LAS VEGAS — A trial date was set Wednesday for former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, who is accused of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.
Telles, 46, appeared briefly before District Judge Michelle Leavitt, who set the trial for April 17.
The defendant was indicted Oct. 20 on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon against a victim who is 60 or older. German, 69, was found dead with stab wounds outside his Las Vegas home on Sept. 3, the day after Telles allegedly walked onto German’s property and attacked him.
Prosecutors have accused Telles of attacking German because of articles German had written on Telles’ conduct as an elected official.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the murder charge during a court hearing last week.
On Wednesday, Leavitt ordered Telles to appear in court again for a status hearing on Feb. 1. Following Wednesday’s hearing, Telles’ public defender, Ryan Helmick, said he would be ready for a trial in April, but he declined to comment further on the case.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner also declined to comment.
New security footage was released Tuesday from a home across the street from German’s house. The footage showed two distant figures in a confrontation next to German’s house.
Police who searched Telles’ home found clothing matching items worn by a suspect seen in surveillance footage outside German’s house. Surveillance footage showed the suspect driving to the house in a maroon GMC Denali, which matches the description of a vehicle registered to Telles’ wife, according to authorities.
DNA found underneath German’s fingernails also matched Telles’ DNA, prosecutors have said.
Telles remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday without bail.
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