The Assassination of Jeff German | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[Music] I'll never forget that day something sinister happened something unimaginable my cell phone rings and
it's Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo Sheriff says to me Glenn I'm calling about Jeff
Gman and he says Jeff's dead just like that just like that Jeff Gan was found dead with stab
wounds outside his home around 10:30 yesterday morning Metro Police are asking for the Public's help they're
saying this is the suspect I couldn't even believe it I had so many questions who would do this
I mean how did this happen just how big a list of people might have wanted Jeff dead that's a
line of people that runs from here to Los Angeles this guy's written about terrible people who've done awful things
for over 40 years the worst kinds of people they called him Tony the ant but Tony
spilatro was a big figure in the mafia he had a special in covering organized crime you know he was gutsy and
fearless Jeff Gman was Guided by an innate sense of right and wrong if he knew someone was engaging in
criminal activity unethical activity inappropriate behavior he wanted to do that story he
wanted to bring it why we couldn't believe he would even take a call from us but he did give me a
sense of what state you were in when you called Jeff gar we were desperate in fear every day it was just survival one
step in front of the other one day at a time the only person that listened to us
and the only person that tried to do something that concretely put their name on the line to try to that listened to
us was was Jeff gar was Jeff he did something and he fought for us and he is 100% our hero and if I was to
talk to him today I think the first thing I would say is I'm [Music] sorry as Jeff's editor his colleague did
you ever sense any danger in covering this story there was absolutely no suggestion no hint that this would end
the way it did none [Music] [Music] on September 2nd 2022 it was a boiling hot late summer day in
Las Vegas and people were getting ready for the Labor Day weekend it was late morning when in
broad daylight something terrible happened as investigative journalist for the Las Vegas Review
Journal Brianna Ericson and Ronda prast had seen a lot of bad people do a lot of
bad things but nothing came close to the Maia vellan plot to murder their friend
and colleague Jeff Gman Jeff Gman was at his house on vacation he'd gone out to get something to
eat he came back shut his garage door you could see in the surveillance video from across the street that
someone an as salant came into his yard went to the the left side of his house went inside the gate shut the
gate and then we see Jeff moments later opening his garage door and he was instantly ambushed when he turned the
corner to where that person was lying in weit in the video you can kind of see a
struggle but Jeff ultimately falls to the ground and he never gets up what happened to him in that attack Jeff
was stabbed he was stabbed seven times four times in the neck three in the Torso seven stab wounds did that suggest
what kind of a killing this was to me this was a very personal attack to stab someone in such a short time viciously
seven times with no warning a concerned neighbor found Jeff garan's body hidden behind some bushes 24 hours
later 911 emergency for b965 do you need police fire medical I have a neighbor across the street from the he's Ling in
the side yard um I believe he's dead he's got blood over it was just a terrible thing to know that he was lying
there and we wondered whether he could have been saved but medical experts told us later that he likely died with in a
minute or two it was a small Mercy for a man who had spent his life fighting for the
underdog at the base he just wanted to help people and protect people you know and expose
wrongdoing from the start Jeff Gman was shooting for big gang and when he came from Wisconsin in the 70s Vegas was the
serengetti Mark Fiero a TV reporter at the time became a lifelong friend and trusted
Source Jeff Gman at the outset was a a reporter who caught the most important beat in Las Vegas of his day that was
organized crime then a reporter for the Las Vegas son Jeff took on one of the biggest meanus Mobsters on the Strip a
prime target of the feds is Tony spalatro the outfit's representative in Vegas spalatro has Tony spalatro a power
player for the Chicago mob played by Joe pesi in scorsese's film Casino you said
I'm bringing heat on you here's Jeff Gman talking about spilatro in the podcast mobbed up he had a reputation
for being a brutal killer yet he was never convicted of a single murder a podcast Jeff made about a year before he
died he had the coldest eyes I've ever SE seene in my stories I got used to calling spalatro by his street name Tony
the ant he hated that and it sometimes left me at the receiving end of spo's nasty stairs and his menacing fits of
anger the irony of all of this is is that Jeff was not a tall man was not a strong man but he toughed it out and he
went toe-to-toe with these guys year in and year out and some of these guys were
dangerous guys try as they did they couldn't scare him says Briana after his tires had been slashed
and some spooky things were happening to him he told a mob affiliate in a bar to
call off his dogs then he got punched in the face he later described that as a badge of honor a couple of hours later
with four stitches under my lip I had a war story to tell as the mob slowly lost its grip on
Vegas Jeff built a career exposing dirty business government corruption and crime
Ronda the former assistant managing editor for investigations at the RJ worked with him for 3 years he kept
digging and digging and digging and he was like the dog the little dog that would take a bite of your pants and
wouldn't let go you know he was just so laser focused on continuing to go deeper
and deeper and deeper into a story that tenacity helped him expose the truth in stories that could have remained in the
shadows he was one of the few journalists along with his colleague David Ferrara to report on the Susan
Winters case a woman whose parents doubted the suicide ruling in their daughter's death and Jeff started
putting pieces together working with the attorney for the family that the way that she killed herself was so
unseemly that it just didn't add up and once he started and he started pulling on that thread and then he started
pulling on a rope and then it turned into a chain that chain turned into a series of stories that targeted the
husband turns out Susan died from ingesting a lethal combination of painkillers and
antifreeze the husband who was charged with murder ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sent to
prison as hard charging and public as Jeff was in his work life the lifelong bachelor
was notoriously private about his personal life he was always back to business back to business this man was
born to be a reporter a man who lived for his job and as it turns out a man who may have died for
it the entire Newsroom rallied together his colleagues had no idea who did this or why
but they were determined to do what Jeff Gman would have done find [Music] [Music]
out the RJ staff was in mourning there sorrow in full display on Jeff garman's desk it's a reminder that this team is
not going to be the same without him but we can carry on the way he would want us
to and that meant doing what he would have done the staff started tugging on threads and searching for Clues working
non-stop on one of the most important stories of their careers who killed Jeff Gman
immediately I started thinking in my head all right who had threatened Jeff in any way in the last 5 months who
could have possibly done this executive editor Glenn cook asked Ronda to come up with a short list of
people to consider one of the names I gave him was Robert Tellus and who is Robert Tellus he was a
Clark County elected official in charge of the public administrator's office which handles Estates of people who were
deceased one of the estate coordinators in ts's office Alicia Goodwin had reached out to Jeff Gman in March of
2022 she had filed a formal complaint with the Clark County Office of diversity on behalf of herself and some
colleagues claiming Robert Tellus harassed bullied and discriminated against them he was a horrible the
horrible human being monster is the right word but Alicia says the county did nothing it was he's an elected
official there's nothing we can do Jeff agreed to hear what Alicia and her colleagues Norine pangan Rita Reed
and Jessica Coleman had to say and when he finally talked to us and he let us tell what had happened to us and he said
no I'm going to look into this I I think that's the only thing that gave us enough energy to keep
going according to the women the trouble began almost immediately after Robert Tellus took office in January
2019 Rita a supervisor was his second in command and a 12-year veteran of the office he came in very abruptly into the
office and he slammed his palms down on my desk with a with a real loud bang I oh yes absolutely and he leaned forward
and he said we're ripping off the bandage you no longer supervise anyone no no one reports to you they all report
to me and he turned around and he walked out and I just sat there stunned the women say they were ordered
not to speak to each other in the office it it felt dangerous to even have a hello good morning conversation with
co-workers in passing if caught the consequences could be severe says Alicia she remembers getting called into ts's
office after he saw her and two other women talking we walked into his office and he said sit down and shut up
you're not going to talk I'm going to talk and he just got this look on his face he stood back and he pointed at nin
and said you what was it like to be in that room and receiving that it was scary because I did not want to upset
him because I knew how he could be despite years of service all the women say they feared for their jobs and
Jessica who safeguarded the property of the deceased in a caged room says she feared for her physical safety she says
Tellus would sometimes come in and threaten her there was an instance where he got
in my face and you know he's yelling and I'm sort of backed up against um the cage door he was trying to physically
intimidate you yes yes he would bring his chairs up really close and and demand that you really pay attention and
look him in the eye while he told you horrible things one of those horrible things says Jessica almost did her in
alone in the cage together she says tell us started by saying that he noticed she
never talked to anyone in the office a bizarre comment considering his no talking Rule and he goes if you keep
going down this road you're going to be like our cases and you're just going to die alone and nobody's going to find you
and I sat there and cried um and then after that it's hard to admit then I started um thinking the best thing I
could do would be to sacrifice myself for the girls and I had actually picked out a place um that I was going to hang
myself in the vault in view of the door because he would always come by and and make sure I was working and I thought
this will be good if they have to find me this way then the county will have to do
something mercifully Jessica realized that was not the solution to the problem but they came up with another plan the
women belied tus was having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate in the office named
Roberta Roberta they claimed used that relationship to assume power and privilege Beyond her job title is there
any doubt in your mind that the two of them were having a romantic Affair no absolutely not none whatsoever no but
they needed proof so they decided to follow them we had seen a pattern short dress day if
they went the same direction we knew that we needed to go it was always to the same place Place
says Alicia a parking garage in a nearby Mall the alleged lovers would park next
to each other we started to take pictures and we started to video that's Roberta's car on the left Robert ts's on
the right so how did you position yourselves where you could get some video very carefully very in a car
sometimes in a car sometimes we would get out of our car there were there were kind of some cutouts and pillars where
you could get angles here and there and we just tried to move around and to get the best that we could according to the
women the alleged lovers would ultimately end up in the back seat of Roberta's car Roberta has said that they
would sit in the back seat because she wanted to be able to make eye contact with him as they were having important
office discussions yeah that is what she said and and okay and your reaction to that well that last video we got we had
a little better recorder you can see the the shadows and you can see those heads
going together we felt it was so inappropriate but this was the shot they believed was the most telling Roberta
leaving the car and smoothing down her dress it was so unbelievable and it just took a moment to to digest that it would
I mean at that moment it was like so real after seeing the videos Jeff asked Roberta about them she responded I have
not had an inappropriate relationship with him the RJ published the story let me
read the lead in this first article the Clark County public administrator's office has been mired in turmoil and
internal dissension over the past two years with allegations of emotional stress bullying and favoritism leading
to secret videotaping of the boss and a coworker outside the office that story went all over the state of Nevada and
before long all over the country as this settled in are you thinking mission accomplished or you
thinking what's going to happen to us next both yeah the terror didn't stop the terror almost just got worse it just
changed face what do you make of Robert tz's alleged behavior in the workplace chat
now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and [Music] X Jeff gan's story with its allegations
of turmoil bullying and hostility had a Swift and Searing effect as the public administrator's office the county
finally sent in an outside consultant and Robert Tellus lost his bid for re-election in the primary ironically to
his arch enemy Rita Reed but Jeff wasn't through with Robert Tellus yet he wrote
three more scathing pieces chronicling the fall of the once upand cominging young Democrat and another story was in
the works but Jeff Gman did not survive to write it Jeff Gman was found stabbed to
death outside his home in the Northwest when news of Jeff's murder broke the women Jeff had fought for were overcome
with grief but also dread afraid of what they may have Unleashed Alicia's dad a former Las Vegas police detective who
introduced her to Jeff said what they were all thinking my dad called me first thing in the
morning and said that Jeff had been killed and I didn't even get to react before my dad's
next word were I know who my first suspect is as soon as those words came out of his mouth I knew immediately too
that it was Robert that it was Robert the staff at the Las Vegas Review Journal was wondering the same thing
could Robert Tellus have been involved the journalistic hounds are are released right yes we weren't going to do
anything until Every Little Rock was overturned and every little fact was found out about what what this guy was
and who he was Arc now the investigations editor was a reporter at the time and we
started finding out a lot of interesting things about him for example he was arrested while he was public
administrator for choking his wife can you please send somebody here my husband is going crazy trying there's body cam
video that we have obtained of that who would I hit cameras our cameras on you guys just want to take me down cuz I'm a
public official Tellis slurring his words was arrested for domestic battery and resisting arrest there is sufficient
evidence to book me right now there is sufficient evidence to book you right now yes and I'm I'm not trying to be
like I'm a public official so you know do what I want you to do I'm saying I'm not a idiot mhm he received a suspended
90day sentence on the resisting charge and was is ordered to attend a corrective thinking class the battery
charge was dismissed no one ever heard about it because no one covers DUIs and domestics
and that flew under the radar looking back there were other warning signs says Brianna such as these
a series of tweets tell us posted in response to Jeff's reporting read that one for me looking forward to lying
smear piece number four by jgan RJ # onetick Pony I think he's mad that I haven't crawled into a hole and died
laughing emoji what did you think of that one somebody who's pretty pissed off but the journalists knew angry
tweets didn't prove anything they needed facts and facts were hard to come by all
they had were these two still surveillance photographs the police had released of the suspect in Jeff's
neighborhood the outfit bizarre as it seems may have been a strategic Choice says art the outfit is very typical of
what um construction workers and people who do landscaping wear because they want to cover up all their skin from the
sun when the police released a surveillance video review journal photographer Kevin Cannon immedi Ely
noticed something the big hat and orange reflective shirt couldn't hide the man's
walk his gate how would you describe that gate it's it's a bit of a a limp in a favor
on one side it seems Kevin Went digging in his files and found this a walking shot he had taken of Robert Tellus when
Jeff interviewed him at his office the staff compared both videos side by side I'm not
sure how to describe it but it was definitely The Identical gate in my mind Kevin then went through hundreds of
still photos he had taken that day and found this it's a very chilling photo and it's the one and only photo where
Jeff and Tellus are in the same photo executive editor Glen cook says his staff moved forward on the operating
theory that Robert Tellus could have been the killer but they still didn't have hard
evidence then the police released this a photo of the suspect's car a maroon Yukon Denali show me what you did but
you just type in the address you pull up the Google Street View assistant City editor David Ferrara immediately typed
ts's home address into Google Earth and if you zoom in on the house that maroon vehicle is there parked in
the driveway the maroon SUV was registered to tell Us's wife and at that moment we send reporters and
photographers straight to the house and the message I give our Metro editor is do not engage do not approach do not be
seen this man is very likely a suspect in the murder of your colleague and we can't predict how he's going to react to
anyone being near him but the photographer crouching behind his dashboard managed to get what he came for and is
this the picture that is taken that's the photo this is the money photo it's the money shot Robert Tellus on a
scorching hot10 degree day is in jeans in his driveway washing the maroon GMC Yukon
Denali this must have been a moment where I don't know if there's any cheering going on in your Newsroom room
but what a development what does this mean well it means that possibly Jeff was killed by the last story he wrote
about I mean this was his last investigation and and the suspect appears to be the guy he wrote about and
basically took him out of office without corroboration from police documents the
review journal couldn't go with the story but Glen cook was betting it wouldn't be long his reporters had seen
unmarked police cars outside Robert ts's home we have every reason to believe at
this point that it's only a matter of time before a search warrant is going to be executed at that house a search that
will uncover crucial [Music] evidence as the investigators geared up to serve Robert Tellus with a search
warrant the review journal needed to be sure it would be the first to break the news it was important because Jeff was
always first and we wouldn't want to let him down and not be the first we polish
that story and then we sit on it until police move in in the early morning of September 7th
2022 just 5 days after Jeff garman's murder Tellus was brought in for questioning as
police searched his home and cars while he was in custody detectives collected a
DNA sample from tus they also took the jeans he was wearing into evidence and gave him a white paper suit to change
into before he was taken back to his house and swarmed by reporters eagerly awaiting his arrival did you do this did
you commit this murder did you do this tell us anything inside ts's home investigators say they found gym shoes
and a duffel bag similar to what was seen in the surveillance video and when they looked in the garage detectives say
they discovered even more a straw sun hat or what was left of it the sun hat the sun hat cut up into pieces
yes but police say the most crucial piece of evidence would come from the DNA sample that was taken from Tellus
earlier that day we received positive DNA results that showed Robert ts's DNA at the crime
scene ts's DNA was under Jeff's fingernails there's no doubt in my mind that Jeff knew exactly what was
happening in that Split Second and he made sure he got the [Music] evidence with a DNA match apparently
secured the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department descended on Robert ts's home once again and began clearing
the area for an arrest and this is where he was arrested yes review journal photographer Kevin Cannon was one of
dozens of media who had been waiting outside ts's home that day what happens when the cops arrive suddenly the police
said okay everybody out they kicked the entire news everyone who was here out where do
you go so I made a beine to the front door of a neighbor who I befriended earlier when I arrived and they without
saying a word opened the door and welcom me in and walk me to their backyard where I could have a view of ts's house
and you could still see the house from your your advantage from back yeah back in the RJ Newsroom some of the
staff anxiously kept up with what was happening at the scene through the office's police radio and heard that
Tellus refused to come out of his home our Target is still calm on the uh phone however he has made a couple four five
comments 405 comments a code Las Vegas Police use to indicate comments associated with
self harm it was kind of scary at that point we were thinking is is this all going to
end on his terms now Bas on the four or five comments we're going to go ahead and make the official request for
SL well my colleagues heard through the scanner that they were going to move in because he had cut himself and they
wanted to save him before before he harmed himself more and they wanted to get to him
right the SWAT team made its move and that's when Kevin got ready and so you were positioned you were ready to go
then right I was ready to go the whole time I mean I had my finger on the button the whole time where do you look
what do you see behind you well I see them rolling them out on a stretcher down around that corner down that path
out the driveway and put in an amulance right here Kevin was the only photographer that day to capture ts's
dramatic arrest his image of Tellus on the stretcher made the front page of the review journal the following morning the
next day I uh opened the paper and there was the photo on the front page with the
banner headline stunning arrest and and I it was stunning and satisfying for you
after all that very satisfying it becomes huge news obviously all over the country
a reporter allegedly killed by a politician for a story he wrote that's pretty unheard
of after Tellus was treated at the hospital for his self-inflicted injuries he was booked into the Clark County
Detention Center 6 weeks later tus was indicted by a grand jury for murder with use of a deadly weapon I have you plead
guilty or not guilty not guilty soon after after evidence from the grand chury was released by The
Clark County District Court including that grainy surveillance Attack video I think probably what we found
some of the most disturbing is the last three videos minutes later it shows the as salent returning to the scene of the
crime and parking that maroon Yukon Denali in front of Jeff's driveway and now you'll see him walk over and make
sure that Jeff is dead and you're theorizing he is checking to see if he's dead because obviously Jeff saw this
this person he wants to make sure that there's not a witness that's still alive seemingly satisfied the suspect walked
back to his car and left since his arrest tus has been in jail awaiting trial did you murder Jeff
[Music] Gman what do you make of the evidence found in side of Robert tell's home see
more evidence photos from the case at 48 [Music] hours.com hey Robert good morning we met
Robert Tellus for a video interview at the Clark County Detention Center and began with the question on everyone's
mind did you murder Jeff Gman no sir I did not if you did not commit this murder
who did I will Reserve that for trial you have said that you were framed do you stand by that in this
conversation I do I absolutely do Tellis says he can explain the evidence against him the torn-up sun hat
the Yukon Denali and his DNA under Jeff's fingernails I say that that evidence or so-called
evidence was planted along with the other items that were allegedly found in my home as well and we will go ahead and
prove that at trial how could someone who is trying to frame you plant your DNA under his fingernails how would that
have have happened they first they would have had to have gotten your DNA and then when would they have planted it
under his fingernails it seems far-fetched well you know crazier things have happened and I'll tell you that I didn't
kill Mr German come on man that's overwhelming DNA ends up under his fingernails your DNA this is an
overwhelming case against you Robert that you committed this murder and again sir you know
you have the facts wrong and I will demonstrate a trial he also says he will show he didn't do those things Gman
wrote about in his article Robert you're saying that what these women have said to me what they told
Jeff Gman and he printed those are all lies if you look at what Mr German printed none of it was none of it had
any facts within it right it was all alleged opinion about you know what how they felt that that I I
acted but it's hard to argue with this the footage the women shot of their boss and his alleged lover in the parking
garage let me ask you straight were you and Roberta having an affair no she was a confidant um but I I'll leave it
at that but Jeff was not willing to leave it at that he was planning on writing another piece according to
police documents Tellis and Roberta got word the day before the murder that there was a planned release of emails
and messages between her and Tellus to the review journal there was a Freedom of Information requests that Jeff had
put out and you were told that new messages and emails were going to come out describing the relationship between
you and Roberta Communications between the two of you and it suggested that you made a decision to murder him to try to
silence that to prevent that from being published what do you say about that and
I say that's a mischaracterization of of things I'll tell you that what was going
to be released and I saw was going to be released um had no inklings of of any type of you know confidential
relationship any type of supposed Affair it was all business related so that would not have been a motivation
because there was nothing that was going to be produced that that would look bad
prosecutors have mentioned this as a contributing motive to the murder in Robert ts's mind Jeff Gman ruined his
marriage ruined his political career embarrassed him and was continuing to report on him rather than leave him
alone if the intention of the alleged killing was to stop Jeff's reporting it didn't work after his murder the RJ
journalists Hunted through Jeff's notes picking up where Jeff left off and completed the stories Jeff had been
working on at the time of his death including another on Robert ts's toxic past a story that investigates claims of
sexual harassment all of which he has denied the main thing here is you cannot kill a reporter and kill the
story you just can't do that in in life Jeff Gman was known to protect his sources at all
costs in death Jeff was still protecting them after the murder the police took all his devices which harbored the names
of countless sources the review journal went to court and in a hardfought case that went all
the way to the Nevada Supreme Court the paper won protection for his sources that'll be the gar rule that you will
not be able to go into a reporter's files you will not be able to go through their phone you will not be able to look
at their sources even after death these four Jeff Gman sources are not about to let the world forget the
reporter who fought to protect them they have attended almost every hearing trying to come to terms with their
feelings of guilt because no matter what logic is in your head it's not your fault that Jeff made his choices and
that he was a professional your heart tells you if we wouldn't have made that call
he wouldn't have died in that violent way that day if I was to talk to him today I think the first thing I would
say I'm sorry but not for him for me because he wouldn't expect my apology ology but I need to get
it Jeff Gman was a reporter's reporter one of the good guys a man who spent a lifetime speaking truth to power truths
that are now baked into the history of this place a neon strip of gritty stories laid bare beneath the desert sky
he told anyone who asked that he was never going to retire that he was going to report until last breath and that's
exactly what he did and he gave his life to this job he literally gave his life to this job I think that's his
[Music] legacy need more time with 48 Hours go deep behind every True Crime episode
with firsthand accounts from 48 Hours investigations were you at all prepared for what happened in this case shock is
the word that comes to mind get inside the twists and turns and get in on the case listen to postmortem from 48 hours
now available wherever you get your podcasts [Music] hi everyone I'm anarie green and welcome
to postmortem today we're going to dig into the murder of Las Vegas Review Journal reporter Jeff Gman and joining
me now to take us behind the scenes of 48 hours is correspondent Peter vanent and producer Liza Finley hello anarie
hey anarie it's great to be back so of course because I'm a journalist one of the things that really drew me to this
story is that it is the story of how vulnerable journalists can be but how his fellow reporters rallied around how
they didn't just report on one of their own but it was almost another investigation that they were conducting
at the same time absolutely with journalists because we we often times deal with very difficult stories
emotional stories stories in which a a life has been lost it is fraught at times with some danger because you have
people who we may be pursuing who are ected killers and as a result there is a bond that that is formed among
journalists and when one of us is lost in a situation like this everyone rallies everyone wants to come to the
aid and everyone wants to try to solve the crime it also brings to mind that it could have been me and they were
terrified that this was he was killed for a story that others had been working on so they lived in fear looking over
their shoulders that they might be next so let's kind of go through the case how
did it all unfold well this goes back to September 2nd 2022 uh Jeff Gman was attacked outside
his home in Las Vegas and of all places that one would think you might be attacked that's kind of the last place
right you feel safe when you're at your home generally and the tragedy in this too was that you know a neighbor didn't
discover his body till about a day later he' been attacked on the side of his his
house and he had been stabbed seven times in the neck and and nobody had heard any screaming or anything like
that Jeff's colleagues at the Las Vegas Review Journal suspected a man named Robert Tellis he was the public
administrator which is an office that dealt with people who died when they would sort out their Estates Jeff had
reported several articles claiming that Tellus had been demeaning toward his employees and was having an affair with
a subordinate in his office Jeff Gman was an incredible investigative journalist and he he cut his teeth and
made his name in Las Vegas uh going after some of the most powerful U Mobsters Liza tell the story he was even
attacked by one in a in a bar right he was at a like at a bar sort of a party and this mafiosa type guy comes up to
him and and Jeff said to him call your dogs off you know it's like leave me alone and then the the guy punched Jeff
in the face but of course he loved that right because now he had a po story yeah
he did he definitely did not back down but I got to tell you this is something that I've thought about a lot actually
with 48 hours with the correspondents and the producers because you know often when
you're pursuing these stories I wonder about how vulnerable you guys are and do you ever sort of consider that have you
found yourself in a situation where you were threatened or concerned one time I was uh doing a story I went up to uh
where a um a a suspect um was was hiding out and we got up to the front door and
he had put a sign out there that said in a matter of seconds you'll be in extreme
pain and he had put an electrical plate on the ground and had batteries hooked up to it we jumped off uh of that just
in time but yes throughout my career I have done stories in which I have been threatened one just a couple years ago
we did a murder For Hire investigation that took us all over the world and my my camera guy is attacked and he he was
bloodied by this attack by by the suspect that we were pursuing at the time I have done stories that were
controversial in which uh one time uh somebody drove a in the middle of the night uh a giant diesel pickup truck in
front of my house turned on the lights on bright and floored and was screaming woke up all the neighbors and stuff
called the cops but he he took off really quickly and and I've also noticed a big change since we both we've been at
this for a while Peter and I and uh there's an anti-media sentiment going around and I was uh covering the Idaho
student murders and I was uh in the in the parking lot and there it's an apolitical story a murder story and
these these guys we were just like yelling and were so hostile and driving and these big huge trucks and revving it
up and I'm like my goodness it's like it's scary it is a little scary how hated uh journalists are these days I mean
it's killed the messenger time yeah I think that's a really really Keen observation I think of often when we
talk about journalists being vulnerable journalists being killed we think about this happening overseas and not here and
uh the story sort of serves as such a good reminder that we should sort of be aware of the risks that many people are
taking in order to get the truth out so you focus on two major investigations here conducted by concerned citizens
first let's talk about the four women in Robert ts's office who gathered evidence
against him and sent information to Jeff and one woman in particular Alicia Goodwin she filed two official
complaints with the county but Alicia says nothing was done Peter your interview with them it was it was
heartbreaking uh it was it was quite extraordinary um harassment emotional and and some of them felt physically
threatened can be so powerful when you are powerless and you have no place to turn
and then there's that striking moment during the interview when another woman Jessica who was an employee at the Clark
County public administrator's office talks about taking her own life just to get someone to pay attention let's
listen then I started um thinking the best thing I could do would be to sacrifice myself for the girls and had
actually picked out a place um that I was going to hang myself in the vault in view of the door because he would always
come by and and make sure I was working and I thought this will be good if they have to find me this way then the county
will have to do something the the job is just one portion of your life but somehow he was
able to taint everything about her world right there was no joy there was no point in going on it was really
something tell us had according to the women Tellus had rules in the office they were not allowed to speak to each
other during work hours at all not allowed to speak Jessica was isolated in this one room and he came in and um and
terrified her that she had reached a point where she was preparing to take her own life and she thought this would
be a way of drawing attention to this man and that she would save her colleagues
um it was unbelievable to look at her face the amount of extreme pain it shocked all of us we couldn't believe
this story afterwards and we talked about this off and on for days it really laid bare the kind of atmosphere that
was inside this office right the distress that they were experiencing I mean they told story after story about
having to sit in the car and cry before they walked into theice office and they were friends you know work friends and
they'd worked together for years they weren't allowed to communicate they had to sort of secretly meet in the parking
lot to say hello to each other it it was like a psychological torture where they
claimed that he slowly slowly took away all their dignity all their power in the
office but you know also I I think an important part of the story that really didn't make it into the hour is the
accountability of the county and that they did not respond to these women and they had the two formal complaints but
there were many calls to HR the women in ts's office said there were many pleased
for help and they ignored it he's an electric official you can't do anything at one point they even suggested that he
be the person who would be um dealing with all the complaints over them and um you know they were they were hopeless
try to imagine that right so they turned to Jeff Gman the investigative journalist because one of the women's
father was an investigator and said hey this guy talk to him see if he'd be interested H okay let's talk about why
Jeff took on this story you sort of touched on it a little bit because this is not his typical beat they called them
they were desperate and he promised to listen to them he didn't promise to do a story so he met them and he spent a lot
of time listening to them and investigating on his own but he really was a compassionate man and he was
really out to protect the people who couldn't protect themselves and he really felt for these women he saw the
the excruciating pain they were in because of this and this was an elected official you know who was being paid by
taxpayers and that was another big reason why he did it this was garan saying we have to hold our elected
officials to a higher standard they can't get away with this they work for us and Jeff Gman also found out that
these stringent rules uh that these women described as dictatorial well there was one woman in the office who uh
these rules did not apply to according to the women and that was a woman named Roberta um The Other Women talked about
how Roberta would go into tas's office and they'd hear all this giggling going on in there uh they they met all the
time they would they would go out at times uh during lunch he treated her with respect and
favoritism uh the women claimed that she had become like a second boss and then Liza what was short skirt day well they
began to suspect that Tellis and Roberta were having an affair of course he and Roberta denied any of this so they
started to notice every day that she wore a short skirt to work they would disappear for hour hours at a time
during the uh during the day and so that's what they called it short skirt day their antenna went up yeah these
women went above and beyond well it is amazing you see them and they're like you know they're chasing them following
them you know syruptitious videotaping them trying to get the proof uh because nobody would believe them
so the other big investigation this hour was the one that Jeff's colleagues at the Las Vegas Review Journal conducted
after his death now in the beginning all I had to go off of were two images from
the surveillance video of the as salant how did they begin to suspect Robert Tellus may have been responsible for
Jeff's death well if the first thing they did was look at the his recent stories in the past five months to see
if they they could could ID anybody who felt threatened by his writing uh his name immediately made that list because
he had tweeted out some very sort of angry tweets about Jeff um and don't forget the women also alerted the police
and so almost everybody involved thought about potentially Robert Tellis could be
a suspect and and keep in mind once the police got involved they checked all the
security cameras of the houses around there it's interesting that the surveillance footage the the suspect
outside the house was wearing this seemingly bizarre outfit a big straw sun hat and a orange reflective shirt and to
us in the east coast just weird but out there apparently they the construction workers and the people who work on uh
the grounds and things they wear that kind of thing cu the sun is that makes I thought it was a woman at first I guess
because of the hat but that makes sense right and then this part really was so fascinating to me when a review journal
photographer Kevin Canon sees the surveillance video of the suspect walking in Jeff's neighborhood he
immediately notices the unusual gate the way he walks I didn't think it was tremendously unusual but I guess because
I was focusing in on it I thought oh yeah I guess there is a little something there uh he went digging into his files
he finds video that he had taken of Robert Tellis on the day that Jeff went to the offices to to interview him um
the staff at the review journal then compare Kevin's video next to the video of the
suspect just another example of incredible detective work that these journalists are doing to help bring
Justice for their um their friend yeah when I looked at that video I always looked at the the suspects you know from
the shoulders up I was trying to figure out what's under that hat right what is this person look like but these
journalists noticed the gate and you're right it's ever so slight but they noticed it and they zoomed in on this
then there was more that these guys are digging into because they noticed there was a maroon SUV that was caught on the
neighbor surveillance camera tell that story Liza at the time of the attack once the attack occurs Jeff is is killed
uh the attack ER comes back drives a maroon Yukon Denali car back in and Parks it right in front of Jeff's um
house and goes in there and apparently um the journalists think to make sure that he was dead so this detective
journalist gets on Google Earth and puts in ts's address and there they see what's in his driveway but that Yukon
maroon Denali and it was like Bingo what a moment that was for that for that team
of reporters this this created this link and it's it's an amazing bit of investigative work that Jeff Gman would
have been very very proud of yeah I think it's so interesting um how creative you become when you're not in
law enforcement right you don't have the kind of access that law enforcement has
and so you have to figure out other ways to get to the bottom of a story did they
share any of this information that they uncovered with the police they did share
some of it yes they did and uh so did the women uh when when the the police released that picture of the Denali the
women recognized it as well they called the police so there's cross communication and independent
investigating which is what makes it so interesting and nobody wanted to step well we'll put it this way the
journalists did not want to step on the official investigation they did not want
to get in the way of it one of the things that the editor said uh when they noticed undercover cups at uh at ts's
house when they were there they backed away because they didn't want to get in the way of an investigation so just 5
days after Jeff's murder tell us is brought in for questioning as police search his home they search his cars can
you tell us anything that you know police may have learned about Tellis W he was in custody well what's
interesting is not so much what they heard it's what they saw and according to police they noticed that tus had a
bandage over his finger and they noticed several additional small abrasions on each Hand by this time they had they
knew of this surveillance video there was a struggle that occurred so they also noticed that the bandage over the
tip of ts's left ring finger was removed and they saw a sharp force injury that had been
superglued uh according to police tell us had super glued it to close it you know to keep it from from bleeding and
that's an odd thing as well I mean is it because it was particularly deep and maybe he didn't want to have to go see
go to the hospital to get it stitched up that well this is allation but it's it would keep it from
bleeding and yeah then he wouldn't have to have it stitched if he you know uh as
somebody in my long life I've had an incision that has been glued like that it can be quite remarkable how it works
but this was this was crude and it was super glue it wasn't medical so let's remind everyone of some of the evidence
that police found in ts's house right they find gym shoes they find a duffel bag it's really similar to what you can
see in the surveillance video um they find that a distinctive straw hat but it's all cut up into little pieces and
then later of course the DNA under Jeff's fingernails but I mean what's what's interesting about that attack you
you remember he's covered Head To Toe with all this sort of garments and uh and Jeff at the time I mean how he ended
up getting some DNA under his finger nails is really I mean it's kind of heroic and the people like his editor
and his his colleagues they said that was no accident this guy knew what he was doing he was going to get that DNA
he was going to make sure that person was convicted and think of it the this is just a matter of seconds seven stab
wounds right he knows his life is is is soon to be over and in that those few seconds he reaches out to scratch his
attacker it's pretty damning evidence but I want to play a short clip of ts's explanation because Peter you speak to
him and you say that to him you say this is pretty damning how do you explain this let's play some of that
sound I say that that evidence or so-called evidence was planted along with the other items that were allegedly
found in my home as well and we will go ahead and prove that at trial how could someone who is trying to frame you plant
your DNA under his fingernails how would that have have happened they first they
would have had to gotten your DNA and then when would they have planted it under his fingernails it seems
far-fetched [Music] well you know C sure things have happened and I'll tell you that I didn't
kill Mr German so this is the moment in the hour where I'm leaning in and then I oh my gosh he
actually spoke you had me like kind of jumping out of my chair the man who comes in he's not very tall he's slight
he is a handsome guy he speaks confidently and keep in mind folks he has not been convicted of anything yet
and he claims he has an explanation for everything Robert Tellus pleaded not guilty and at the time we talked with
him he was representing himself he was his own attorney he's a lawyer he went to uh law school a little later in life
in his late 30s I mean he's accomplished he was a real rising star in the Democratic Party The Party had high
hopes for him one day becoming you know mayor Governor I mean he was he he was ambitious man um when he walked in there
would had been some sort of a miscommunication and he wasn't expecting me he was expecting one of my colleagues
a a woman to be talking to him and for some reason and I know it was communicated to him he didn't think
there'd be a TV Camera there and he goes I didn't know we're doing this I would have shaved he became very much the
politician was about to be on television H so I know you asked him a ton of questions uh you told us his response to
the allegations from the women that he worked with that none of that happened all lies all lies he got into some
trouble before though right there was like a domestic B situation yes when actually when he held
the uh the job of public administrator he was arrested his wife had called 911 and accused him of choking her and he
was arrested and he was inebriated he told us and anybody else who wanted to listen that he had a big drinking
problem and um that he's now recovering but that he didn't know what he was doing that night did that go anywhere
the domestic battery was ultimately dismissed but he received a suspended 90day sentence on the resisting charge
resisting arrest charge and he was uh ordered to attend a corrective thinking class and that's I guess also when he
says he stopped drinking and you mentioned that he basically had an answer for everything
or a response I should say maybe for every question I I ended up um zeroing in even more on the fingernails during
the course of that interview where I just basically said come on man um this is this is overwhelming evidence against
you and he just kept saying the same thing I I look forward to my time in court there is an answer to everything I
can explain everything and he does say that he was framed uh so we have to wait for trial
and see what what story he has to tell it's a fact fascinating but also a tragic case um you know here you have a
journalist just doing his job shining a light on Abus of power and he pays for it with his life but you end the hour
with an uplifting note uh the review journal fought in court to protect Jeff's sources and files from the police
and the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement is prohibited from searching
and seizing of reporter's devices after their death very interesting what was the reaction from Jeff's colleagues that
was Jubilation uh proud they were very proud the the sources were everything to Jeff he was trusted people knew they
could trust him he had sources in police in the prosecution you know in government and
if these names ever got out it would be could be potentially very harmful to the
sources so these journalists fought really hard to protect what Jeff would have protected protected and spend his
life protecting and remember when when authorities attempt to get a hold of our our notebooks our computers in which we
have a lot of this information um what can happen maybe the unintended in some cases intended
consequences is that they don't just get evidence on that particular case but by
George they find out who is the number one source inside the police department let's say you know Jeff has done lots of
stories involving uh local police County Police they can find out who those sources are they could silence that they
could discipline or fire people and so this is crucially important to be able to protect sources and that was a major
victory uh for the review journal for that newspaper and ultimately it is a story about the importance of Journalism
and people who take it seriously and can change the world by speaking truth Jeff
Gman had the courage to challenge people in power and to bring Justice for our greater communities and he's gone that
voice is gone and this case by the way is not over tell us is heading to court and won't that be a fascinating time
because in my opinion since he says he was framed he's going to have to take the stand and tell that story because
how else can those details be revealed if not from tell us himself right and I know 48 hours will be on it um thank you
Peter and Liza another great hour and thank you so much for joining us for postmortem thanks Amar it's always a
pleasure so join us next Tuesday for another postmortem and watch 48 Hours of course it's Saturdays 109 Central on CBS
and streaming on Paramount plus and if you are liking the show please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple podcast and
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48 Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcasts [Music]

Las Vegas journalist Jeff German was stabbed to death while investigating claims a boss was toxic.

Watch "The Assassination of Jeff German" and then catch up with "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant and producer Liza Finley on "Post Mortem" as they discuss the suspicious evidence collected at the home of Robert Telles, a Clark County elected official with a history of domestic violence. In their interview with Robert, he claims he’s being framed for the murder of Journalist Jeff German, who built a career exposing government corruption and corporate crime.

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Jeff Gman was murdered, allegedly by Robert Tellus, after exposing corruption; his colleagues investigate his death and protect his sources.

Key points

A Hero for the Underdog. Jeff Gman dedicated his life to exposing wrongdoing and fighting for the vulnerable.
The Investigation Begins. After Jeff's murder, his colleagues rallied to uncover the truth behind his death.
The Allegations Against Robert Tellus. Jeff had been investigating Robert Tellus for harassment claims before his death.
The Chilling Discovery. A surveillance video leads to a shocking connection between Jeff's murder and Robert Tellus.
The Money Shot. The pivotal photo of Robert Tellus washing his car becomes crucial evidence in the case.
Dramatic Arrest. Robert Tellus is arrested in a dramatic scene captured by the media.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was just a terrible thing to know that he was lying there.

Discovery of Jeff's body.

6:24WatchSep 20, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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