Jewish Milwaukee native Jeff German was the only journalist in the U.S. killed in 2022, according to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists. This October his murderer — Robert Telles, the Nevada ex-politician whose alleged corruption was exposed by German’s reportage — was sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in prison.
Telles, a former Las Vegas-area County administrator, was convicted for the premeditated killing of Jeff German in September of 2022. On Oct. 16 of this year, the judge sentenced Telles to life in prison, with a minimum of 28 years before the possibility for parole, according to ABC News.
Telles maintained his innocence, despite DNA evidence directly tying him to the crime scene and to German, as ABC reported. His actions followed German’s coverage for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which alleged corruption and a hostile work environment in Telles’ office, as well an “inappropriate relationship” between Telles and a female member of his staff. Telles retaliated, posting a heated letter on his campaign website attacking the Las Vegas Review-Journal and denying the allegations, something German also reported on.
As a columnist and reporter in Las Vegas, German had a long history holding local politicians accountable for corruption and covering organized crime, labor and courts, among other issues of public interest. His 2001 true crime book, “Murder in Sin City: The Death of a Las Vegas Casino Boss” is one example of that legacy. In an August statement published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, executive editor Glen Cook wrote that German “was killed for doing the kind of work in which he took great pride: His reporting held an elected official accountable for bad behavior and empowered voters to choose someone else for the job.” He also referred to German’s murder as an “outrage,” reminding readers that along with losing a “trusted journalist,” the community also lost a “good man” who was cherished by friends and family.
In a 2022 homage to Jeff German, a column in the Chronicle looked back at German’s roots in Jewish Milwaukee, honoring his beginnings here as a journalist. German interned for the Milwaukee Journal in 1977 and occasionally freelanced for this newspaper while attending Marquette University for graduate school in journalism in the late 1970s. His passion for the job would lead him to move to Las Vegas to pursue his interests in covering crime and the police beat, something the column referred to in 2022 as “heroic, important work.”
“We’ll never forget Jeff,” said Glenn Cook, the executive editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal told the Associated Press. “His killing remains an immeasurable loss for his family, friends, colleagues and community, and for journalism itself.”
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Jeff German interned for the Milwaukee Journal in 1977 and occasionally freelanced for this newspaper.
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