Trial Starts For Ex-Las Vegas Politician Accused of Stabbing to Death Investigative Journalist

The murder trial of a former Las Vegas politician began Monday. Robert Telles is accused of stabbing to death investigative journalist Jeff Gorman, who had written stories critical of Telles' tenure in the county administrator's office.

Gorman, 69, was attacked with a knife on Labor Day weekend in 2022 by an assailant clad in a large straw hat and workclothes that covered hands and feet, according to video surveillance of Gorman's house.

The veteran reporter, who worked for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, had been working on a series of stories about allegations of a hostile work environment in Telles' office, which included accusations of bullying, retaliation and an "inappropriate relationship" between Telles and a staffer.

Telles had denied those allegations, but lost a re-election bid after the stories began appearing in the Review-Journal.

He has pleaded not guilty to Gorman's killing, and has claimed police framed him and mishandled his case.

"He's been looking forward to trial," defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, told The Associated Press before jury selection began in his client's case."He wants to tell his story."

Prosecutors have said they have strong evidence against Telles, including DNA scraped from under Gorman's nails and cut-up items of clothing, includingn a straw hat, that matched those worn in footage from surveillance cameras at the victim's home.

Those images appeared to show Gorman being attacked outside his home by the person seen on the tape, authorities said. A car that appears in the surveillance was later tracked to Telles' wife, investigators alleged. She has not been charged in the case.

In 2022, Gorman was the only journalist killed in the United States, as opposed to 69 reporters killed worldwide, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Telles has been held without bail since his arrest in September 2022.

Gorman was a respected journalist who had covered organized crime and political corruption for more than four decades at the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson earler called German's killing "brutal and meaningless."

Gorman's colleagues had described him as "fearless" and credited his dogged reporting with making the community a better and safer place to live.

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