Under the neon-drenched skies of Las Vegas, the sordid tale of Jeff German unfolded; an investigative journalist who met a grisly end outside his home, his work exposing corruption becoming his epitaph. As the city buzzed with the rattle of slot machines and the whispers of secrets that lurk in every shadowed corner, state prosecutors disclosed a chilling piece of evidence previously cast into oblivion—a death threat, suspended in the digital ether of German’s voicemail.
A photograph which once captured an innocent jest now resonates with a chilling foreboding. In it, Jeff German stands beside Robert Telles, the man whose life he dissected with the might of his pen, the same man who now wears the heavy mantle of an accused murderer.
During the pretrial hearing on a Tuesday laden with suspense, prosecutors laid bare their cards in front of Robert Telles, once a custodian of the public trust as a Clark County official, now ensconced behind bars for the assassination of German. Telles was sequestered from the courtroom’s watchful eyes, represented instead by the eloquence of his attorney, Robert Draskovich.
Draskovich, with his voice conjuring images of the courtroom dramas of yore, insisted that the voicemail bore witness to Telles’ presumed innocence. “I believe this is exculpatory evidence, obviously,” he proclaimed, urging a stay in the proceedings.
Yet, Telles, defiant in the puppetry of his fate, eschewed counsel’s wisdom. He had once tread the murky waters of his own defense before enlisting Draskovich to navigate the legal tempest. Even in chains, Telles struck his own path, dismissing the plea for a delay.
The clock ticks unremittingly towards the scheduled March 8 trial, yet the hands may waver. The voicemail remains unexamined by prosecutors, who must dissect its contents before they can settle on which players will grace the courtroom stage.
In an ironic twist, the very laws that German championed—the shield laws that cloak journalists in armor against the siege of prying eyes—now hold sway over the trial’s horizon. The Nevada Supreme Court ordained that the Review-Journal retain the keys to German’s phone, rendering it a fortress untouchable by the long arm of law enforcement.
As Telles awaits the march of time towards the next battlefield set for March 6, the specter of Jeff German lingers—a testament to the power of words and the price of truth in the city that never sleeps.
