The past two years have been extremely difficult for the newsroom Jeff German left behind at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
But, as the executive editor Glenn Cook told me exclusively in a sit-down interview on Friday, they've kept the memory of their devoted journalist alive.
I asked Cook about the reaction in the newsroom when a Las Vegas jury found Robert Telles guilty of German's murder .
"This was a moment of incredible relief," Cook said. "And I think just solemn reflection on what we've been through, what Jeff's family has been through over the past two years waiting for Robert Telles to finally be held accountable for killing Jeff."
Watch: Glenn Cook reacts to the guilty verdict and talks about his hopes for keeping German's memory alive:
Channel 13 follows up with the Las Vegas Review-Journal after guilty verdict in reporter's murder
Telles is the former Clark County public administrator whose office was the subject of some of German's last reporting before he was killed. German uncovered allegations of inappropriate conduct and a hostile work environment, which he revealed in the pages of the Review-Journal. Months later, he was dead.
"It's been an incredible challenge to cover the story fairly for two years," Cook told me. "You know, we continued our investigation of Robert Telles after his arrest. We did a lot of reporting on his background that we published through the end of 2022 — the year that Jeff was killed."
The Review-Journal has been involved in much of the criminal case through its efforts to protect German's confidential sources after his computers and phone were seized as evidence in the case.
"We won our side of the court fight," Cook said. "We were able to successfully protect Jeff's confidential sources, his confidential, unpublished information that he had on his computer and his phone."
On Wednesday, the jury found Telles guilty of killing German and decided he should serve life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
"It was very difficult, for that long period of time, to cover the judicial proceedings fairly, knowing the mountain of evidence that existed against him — that this man very likely killed our colleague," Cook said. "And the guilty verdict, I think, was a just one."
Telles also testified in his own defense — a rarity in criminal cases that made this situation even more unique. I asked Cook about that.
TRICIA KEAN: What was the newsroom's take, as a whole, on him testifying in his own defense?"
GLENN COOK: It was bizarre. It was long, rambling...I was incredibly grateful that the jury did not believe him.
KEAN: What did you think about that, when you heard the questions that the jury was asking in this case?
COOK: Who knew when we were doing that story that getting some B-roll video of Robert Telles walking down a corridor past some cubicles would prove so valuable in proving that he was a murderer?
He's talking about video state prosecutors played for the jurors during their closing arguments . One side showed video shot by the Review-Journal of Telles walking down a hallway at the public administrator's office. The other showed German's killer — to compare how the two walked.
I also asked Cook to talk about the work he and the Review-Journal have done to keep German's memory alive.
"We want to make sure that this community never forgets who Jeff German was, the work he did as a reporter, and the fact that his aggressive, unrelenting style of reporting, you know, did a lot of good for this community," Cook said.
"It's very difficult to come to grips with the fact that it was his reporting and the sort of bulldog nature in him as a reporter that got him killed," he continued.
None of us could have ever imagined that doing a story on Robert Telles being a crummy boss and a bad husband — that that would be a story that would get Jeff killed. This is a guy who covered organized crime for years and years, rubbed elbows with Tony Spilotro and other incredibly bad, dangerous people. And that this would be the story that would get him killed is still unfathomable. But we do take some solace in the fact that the justice system worked, and that Robert Telles is going to go to prison for a very long time and hopefully for the rest of his life.
Who was Jeff German? Our senior political reporter, Steve Sebelius, knew him for roughly 30 years and talks about the man behind the byline:
Joe Moeller and Steve Sebelius remember the life and legacy of Jeff German
KEAN: I think it's important for the community to understand that journalism is still here. Journalism is alive, and you're not going to back down as a news organization.
COOK: Oh, absolutely. I mean, we still have an investigative team that does difficult stories, uncovers wrongdoing, holds people accountable. And we're never going to stop doing that type of work.
KEAN: Jeff would have wanted it that way.
COOK: Absolutely. Jeff loved being an investigative reporter. He was 69 years old when he was murdered, but he was one of our most productive reporters when he was taken from us. ...He made it clear he never wanted to retire, that he was going to do this until his last day. And it turned out that he did. We're never going to forget him, and I hope that this community never does, either.
While Robert Telles has made himself available for jailhouse interviews on multiple occasions — including the day I did this story — he's refused to speak with the Review-Journal since his arrest. Channel 13 had the opportunity to interview Telles from jail again on Friday, and we declined.
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