Jeff German's Family takes the Stand in Penalty Phase For Robert Telles's Murder Trial

St raise your right hand face you doly swear the testimony you're about to give this action shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God I do you may be seated please your first and last name for the record sure J Gman j a y uh G r m an may I proceed good afternoon sir good afternoon um can you tell us where uh yourself and your brother Jeff grew up sure uh our family is from Milwaukee Wisconsin Jeff was born in 1953 I was born in 1959 so we're six years apart okay so he's the older brother he is yeah and out of how many siblings four and so who are the other two um my two sisters Julie and Jill and they're present in the courtroom as well they are yes um what did kind of things did Jeff like to do when he was a kid well Jeff was into sports um in fact he taught me most everything I know about sports he was he was just he was a good athlete he excelled in basketball football uh golf tennis he was just a natural athlete um and he was a good student he where did he end up going to like college and where did he study Jeff studied at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee where he got his bachelor's degree and then he got his master's degree in uh journalism I believe at Marquette University okay and when when was it that he came to Las Vegas 1978 so quite a while ago yep do you know where he worked prior to working at the review journal did he work at the sun oh he did yeah his when he moved out here he started working at the Las Vegas Sun okay so he was a reporter for a number of years here yeah since he moved out here yeah he took he took the job and and drove his car across country do you remember him ever talking about particular stories or events that were important to him as a reporter well I'm trying well I'd have to think about that but I mean Jeff took seriously every story that he worked on he really did I mean he he he investigated he he really enjoyed being an investigative reporter and I mean there are a lot of stories he worked on I know the Binion yeah murder trial was a big one in his life but there are so many and what kind of things did you two do as brothers well um well he first of all he taught me how to play golf and he was a good teacher he really was and um he was a natural I wasn't but I think I I think I only beat him one time in my ever but he but he uh so we like to play sports we we we would play football and basketball right around the you know behind the house was there was a big field where we played football so I learn how to play so he he just we did a lot of sports he took me to my first Milwaukee Brewers game I think when I was maybe 12 or 13 years old um movies we went to a lot of movies I remember that when we were younger and even even when we got a little older he he he liked going to movies um and uh were you were you living here in Las Vegas in September of 22 I was yes can you tell the members of the jury how you learned um about his death yeah it was a tough night my sister Julie called me woke me up I don't know might have been 11 o'clock or so at night and uh broke the news to me it was it was devastating and I mean I certainly didn't sleep at all that night the rest of the night but yeah it was a tough one and how do you feel that like observing your two sisters how would you say that this event has impacted your sisters and your observations of them it has been really hard I mean it it was it's been a hard couple of years I mean Jeff was our leader you know he was the older brother that we all leaned on and uh yeah it's they didn't it was hard for them and how about for yourself difficult and um are there particular events that you that you've kind of wished you'd been there at or yeah I mean I just retired and and I Jeff had no interest in retiring two years ago he was 69 years old and and and he he was just he loved what he was doing and I I we talked about it he he just wanted to keep writing and investigating but my goal when moving out here a few years ago was to spend time with the family and and Jeff especially because you know we had gotten closer as we got older and I was hoping that we could you know spend time playing some golf when we retired um going to movies going to uh raadar games and Golden Nights games I I miss all that with him yeah um you're on I believe Mr dasovich is stipulating to the ad of 412 and 413 that is great um sir I'm going to put on the overhead States 412 who are we looking at there yeah is that Jeff or something je yeah that's Jeff yeah I don't I can't tell what a oh my God what age that is but he see he was a natural athlete he just loved baseball too and um I mean I think when he when he took me to that first Brewers game he he liked I mean he loved it as much as I did yeah and now I'm going to put on the overhead uh States for 13 looks like you're a bit older in this picture you know when this is from this is from New Year's Eve 1980 so December 31st I and I I'll tell you I can't remember if it's 79 or 80 but I was in college Jeff had been out here what a couple one or two years and I I flew to milwa from Milwaukee to Las Vegas it my first time on an airplane um and this was the first trip that I took of many that would come going forward over the years but we uh yeah he said come on out because I hadn't seen him since he moved out to Milwaukee since he drove his car out here back in the middle of 1978 and we spent the New Year's Eve on the Strip it was just it was just a great night I'll never forget it and it was so memorable I mean and that was just you know look how young he was yeah is there anything else you'd like the jury to know about how this crime has impacted yourself and your family well um you know it's yeah it's been very stressful over the past couple years um I wouldn't want anybody to go through this it was just it was devastating to the family really was we loved him and he loved us and I mean a big part of Jeff's life was spending time with the family he loved the holidays for that very reason he loved Thanksgiving this the whole ritual about him being with the family um so yeah it's been you know it's going to take a long time I'm sure for us to get past this but you know we're doing our best and we miss them a lot thank you I'll pass the witness your on thank you sir I don't have any questions thank you for your thank you here today you may step down call you do so when you're about to give this action shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God you may be seated please State and spell your first and last name for the record uh first name is Jill j i l l last name is Zerg z w r g thank you very much um Jill if you could just for the record how are you related to to Jeff I am the youngest and Jeffrey is the oldest you're the baby of the family pardon me you're the baby of the family yeah okay all right um I want to I want to uh publish what's already been emitted by stipulation is States 4:15 415 by stipulation and I think I have exhibits 414 through 417 and It Go all I think 414 415 416 and 417 those four thank you thanks publishing 45 okay so who who can you tell us who we're looking at here in all these photo grass well that's the four of us uh I'm the little tiny one in the left corner the same haircut as Jay to my right and then Jeff is a tall one and then my sister Julie with the no teeth all right um I also now want to show you uh another exhibit which is admitted by culation 4:14 all right who are we looking at here well there we are again I don't know if you're trying to copy that first photo or not but I believe it's at my niece's uh a celebration for my niece and we all just got together and tried to take a picture together real quick and it was really kind of fun actually okay um I'm publishing for 16 who are we looking at here H that's Uncle Jeff that's the that's my daughter uh I think she's like three or four months old and he couldn't wait to fly in and be with her it's just she is the firstborn of his nieces and nephews and what was her name what is her name Jessica Jessica her name and then I'd like to publish 417 what are we looking at that is Jeff with my my young my son Connor who is pretty much pretty much like Jeff uh and just uh they're two peas in a pod they both into sports and and yeah he just idolized him he's the only nephew so he just took to him immediately for that um I know you've written something but I I do want to ask this so you looked at a couple of pictures you know at Uncle Jeff what was he like as an uncle oh he was wonderful he just loved each each and every one of them for who they were and accepted them for whatever you know they would do worky little fun things and just just loved them with his heart and soul absolutely did they did they grow up here in Las Vegas or somewhere else they all grw up here okay so Jeff was kind of here growing up and watching them be okay well listen I know that you've written something that you'd like to read so if you could why don't you share what you've written share it with the jury please okay so most of you know my brother Jeffrey to be a hard-nosed investigative reporter who went after corruption in our city he would about wrongdoings by Mobsters gaming officials politicians corporations basically anyone who's corrupt and I don't think they could hide from them uh let me give you a little insight to The Man Behind the by line of Jeff fream Gman Jeff was the eldest sibling of four as I stated and I I'm the youngest there was an eight-year difference between us he always watched out for me and guided me in my schooling my work personal matters I and I believe my my other siblings uh we welcomed his advice as it usually was on Target and gave us a good perspective when we needed it he always was there for me when I needed him like a second father for me with the age difference I think that was part of it after I graduated college I was very instrumental in helping me acquire my first job here in Las Vegas at the newspaper where he was working uh we are very much alike from our chosen careers to the music we listen to the food we enjoyed and going out to happy hours after work of course that was the 80s that's when it'll happen and that was just fun thing to do I remember we were both on the media softball league together representing the newspaper it was so much fun especially when we won games and we would celebrate afterwards I wasn't going to say this but now I'm I just feel like lucky to hear this he was the first one I told when I became engaged we were at Mount Charleston my now husband um in proposed to me it was a Friday night and we're like well now what do we do we you know I was like he's like let's go tell Jeff so we couldn't wait to get back we knew he'd be at TGI Fridays uh he was the first one uh I told when I got engaged and he brought bought a round of champagne for the entire bar um and I'll just never forget that it was just the most memorable fun exciting moment uh for for all of us um I miss reading his stories and seeing his by line and shopping with him talking on the phone and texting with him because he was so bad at texting um going out for Sunday brunches it having him at our family barbecues and Holly celebrations especially as my brother Jay said at Thanksgiving where he really ate most of the dark meat and insisted that the TV beond some type of sporting event probably football if I'm not mistaken um these events these holidays they'll never be the same without Jeffrey there ever he was kind he was loving he was loyal and he was fun he was a good friend uncle brother and a respected colleague to all who knew him he had a na for remembering everyone's birthdays he never forgot his nieces and nephews birthdays he just loved being their Uncle my son is very much like his Uncle Jeff they shared a mutual passion for the sports particularly basketball and football and of course all the Wisconsin teams as you know that's where we're from my daughter also had a special bond with her Uncle Jeff they shed a lot in common like both thing Virgos and having journalism degrees as well I remember asking Jeff why he chose to stay here and not be at other major newspapers who frequently recruited him he said Jill this is Las Vegas this is Sin City this is where I need to be Jeff is fearless of all the corrupt people he called out in his reporting of the Mobsters politicians casinos Executives and so on professionally Jeff had many headline stories that made the national news some of you may or may not remember this but there were breaking news such as the judge Harry Clayborn impeachment trial I was here when that happened to reporting Chicago mobster Tony the ants spalatro and his brothers murders to be the first to report liberace's death and his AIDS diagnosis those are just a few of the many bricking stories for Jeff and they all came out of Las Vegas Nevada Jeff is a trusted top-notch journalist and author with a top rated lifetime news Lifetime network television movie made from his book The Death of a Las Vegas casino boss murder in Sin City and that was the Ted Bion murder story his award-winning podcast mobbed up the fight for Las Vegas is still heard by many he belong to a class of journalists that are in A League of Their Own not many reporters out there will ever match this caliber and investigative journalism and storytelling these past two years it felt like I've been living in a chapter of a murder novel as it unfolds one that my brother Jeff could have written entitled murder in Sin City part two the death death of a journalist I never imagined that Jeff himself would have become a national headline news story for his murder by a cold-blooded Electric City official in broad daylight but in typical Jeff fashion he was able to have his attacker identified and locked up behind bars after his own murder not only did my family lose a wonderful loving brother and uncle but the Las Vegas community and the world of Journalism lost an amazing investigative reporter and a Relentless Crusader for justice to everyone else Jeffrey M Gman was a dedicated and respected journalist to me my family he was our big brother Jeff and our children's loving Uncle he so deeply missed every day thank you thank you very much I have no further questions I have no questions thank you thank you very much for your testimony step down call your next ra face you do Solly swear the testimony you're about to give this action shall be the truth the whole trth said nothing but the truth to help you go yes you may be seated please State and spell your first and last name for the record Julie Smith Julie J L I E Smith s SM i t um Miss Smith uh you are the fourth sibling of the Gman group yes um I'm going to show you some pictures I believe Mr dasovich will stipulate to the admission of 418 to 4 yes that's correct okay and this one I think I get what the event is but I'll have you describe it this is States 418 yes this is my uh daughter Lexi's wedding so it was nice we were all together um as a family it was in Lake Tahoe and she's been married for about I think it's eight years and now I'm going to put on the overhead States 19 uh that's Jeff and my daughter Morgan uh they were very [Music] close and this is State 420 that's Jeff I don't I don't know when that picture was taken that's okay 421 uh another picture of Jeff I'm not sure where that was either my sister dug up some old pictures and this is 422 looks like the kids are a little younger to me in this one oh yeah that was a celebration for my youngest daughter Lexi um it was just a fun celebration everyone had their beads on and they were happy and we got a picture of Jeff with his uh three nieces Jesse's in there Morgan Lexi and 423 oh that's a picture of je Jeffrey when the uh girls were young so with Morgan and Lexi they were just on the couch and of course there's always a cat in our house so there's a picture of Daisy with them also so it seems like uh Jeff was a pretty devoted Uncle oh my goodness yes he loved his nieces he loved his nephew he loved uh just to be around them whenever he could and your other uh siblings have commented that holidays were particularly important for him is that your recollection as well very important we always grew up in our family in Milwaukee when the four of us with my mom and dad and um my mom was always kind of the matriarch she always made a spread for every holiday that we would celebrate and and my sister Jill and Jay we've continued that with our families and do have you prepared a a statement that you'd like I did okay that's okay so as you know Jeff was my older brother um everyone in our family pretty much looked up to Jeff he was our oldest sibling um he so he always always had a very special place in our hearts for Jeff um he just seemed to be the core of our family um since my parents were gone and we all pretty much migrated because of Jeff living here so it's it was nice we were all together finally um most people who dealt with Jeff the journalist knew him to be No No Nonsense a straight shooter um who always searched for the truth he had a nose for sniffing out the corupt the nefarious uh we knew we knew him to be those things too but we were very proud of his many years of service to the community and as numerous ACC accolades as a newspaper reporter but we also saw the side of Jeff that most people unfortunately didn't get to experience Jeff loved his family um he loved spending time with his nieces and nephews he was especially close to them um as I said previously he looked forward to hanging out with them whenever he could especially during family holidays um basically Jeff was he was a family man he loved being with his family uh sometimes at those family gatherings it was kind of the place for Jeff to display his playful and awful a awesome biting sense of humor he loved sitcoms and was especially fond of Two and a Half Men and Seinfeld he had many of the classic lines committed to memory from those shows and he would use them often he liked to have a good time he was always willing to uh put together a family dinner he loved to have breakfast with his friends from The Newsroom he just really enjoyed being with people he loves sports especially football I guess you could say it was almost like an obsession with him he like his commitment to journalism was this he he took that same approach to his commitment with sports he could take notes he knew the stats of players um he pretty much had a near photographic memory and he could recite almost any score of any game uh in another life Jeff could have been a Las Vegas odds maker and of course there was the quirky side of Jeff that we teed him about his house was meticulous almost to being a point almost to being a point that it was like a a Good Housekeeping Better Homes and Garden set up in his house he was into symmetry if there was a lamp here on one side of the room it had to be on the other side was kind of interesting U but you can see from these few few examples how much Jeff meant to our family and how much we will all miss him um sorry I'm the emotional one we're never going to be able to share laughter with him again discuss sports with him enjoy a barbecue with him or admire his tenacious Spirit the tragic and brutal taking of his life has resulted in a loss that I don't think we'll recover thank Youk you I have no questions thank you you for your that concludes the witnesses we'll be presenting your we like to call