Prosecution picks apart ex-politician’s conspiracy defense in Vegas reporter’s death: ‘It didn’t make sense’

Late last week, Robert Telles, the former Nevada politician accused of killing a Las Vegas investigative reporter, took the stand and alleged he had been framed in a vast conspiracy.

Late last week, Robert Telles, the former Nevada politician accused of killing a Las Vegas investigative reporter, took the stand and alleged he had been framed in a vast conspiracy. He alleged the real estate company Compass Realty, his office co-workers, Las Vegas police, the DNA lab and prosecutors had all conspired to hire an assassin and kill the reporter, Jeff German, on September 2, 2022, and then plant evidence to make him look guilty. But in the prosecution’s rebuttal argument Monday, Christopher Hamner mocked the conspiracy and told the jury plainly, “It didn’t make sense.” “What it does give you a window into is what’s in his mind. That is how important Mr. Telles views himself. That every single one of these people, these entities, were literally willing to kill another human being – who is not him – just to frame him,” Hamner said. “Does that make sense? And more importantly, where is the evidence to support that?” Even Telles’ own attorney, Robert Draskovich, did not fully endorse Telles’ theory about the conspiracy, although he empathized with his client’s mindset. “It’s understandable why he believes this wide-reaching conspiracy,” Draskovich said in his closing argument. “What other options does he have under these circumstances?”