever is found on Mr. Telles. If a struggle had occurred there would have been an exchange of blood and DNA,” Defense Attorney Robert Draskovich said.

“Again these articles are not a motive for a murder and we all know killing a journalist does not kill a story,” Draskovich states to the jury.

Witnesses were then called to the stand. The first ones up were German’s neighbors - the Baileys. They lived across the street from German and had known him for almost 30 years.

The Baileys were worried after they said German’s garage door was left open for the whole day. The next morning, September 3, they found him stabbed to death outside his home, the day after he was murdered.

“I ran out there to my husband, he was on the phone with 911, he was in shock and I went into shock and he was having a hard time.” Holly Bailey testified saying her husband has a strong accent and was getting frustrated at the 911 operator.

“It didn’t look like a natural death I could tell you that right now,” Holly Bailey said at the end of her testimony.

A Metro police crime scene analyst was also on the witness stand Wednesday.

The state has about 20 witnesses and the defense has about a dozen.

On that witness list are several LVMPD members, a couple of Clark County officials and a relative of German.

The trial resumes Thursday morning.

LIVE UPDATES

4:57 P.M. - The court is in recess until Thursday morning at 11.

3:50 P.M. - Former LVMPD homicide detective Clifford Mogg is now on the witness stand. He was still working for Metro at the time of the crime and was tasked to find surveillance video of both the victim’s and suspect’s activities before the killing. More than 20 clips were played to the jury, one of them showing German’s Honda Civic turning left onto Wintergreen Drive. In a separate video, a red Yukon SUV turns onto the same road minutes later.

3:35 P.M. - Court back in session. A plumber who had a brief run-in with a red Yukon SUV takes the stand. As previously reported, the prosecution believes Robert Telles was driving this vehicle on the day of the murder.

3:14 P.M. - Court on break.

2:50 P.M. The state calls in another crime scene analyst from Metro to the witness stand. Stephanie Smissen was a crime scene analyst called out to Robert Telles’ house on September 7, 2022. She was asked to look over photos from the search of the home after Telles was considered a “person of interest.” Metro police accessed his home via a search warrant.

2:43 P.M. - Director of Public Information for LVMPD, Jamie Ioos, makes her way to the stand after being called in by the state.

2:04 P.M. - A senior crime scene analyst is next up to the stand, brought in by the state. Claire Browning says she’s been with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for nine years. She was called out to the scene.

1:58 P.M. - Prosecutors call in their next witness Deborah Ryan, another neighbor who lives across the street from German.

On the morning of September 3, 2022, Ryan says she received a call from Mrs. Bailey. She sounded very emotional and could not understand her. Ryan did hear, “Jeff is dead” on the phone. Ryan and her family were at a “ball game” that morning. They rushed back home after the phone call from Bailey.

The state asked where the police interviewed Ryan. She said an officer spoke to her in front of her home.

During cross-examination, Draskovich asked if the police recorded the conversation. Ryan says she doesn’t think so.

Ryan believes officers were more so calming people down.

1:55 P.M. - The state now calls in Roy Bailey, Holly’s husband, to the witness stand. The defense cross-examined Roy after he gave his testimony. Draskovich asks if he was ever brought into the police station to conduct a witness interview. Roy Bailey says police interviewed him at his residence.

1:50 P.M. - Holly Bailey has been Jeff German’s neighbor for 27 years, and lives directly across the street from German.

On September 2, 2022, German’s garage was open. Bailey was running errands and came home around noon. She says it’s never opened for that long.

The garage was still up at 2:30 p.m. when Bailey left her home again. She says she was texting him. She sees his car in the garage. Bailey then spoke to another neighbor, Deborah Ryan, to ask if she knew what was going on. Bailey says she is very observant. She spoke to her husband and they agreed to close the garage for German later that night. They still have not heard from German at this point. She texts him saying they are going over to his home and closing it.

Her husband said to call 311 early the next morning to conduct a welfare check as the garage was still open.

Bailey then gets emotional recounting the initial moments they found German. Her husband was on the phone with 911, operators were having a tough time understanding Roy (her husband). She said he was getting frustrated because he had a thick accent. One policeman arrived. She says German did not look like he died naturally. She stayed by German to talk to and pray for him.

The defense waived cross examination of Holly Bailey.

1:35 P.M. - Court has resumed. The state is calling Holly Bailey the stand for testimony.

12:40 P.M. - The defense has wrapped up its opening statements. The court is in recess for lunch.

12:34 P.M. The defense is laying out the “lack of motive” in the case.

• Losing his job was not a motive for murder
• Killing a journalist does not kill a story

The defense then played voicemails found on German’s phone. The callers showed frustration and posed threats to German and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“Stop lying to people, whoever wrote that article the other day, you need to fire his a**... you better fire that son of a b**ch.” Another voicemail found says “We’re watching you motherf**kers.”

Draskovich ends by saying “Robert Telles is not guilty.”

12:20 P.M. - Draskovich is speaking on the murder of Jeff German now.

He says Telles had an active trap and trace feature on his phone. The red Yukon was never positively identified, according to the lead defense attorney. DMV records produced 67 possible hits for a vehicle in Las Vegas matching the description. Draskovich says detectives are so focused on Robert Telles.

The bag found in the garage had no blood, the defense says. The hat found also was not tied to Jeff German. “There is no rational explanation why the hat and shoes were cut into pieces, except that they would be easier to conceal and plant,” said a bullet point on the screen.

Draskovich said no DNA evidence was ever found inside Telles’ car or on his clothes.

12:09 P.M. - Draskovich now speaks on Rita Reid and Alisha Johnson, two employees who worked inside the public administrator’s office.

12:05 P.M. - Draskovich describes what caused the “hostile work environment.” Draskovich says Mr. Telles began evaluating the ethics of the office’s relationships with third-party vendors.

He says Telles felt laws were being broken and third parties had taken over the public sector.

Mr. Telles put together an investigative findings report on March 6, 2022. Draskovich said it proved Mr. Telles’s concerns with how the public administrator’s office was being operated when Telles took the oath of office.

11:58 A.M. - Defense attorney Robert Draskovich begins opening statements by laying out “The Story of Robert Telles.” On the evidence screen, Telles’ accomplishments and work ethic are listed.

11:39 A.M. - The state has finished its opening statements.

Weckerly closed her remarks by saying “In the end, this case isn’t about politics, isn’t about alleged inappropriate relationships, it’s not about who is a good boss who is a good supervisor, or favoritism at work. It’s about a murder and at the end of the presentation of evidence we will ask you to hold him responsible.”

Court is now in a 15 minute break.

11:34 A.M. - The state says a search warrant was executed at the public administrator’s office. They found searches of the make and model of Jeff German’s car on Telles’ computer.

11:29 A.M. - A story German worked on regarding a “hostile work environment” in Robert Telles’ county offices is playing out before the jury.

11:25 A.M. - Weckerly shows evidence collected from Telles’ house on September 7, 2022, four days after the killing. Some of the items are a cut-up hat, shoes and a backpack. All those items matched what played out in the home security video.

11:16 A.M. - The prosecution then plays the home security video again. Explaining step by step how the defendant conducted the crime. This time Weckerly shows a video of the individual going back to the side of the house after the killing.

11:13 A.M. - Weckerly is showing the jury Jeff German’s reporting on Robert Telles along with exchanges between the two of them on social media.

11:10 A.M. - Weckerly shows more video from another home down the street showing the “assailant” walking back down the street following the attack and getting into a red GMC Yukon SUV.

11:07 A.M. - State shows home security video from the house across the street from German’s. It shows German opening his garage and going around to the side of his home, then moments later an individual is seen walking up to the side of the house. “Mr. German opens his garage and goes over to the side yard and he is attacked,” Weckerly said during opening statements. The video shows some movement but does not clearly make out who it is walking up to German’s home.

11:02 A.M. - State experiences technical difficulties with evidence monitor.

10:56 A.M. - Chief Deputy District Attorney Pamela Weckerly begins opening statements for the state of Nevada. Weckerly begins by talking about Jeff German’s neighbors, Roy and Holly Bailey, who were concerned after not seeing German for at least a day.

10:48 A.M. - Court reporter reads grand jury indictment. Judge Leavitt goes over instructions to the jury.

10:44 A.M. - Jury brought into courtroom and sworn in.

10:41 A.M. - District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt makes her way into the courtroom. The bailiff brings in Robert Telles. We await for the jury to enter into the courtroom.

Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.