Latest / NO FILTER / The disturbing case of Robert Telles [True Crime Documentary]

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The disturbing case of Robert Telles [True Crime Documentary] · NO FILTER

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Speaker 1: In September of twenty twenty two, an acclaimed investigative journalist
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Speaker 1: based in Las Vegas, Nevada, was found stabbed to death
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Speaker 1: outside of his home. Video footage obtained by investigators quickly
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Speaker 1: began piecing together a timeline of events that told the
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Speaker 1: story of a meticulously planned crime. But as the pieces
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Speaker 1: fell into place, the truth behind the murder and the
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Speaker 1: alleged killer only became more and more unbelievable. Hi everyone,
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Speaker 1: I'm Kevin and this is just Thought Lounge. JTL is
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Speaker 1: the true crime channel that delivers serious, well balanced coverage
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Speaker 1: of the cases that really make you think. Today's case
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Speaker 1: is one choked full of public scandal, outrageous behavior, and
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Speaker 1: unbelievable claims. It is a story that is still playing out,
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Speaker 1: but from what has come to light, it is one
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Speaker 1: of the most flagrant and dumbfounding crimes we've covered. Let's
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Speaker 1: take a look. Las Vegas, Nevada, a mecca for gambling, drinking, partying,
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Speaker 1: and generally disreputable behavior. Vegas earned the nickname Sin City
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Speaker 1: for a reason, but this reputation is usually reserved for
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Speaker 1: the tourist haven that is the main strip and its
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Speaker 1: surrounded casinos. Hotels and bars, but off of the strip
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Speaker 1: in suburban Las Vegas, the scene is much quieter. The
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Speaker 1: home of sixty nine year old Jeff Gherman in northwest
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Speaker 1: Las Vegas was near to multiple parks, a family fund center,
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Speaker 1: several home stores, and popular family friendly restaurants. On the
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Speaker 1: evening of Friday, September two, twenty twenty two, a neighbor
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Speaker 1: of Jeff's was walking past the house and noticed that
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Speaker 1: his garage door had been left wide open. The neighbor
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Speaker 1: initially thought little of it. They wandered up the drive
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Speaker 1: and closed the door. The last anyone had heard of
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Speaker 1: Jeff was that he had returned to his home in
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Speaker 1: the late morning of that same day. He must have
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Speaker 1: gone inside and simply forgotten to close up the door
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Speaker 1: behind him. It was ten thirty am the next morning
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Speaker 1: when a cal to nine one one brought the Las
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Speaker 1: Vegas Metropolitan Police out to the seventy two hundred block
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Speaker 1: of Braunze Circle. Jeff German had been discovered unresponsive at
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Speaker 1: the side of his house. Upon arriving on the scene,
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Speaker 1: responders found Jeff deceased. It was later determined that he
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Speaker 1: had been stabbed multiple times. The murder had likely occurred
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Speaker 1: the day prior. The first possibility that investigators entertained was
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Speaker 1: that Jeff could have fallen victim to a robbery. As
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Speaker 1: far as it could be determined, however, the house and
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Speaker 1: Jeff's belongings were undisturbed. The bushes and garden growth around
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Speaker 1: the side of the house, however, where Jeff was found
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Speaker 1: had been disturbed. It appeared that someone had stood in
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Speaker 1: the bushes, perhaps lying in wait for Jeff to return home.
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Speaker 1: If this conclusion was correct, Jeff's murder was a targeted
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Speaker 1: and premeditated attack. The second path of inquiry was therefore
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Speaker 1: introduced very rapidly that Jeff Garman's line of work had
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Speaker 1: gotten him into trouble. Captain Dorry Korin learned from neighbors
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Speaker 1: that Jeff had been a journalist, but not just a
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Speaker 1: writer reporting on the latest local charity drive. Jeff German
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Speaker 1: was an investigative reporter who had built a very successful
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Speaker 1: career uncovering the secrets and corruption behind some of Sin
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Speaker 1: City's shadiest characters. Investigators promptly sold surveillance footage from the
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Speaker 1: neighborhood to track any individuals coming to and from the area,
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Speaker 1: as well as to and from Jeff's home in particular
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Speaker 1: around the time of the murder, and they found what
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Speaker 1: they were seeking. An individual they believed to be the
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Speaker 1: killer was shown whearing a wide straw hat, gloves, and
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Speaker 1: a bright orange, long sleeved shirt. The killer was captured
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Speaker 1: approaching Jeff's home at eleven eighteen a m. On the Friday,
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Speaker 1: the day before he was found. The assailant appeared to
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Speaker 1: breach a pedestrian gate. Minutes later, Jeff's garage door opened
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Speaker 1: and he walked out to the west side of his property.
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Speaker 1: It was deduced that he must have been called over
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Speaker 1: to the side of the house by the killer, who
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Speaker 1: was lurking in the bushes. Investigators found that more of
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Speaker 1: the video showed the suspect calmly walking away from the
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Speaker 1: crime scene. They had the man that was almost certainly
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Speaker 1: the killer on camera, but they did not know who
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Speaker 1: he or she was. A few days after discovering Jeff,
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Speaker 1: police held a news conference and released an image of
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Speaker 1: what they suspected was the suspect's vehicle. Initially, they tracked
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Speaker 1: the vehicle a two thousand seven to twenty fourteen red
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Speaker 1: or maroon GMC yukon Denali with chrome handles, a sun
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Speaker 1: roof and a luggage rack driving suspiciously around the neighborhood
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Speaker 1: around the time of the murder. They watched as after
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Speaker 1: six minutes, following the suspect calmly walking from the scene,
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Speaker 1: the Dinali drove to the house. Later, video footage further
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Speaker 1: confirmed that the suspect was driving the same SUV. Captain
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Speaker 1: Dorry Koran called upon the public for assistance identifying the
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Speaker 1: suspect and the vehicle.
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Speaker 2: As of now, it appears that the suspect was in
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Speaker 2: the area casing to commit other crimes when at some
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Speaker 2: point in time our victim comes outside and has encounters
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Speaker 2: the suspect. There's an altercation that occurs, and we believe
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Speaker 2: that at that time the suspect stabbed and killed the victim.
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Speaker 2: This next picture you see here, we believe is related
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Speaker 2: to the suspect. We're asking for anyone who has information
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Speaker 2: related to this crime and this vehicle to police contact
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Speaker 2: us as well. It's important to note that there are
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Speaker 2: plenty of other vehicles that will look exactly the same,
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Speaker 2: will be exactly the same, and they obviously are not related.
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Speaker 2: But if anyone sees a vehicle and they believe that
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Speaker 2: it is related and matches this description. We would like
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Speaker 2: all the information possible so we can vet it out further.
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Speaker 1: Staff at the Las Vegas Review Journal. Jeff Garman's former
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Speaker 1: colleagues and friends were devastated by his loss. They were
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Speaker 1: also incensed by the prospect that Jeff could have been
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Speaker 1: targeted due to his work as a journalist. After police
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Speaker 1: made the video of the suspect in the Denali Public
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Speaker 1: Review Journal reporters spotted a vehicle that matched the given
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Speaker 1: description in a driveway only minutes away from the murder scene.
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Speaker 1: It was parked at the home of a local politician.
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Speaker 1: The county public administrator had a history of disputes with
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Speaker 1: the now deceased journalist. In fact, when Jeff Gherman's colleagues
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Speaker 1: learned that he had been killed, their suspicions were immediately
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Speaker 1: directed to this one individual, Robert tell Us. The reporters
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Speaker 1: found that a red GMC yukon Denali happened to be
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Speaker 1: registered to Robert Tellis's wife. Robert Tellis was born in Biloxi, Mississippi,
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Speaker 1: and grew up in El Paso, Texas. The forty five
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Speaker 1: year old had lived in the Las Vegas area for
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Speaker 1: the last twenty years. He had been married for over
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Speaker 1: a decade and was the father to three children. Robert
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Speaker 1: launched his professional career after graduating from the University of
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Speaker 1: Nevada Las Vegas Boyd's School of Law in twenty fourteen.
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Speaker 1: He made his first foray into politics while studying at
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Speaker 1: the school, where he was elected to the position of
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Speaker 1: president of the student body at UNLV. While in this role,
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Speaker 1: Robert was reportedly an overbearing micromanager and was not received
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Speaker 1: well by the rest of the student government. His term
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Speaker 1: was cut short after allegations of inappropriate behavior towards a
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Speaker 1: female student led to an internal investment ditigation. Robert was
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Speaker 1: eventually pushed out of his role over his pleas of
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Speaker 1: innocence and an unfair attack against him.
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Speaker 3: And immediately rob said, I didn't do anything like that.
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Speaker 4: You're lying. You're trying to get me.
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Speaker 3: What's going on here? Like immediately went on the offensive.
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Speaker 1: The rest of the student body found him to be
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Speaker 1: grossly incompetent and not suited for the role. A year
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Speaker 1: after his graduation, Robert had established his own firm, Accolade Law,
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Speaker 1: which specialized in estate planning and probate matters, not deterred
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Speaker 1: from his political ambitions. He first ran for the position
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Speaker 1: of Clark County Public Administrator in twenty eighteen as a Democrat,
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Speaker 1: and he won. The public administrator's function is to secure
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Speaker 1: the property of people who passed away in the county
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Speaker 1: while a search for family or the descendant's executor is performed.
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Speaker 1: He assumed the office at the start of twenty nineteen,
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Speaker 1: and his term was to run until January twenty twenty three.
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Speaker 1: Robert Tellis's conduct as the county's public administrator had reportedly
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Speaker 1: led to a hostile work environment. By twenty twenty two,
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Speaker 1: the office had been mired in turmoil and internal dissension
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Speaker 1: over two years, with allegations of emotional stress, bullying, and favoritism.
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Speaker 1: Multiple complaints to human Resources went unaddressed, despite reports that
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Speaker 1: Robert was prone to fits of rage inside the office.
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Speaker 1: One employee called him narcissistic and crazy, as well as
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Speaker 1: sinister and calculating. She even reported witnessing other workers visibly
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Speaker 1: began to shake when Robert Tellis entered the office. They
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Speaker 1: were that uneasy about his unpredictable behavior and his temper.
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Speaker 5: Episodes of what I would call pure rage and it
10:01
Speaker 5: would be the smallest little thing that would set him off,
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Speaker 5: and it was totally unfounded and you know, unprovoked.
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Speaker 1: The county's response to the multiple reports of bad behavior
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Speaker 1: was that they could not remove an elected official. Only
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Speaker 1: a judge or grand jury could do that, so the
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Speaker 1: staff was left without much support. Robert's conduct was awful
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Speaker 1: enough that some employees, as a last port of call,
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Speaker 1: began to approach a journalist to see if it was
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Speaker 1: worth reporting. That journalist, of course, was Jeff Garman.
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Speaker 5: He's an elected official in the county. There's not much
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Speaker 5: they can do, so we decided that we would go public.
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Speaker 5: We would try to talk to a journalist here in
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Speaker 5: our community and see if somebody felt it was worthy
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Speaker 5: of reporting.
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Speaker 6: I think they expected the county to step up and
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Speaker 6: take heed that baby. With some public, you know, awareness,
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Speaker 6: that might force their hand to take a closer look
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Speaker 6: at what was really happening.
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Speaker 1: Jeff Garriman's first investigative story on Robert Tellis was published
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Speaker 1: in May twenty twenty two. The story described a confidential
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Speaker 1: retaliation complaint filed with the Clark County Office of Diversity
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Speaker 1: by an estate coordinator who provided details of Robert Tellis's
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Speaker 1: relationship with an office staffer. His favoritism towards this particular
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Speaker 1: staff member had caused excessive and needless tensions in the office.
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Speaker 1: Employees exasperated by the favoritism and bullying, had gone so
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Speaker 1: far as to secretly videotape Robert one afternoon with his
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Speaker 1: favorite employee in the backseat of her vehicle. It was
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Speaker 1: taped in the corner of a parking lot at a
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Speaker 1: local shopping center. This was one of multiple occasions in
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Speaker 1: which the two spent time together in the back of
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Speaker 1: her vehicle, allegedly for several hours. Jeff Gherman, publishing the
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Speaker 1: story of the affair and its repercussions at the office,
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Speaker 1: then reported that the county was paying an external consultant
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Speaker 1: to look into the matter. Former county Coroner Michael Murphy
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Speaker 1: was to join the office and help ensure that it
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Speaker 1: properly served the public amid the employee unrest. It was
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Speaker 1: not just the staff that bore the brunt of Robert's behavior.
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Speaker 1: He reportedly refused to grant lee for staff to go
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Speaker 1: above and beyond for grieving family members. When assistant administrator
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Speaker 1: Rita Reid was told that she could not help a
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Speaker 1: son who had just lost his mother on a Saturday.
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Speaker 1: She was appalled.
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Speaker 5: He refused to let me come in on a Saturday
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Speaker 5: at no additional cost to the taxpayers to meet this
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Speaker 5: man to turn over his mother's property.
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Speaker 7: Forcing the man to risk his new job by staying
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Speaker 7: in Las Vegas through the following Monday. She recalls Tellis's
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Speaker 7: callous comment from later that day.
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Speaker 5: See, I told her he could do it if you
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Speaker 5: just made him. We had the tools to provide it
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Speaker 5: to make a very difficult situation better for him and
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Speaker 5: his family, and we were not allowed to do it.
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Speaker 1: So Rita Reid had a decision to make. Was she
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Speaker 1: ready to retire or was she willing to challenge Robert
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Speaker 1: Tellis in a primary election to oust him from his
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Speaker 1: seat and to take back control of the office. Rita
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Speaker 1: opted for the election challenge. She was assisted in her
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Speaker 1: bid by the shocking investigative reports published by the Review
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Speaker 1: Journal's prize reporter Jeff Gearman. As the election date neared,
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Speaker 1: Robert posted a video on YouTube called the Tragic state
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Speaker 1: I've found about what he characterized as the mismanagement of
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Speaker 1: the Public Administrator's office when he inherited it. The issues
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Speaker 1: were from his predecessor, he claimed when he came in,
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Speaker 1: he cleaned things.
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Speaker 3: Up years ago. Started my first term, I found a
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Speaker 3: disturbing situation at the office. Unfortunately. I found that there
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Speaker 3: were cases that weren't being closed and hadn't been closed
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Speaker 3: for years. I also found that checks to families were
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Speaker 3: waiting to go out so long that the checks went
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Speaker 3: stale before the families could get them. Tragically, there were
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Speaker 3: even situations where the family members died before they could
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Speaker 3: receive their own checks. But I'm very happy to say
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Speaker 3: that we've turned that all around under my leadership. I'd
14:34
Speaker 3: like to ask you for your help.
14:35
Speaker 8: Now.
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Speaker 3: I'd like to ask you to please be sure to
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Speaker 3: vote for me in this year's election.
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Speaker 1: Despite his campaign efforts, the main headlines in the election
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Speaker 1: continue to be written by Jeff Gearman. The Journalist's story
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Speaker 1: from June eighteenth discussed a scaping letter that Robert had
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Speaker 1: posted on his election website. The letter attacked the Review
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Speaker 1: Journal and its reporting and claimed the allegations against him
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Speaker 1: were false. Robert's attacks on the Review Journal and Jeff
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Speaker 1: in particular, also spread to social media. He wrote Facebook
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Speaker 1: posts that accused the Review Journal and its journalist of
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Speaker 1: conveniently posting their false accusations at opportune times for his opponent.
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Speaker 7: The article was intentionally gut wrenching. It was so ugly
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Speaker 7: that you almost had to believe it was true. I
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Speaker 7: can understand why you might have, with the writer's skill
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Speaker 7: at pushing buttons. Also, the timing of the article was
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Speaker 7: very convenient for my opponent. He added, they are seeking
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Speaker 7: to destroy me, both personally and professionally.
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Speaker 1: Robert then took to Twitter. He called Jeff a bully,
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Speaker 1: called his reporting bs, and accused the journalist of searching
15:51
Speaker 1: through his trash looking forward to smear piece number four
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Speaker 1: by Jeff German. I think he's mad that I haven't
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Speaker 1: crawled into a hole and died. The forty five year
16:05
Speaker 1: old Democrat lost his reelection bid in the primary. After
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Speaker 1: Jeff Garman's findings were published. Robert was due to leave
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Speaker 1: office in January. Robert continued to attack Jeff Garman and
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Speaker 1: his reporting to anyone who would listen. He claimed to
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Speaker 1: be unfairly targeted due to his position, and this would
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Speaker 1: not be the first time that Robert would play the victim.
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Speaker 1: Bodycam footage emerged of a previous encounter between police and
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Speaker 1: Robert Tellus. This incident occurred in twenty twenty, while he
16:36
Speaker 1: was still an elected official. Police responded to his home
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Speaker 1: following a call from his wife and allegations that he
16:43
Speaker 1: had turned violent.
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Speaker 9: Don't do anything more stupid than you've already done. Please,
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Speaker 9: Oh my god?
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Speaker 3: Why hell am I?
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Speaker 8: This is like?
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Speaker 10: This is like totally like you guys just want to
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Speaker 10: take me down because I'm a public official. We don't
17:01
Speaker 10: hit take me down because I am a public official.
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Speaker 8: You don't.
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Speaker 10: You just want to take me down because I'm a
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Speaker 10: public official. I did not touch anybody. I haven't heard anybody.
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Speaker 3: I am just being a proch And.
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Speaker 10: Like you guys want to take me down because I'm
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Speaker 10: a public official. I love my wife. You guys want
17:25
Speaker 10: to take me down? What all it is? Why are
17:28
Speaker 10: you taking my from my frankant house?
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Speaker 3: Why do you have any suspicious sit back?
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Speaker 1: I I'm based upon the connection between the red Gnali
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Speaker 1: and the politician's vehicle, as well as the overt animosity
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Speaker 1: displayed towards Jeff Garman by Robert Tellis in the months
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Speaker 1: before the crime, police obtained a search warrant for his home.
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Speaker 1: In it, they found a pair of sneakers with stains
18:00
Speaker 1: that appeared to be blood. These matched the shoes viewed
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Speaker 1: in the surveillance footage worn by the alleged killer. Much
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Speaker 1: of the tread had been cut off, presumably in an
18:10
Speaker 1: attempt to hide evidence. A ziploc bag full of shredded
18:14
Speaker 1: shoes was then found stuffed under Robert's couch. A straw hat,
18:19
Speaker 1: also like the one worn by the suspect, was found
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Speaker 1: tucked into a toolbox in his garage. A bag matching
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Speaker 1: the one carried by the alleged killer was also located
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Speaker 1: in the house. The red Denali was towed from the house,
18:33
Speaker 1: as well as Robert's other vehicle, a BMW. At this point,
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Speaker 1: he was brought into the station for questioning. Robert was
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Speaker 1: questioned by police and he voluntarily turned over his clothing
18:47
Speaker 1: to investigators. He also offered a DNA swap. Then, surprisingly,
18:52
Speaker 1: the politician was released and allowed to go home. Authorities
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Speaker 1: stated they did not have sufficient evidence to continue detaining him.
19:12
Speaker 1: There was some debate at that time whether the case
19:15
Speaker 1: was solid enough to formally arrest Robert Tellis for murder,
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Speaker 1: or if he should have been held in custody for
19:21
Speaker 1: a few more hours. As the DNA swabs were being processed.
19:25
Speaker 1: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police opted to release Robert while they
19:29
Speaker 1: awaited the lab results. It did not take long. DNA
19:33
Speaker 1: lifted from under Jeff Garman's fingernails proved to be a
19:36
Speaker 1: match to Robert Tellis.
19:39
Speaker 4: We felt there was not sufficient evidence to continue to
19:42
Speaker 4: detain him, so we allowed for his release, knowing that
19:46
Speaker 4: evidence was literally being developed minutes by minute.
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Speaker 1: Police returned to the house later that afternoon to make
19:54
Speaker 1: the arrest, except it wasn't quite that easy. When officers
19:58
Speaker 1: arrived to arrest him, Robert refused. He would not come
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Speaker 1: to the door. He locked himself in the bathroom.
20:06
Speaker 4: The rights is.
20:07
Speaker 11: Going up to custairs to get the husband of films,
20:09
Speaker 11: and we commune came with him our target on the
20:13
Speaker 11: fun However, he has made a couple of four or five.
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Speaker 4: Make the official request for slave.
20:22
Speaker 1: A four or five comment is a reference to suicide.
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Speaker 1: In releasing Robert back to his home, only to attempt
20:28
Speaker 1: to arrest him a few hours later, police seemed to
20:30
Speaker 1: have created a precarious situation with an unstable suspect. The
20:35
Speaker 1: street had been courted off for hours. By five thirty pm,
20:39
Speaker 1: swat vehicles, police mobile units and fire and medical personnel
20:44
Speaker 1: arrived at the scene. A full hour later, SWAT officers
20:48
Speaker 1: entered the home. Paramedics removed Robert Tellus in an ambulance
20:53
Speaker 1: after he was arrested on suspicion of murder. Police said
20:56
Speaker 1: he was suffering from self inflicted wounds. Authorities described the
21:00
Speaker 1: wounds as superficial cuts on his arms. He may have
21:03
Speaker 1: also swallowed some pills.
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Speaker 9: With your help, I'm here to announce the rest of
21:10
Speaker 9: forty five year old Robert Tellis. He was booked in
21:14
Speaker 9: the Clark County Detention Center last night on the charge
21:18
Speaker 9: of open murder. This is a terrible and jarring homicide,
21:24
Speaker 9: one that has deeply impacted Las Vegas. Every murder is tragic,
21:30
Speaker 9: but the killing of a journalist is particularly troublesome.
21:35
Speaker 1: Robert's first court appearance sought to establish his bail should
21:39
Speaker 1: he be granted any During the hearing, prosecutors linked at
21:42
Speaker 1: Jeff's killing to his bombshell reports of Robert Tellis's conduct
21:46
Speaker 1: as an elected official. Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard scou
21:51
Speaker 1: said Jeff's articles ruined Robert Tellis's political career and likely
21:55
Speaker 1: also his marriage. These facts established a strong motive, They
22:01
Speaker 1: presented a report outlining the abundance of evidence compiled against
22:05
Speaker 1: Robert Tellus. This included more surveillance footage which evidently implies
22:10
Speaker 1: or directly shows Robert waiting by the side of Jeff's house,
22:14
Speaker 1: calling out to the journalist when he arrived home, luring
22:17
Speaker 1: him to the side of the house, and then mounting
22:20
Speaker 1: him and stabbing him to death.
22:26
Speaker 12: Based on the vehicle used that appears to have driven
22:33
Speaker 12: to the victim's home from the defendant's home and then
22:35
Speaker 12: back to the defendant's home during the time of the murder,
22:38
Speaker 12: the fact that, according to this report, it's alleged the
22:42
Speaker 12: defendant cell phone was activity was terminated immediately prior to
22:51
Speaker 12: the time of the murder, during the murder, and right after.
22:54
Speaker 1: The murder, Justice of the Peace Elena Lee Graham ruled
23:00
Speaker 1: that Robert Tellus would be held without bail. Robert's attorneys
23:06
Speaker 1: had advised him not to speak with the media, at
23:09
Speaker 1: least not about the murder case, but Robert was not
23:12
Speaker 1: one to stay out of the limelight entirely from jail,
23:16
Speaker 1: A local reporter sat down with Robert and asked him
23:19
Speaker 1: if he had any role in the murder of Jeff Gherman.
23:22
Speaker 1: He was then asked about the body cam footage from
23:25
Speaker 1: twenty twenty that showed him arguing with police.
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Speaker 13: Again, you know, I frankly hadn't seen it. I don't
23:35
Speaker 13: know what I was doing. I blacked out whom I
23:43
Speaker 13: was not in control. I don't know medically, scientifically what
23:49
Speaker 13: exactly was in control, but I was not conscious.
23:55
Speaker 12: We're here talking to you, and I say.
23:56
Speaker 13: That I understand. And again, like I said, I I
24:00
Speaker 13: made my statement, and I help you understand. You know again,
24:07
Speaker 13: you know, I've got to take the advice of attorneys
24:09
Speaker 13: and just not speak about the situation.
24:14
Speaker 1: Robert was easily indicted by a grand jury on one
24:17
Speaker 1: count of murder with a deadly weapon. The state decided
24:22
Speaker 1: not to seek the death penalty.
24:25
Speaker 2: Robert Tellas.
24:28
Speaker 11: Today, the Clark County District Attorney on behalf of the
24:35
Speaker 11: state of Nevada has officially file a criminal complaint charging
24:41
Speaker 11: you with a crime of murder.
24:46
Speaker 3: The likelihood of condition is hot. One of the.
24:48
Speaker 1: Factors is the gravity of what he did.
24:50
Speaker 3: There is no more serious crime than murder, and this
24:53
Speaker 3: is what he has done in this case.
24:57
Speaker 1: Additional hearings were held to formally remove Robert Tellis from
25:01
Speaker 1: his office. Although he had lost the election to read
25:04
Speaker 1: a read, his term did not expire until the following January.
25:08
Speaker 1: This meant that since his arrest in September, Robert had
25:12
Speaker 1: been receiving his regular salary from the county at a
25:15
Speaker 1: rate of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars per year.
25:18
Speaker 1: The judge promptly relieved Robert Tellis of his duties and
25:22
Speaker 1: his salary. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Robert had a difficult time retaining
25:27
Speaker 1: attorneys after moving through multiple different legal counsel. The lawyer,
25:32
Speaker 1: who had never practiced criminal law, made a request to
25:35
Speaker 1: represent himself.
25:41
Speaker 3: But again, this is a temporary situation, and represent myself
25:47
Speaker 3: for at least a couple of months. I'll make sure
25:48
Speaker 3: that I'm in a posian to hire another journey because.
25:52
Speaker 14: Again playing game, you're not going to represent yourself for
25:59
Speaker 14: a couple months and then hire someone else. If you
26:01
Speaker 14: want to hire someone else, that's fine. I'm going to
26:04
Speaker 14: give you an opportunity to do that.
26:07
Speaker 3: I want to represent myself.
26:08
Speaker 1: That Judge Michelle Levitt questioned Robert for forty five minutes
26:14
Speaker 1: about his ability to represent himself.
26:18
Speaker 14: And you understand that once you designed on self representation,
26:21
Speaker 14: you don't get to change your mind in the middle
26:24
Speaker 14: of the scene and request an attorney. I'm saying I
26:28
Speaker 14: made it pretty clear we're not playing games here and
26:31
Speaker 14: that even if you represents yourself, you're probably off going
26:34
Speaker 14: to get that trial.
26:35
Speaker 4: They moved up.
26:38
Speaker 1: The judge eventually granted Robert's request to represent himself, saying
26:42
Speaker 1: she was not playing any games with him. Robert then
26:45
Speaker 1: filed a motion to have Judge Levitt removed from the case.
26:49
Speaker 1: He claimed her reprimanding him about his lack of background
26:52
Speaker 1: and understanding of criminal law was bias against him. His
26:57
Speaker 1: argument failed. Free from the constraints imposed by external legal counsel,
27:03
Speaker 1: Robert jumped at requests from the media to discuss the
27:06
Speaker 1: case and to proclaim his innocence. What possible defense could
27:11
Speaker 1: he be preparing in the face of the physical evidence,
27:14
Speaker 1: his public motive, and the video surveillance. Well, he must
27:19
Speaker 1: have been framed.
27:22
Speaker 8: I need to say that I'm innocent and that I
27:25
Speaker 8: was framed. I don't have proof of who did it,
27:28
Speaker 8: but I know who gained or who we are gained
27:31
Speaker 8: from framing me. As far as the vehicle goes that
27:36
Speaker 8: there's a vehicle that looks like mine. As far as
27:38
Speaker 8: any other evidence goes, again, as far as what time
27:41
Speaker 8: it may have been planted, I couldn't say. You know again,
27:45
Speaker 8: I know it's an incredible story.
27:46
Speaker 13: But that is the story.
27:51
Speaker 1: Friends of Jeff Garman, of which he had many remained
27:54
Speaker 1: distraught over his death and outraged that his alleged killers'
27:58
Speaker 1: behavior went unchecked for so long. If someone had stepped up,
28:02
Speaker 1: they wouldn't have lost Jeff.
28:05
Speaker 6: We lost Jeff because nobody listened.
28:08
Speaker 15: I wish the county would have done the same thing.
28:10
Speaker 15: I wish the county people would have done their job
28:12
Speaker 15: as human resources. I wish the county people who we
28:15
Speaker 15: paid diversity for would have stepped in, because then this
28:18
Speaker 15: predator can had his head caught off like a snake
28:21
Speaker 15: where it belongs.
28:24
Speaker 1: The mistreated and desperate workers that reached out to Jeff
28:28
Speaker 1: called him their hero. He had the courage to speak
28:31
Speaker 1: out about the conditions at the county office, just as
28:34
Speaker 1: he had over decades of reporting on corruption and misdeeds
28:38
Speaker 1: of the city's most elite and powerful. It was a
28:41
Speaker 1: dangerous task that Jeff Garman undertook, but he did it
28:45
Speaker 1: with courage and integrity. The prosecution is expected to take
28:50
Speaker 1: quite a long time in Robert's case, possibly years before
28:54
Speaker 1: a trial formally begins. The court system remains in backlog
28:58
Speaker 1: post COVID, and the serious business of addressing the prosecution
29:02
Speaker 1: of an alleged killer will obviously take time when the
29:06
Speaker 1: time does come. Robert Tellis has said that he plans
29:09
Speaker 1: on taking the stand in his own defense and that
29:18
Speaker 1: was the tragic murder of Jeff German in the bizarre
29:21
Speaker 1: case of Robert Tellis. Thanks for watching. I'm Kevin. This
29:26
Speaker 1: is just tot lounge and I'll see in the next one.