Tatrow up for parole almost 26 years after murder conviction

March 15, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A 54-year-old DeKalb County man serving a life sentence for first degree murder in the kidnapping and brutal killing of two men in 1995 will be up for parole next month.

The hearing for James Christopher Tatrow, convicted in the murders of John Harry and Roger Zammit, will be held at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in Lake County at Tiptonville, Tennessee where Tatrow is incarcerated. Tatrow has spent half of his life behind bars because of the crimes.

This will be Tatrow’s second appearance before members of the Tennessee Board of Parole.

“At Tatrow’s initial parole hearing on Oct. 3, 2019, the Board voted to decline parole at the time and recommended a review hearing to be scheduled in April 2022. In Mr. Tatrow’s particular case, there needs to be four concurring votes by the Board members to reach a final decision,” said Dustin Krugel, Communications Director for the Tennessee Board of Parole.

(Click the link below to read details about the Chris Tatrow case in this 1998 Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruling)

CHRIS TATROW STORY

The story centers around Tatrow, who was a rodeo cowboy, college student and family man until he started abusing drugs after a serious back injury.

In January 1995 Tatrow’s trailer home in the Belk Community of DeKalb County became a hangout house where friends and acquaintances of Tatrow came and went.

The beginning of the nightmare was when Tatrow returned home from a trip to Texas to find that his trailer had been robbed. Prize belt buckles won in rodeos, a Navajo blanket that belonged to a close friend, an antique knife collection, a coin purse inherited from his great-grandfather, a toolbox and several guns were reported stolen to the sheriff’s department but having heard rumors that Roger Zammit and John Harry were responsible for the theft, Tatrow allegedly decided to take matters into his own hands. Along with several accomplices, Tatrow kidnapped Harry and Zammit and brought them to his home where they were tortured and beaten for several days before being murdered. According to court documents, Zammit, gored and bloody, along with Harry, was made to kneel in a bathtub. A plastic bag was placed around Zammit’s head and a cord around his neck. Tatrow, the former Rodeo star, had his knee in Zammit’s back and yanked the cord, and then took a heavy-duty flashlight and mercilessly beat him. After Zammit died, Harry was marched outside where he was shot in the head and died. Tatrow and his accomplices then wrapped the bodies of Zammit and Harry in carpet and woven wire fencing and took them to Hurricane Bridge on Cookeville Highway where they were dumped from the bridge in the lake.

After Zammit and Harry were reported missing an investigation led to the discovery of the bodies and the arrest of Tatrow and his accomplices. Because of the pre-trial publicity, the trial court ordered that the case against Tatrow be tried in Cumberland County rather than DeKalb County. Other co-defendants in the case were sentenced after the Tatrow trial. While Tatrow admitted that he was involved in the kidnappings and that he killed the victims, he contended that because he was suffering from a drug-induced psychosis, he was unable to formulate the requisite knowledge of wrongdoing at the time the crimes occurred. The state argued that voluntary intoxication could not be used to negate the element of recklessness and that the evidence in the record demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that Tatrow knowingly kidnapped and then recklessly murdered the victims.

At the conclusion of the two-week trial in 1996, the jury convicted Tatrow of two counts of felony murder and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping in the deaths of Zammit and Harry. Tatrow was also convicted of two counts of premeditated and deliberate murder of the same victims, but the trial court set aside those verdicts as the thirteenth juror. In the sentencing phase, the jury declined to impose the death penalty or life without parole and sentenced Tatrow to serve life sentences with the possibility of parole. At the conclusion of a sentencing hearing, the trial court judge ordered Tatrow to serve two consecutive life sentences concurrently with sentences of 22 years for the kidnapping convictions. Tatrow later challenged the validity of the convictions and the propriety of consecutive sentencing.

Upon a review of the record and the law, The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in 1998 affirmed Tatrow’s convictions but vacated the order to run the two life sentences consecutively.

March 15, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The ballots for the May 3 DeKalb County Primaries have been released by the DeKalb County Election Commission office.

A total of 57 candidates are listed between the two primary ballots with 26 of those seeking the party nomination for the seven county commission districts.

(View sample ballots at links below)

Democrat Primary Sample Ballot

Republican Primary Sample Ballot

“Voters are reminded these are primary elections and they can only vote in one of the elections,” said Dennis Stanley Administrator of Elections. “Under state law, a voter cannot vote in two primaries which are held at the same time, such as is the case on May 3rd.”

Stanley encouraged voters to study the ballots and make their decision which primary they wish to vote in before heading to the polls, either for early voting or election day.

(DeKalb County Administrator of Elections Dennis Stanley in conjunction with WJLE has produced a short video with important information of which voters should be aware for the May 3 DeKalb County Democratic and Republican Primaries. Stanley said the purpose of the video is to answer questions that voters may have to better prepare them for election day. The following is a summary of the information shared by Stanley in the vide):

“A voter must decide which candidate, which office or which party is more important to them and then make a selection,” he said.

Sample ballots will also be posted on the election commission website at www.dekalbelections.com and will be available at each voting location to assist the voters with their decision.

Democrat Primary Sample Ballot

Republican Primary Sample Ballot

Meanwhile, the election commission has set the early voting hours for the May primaries

Early voting begins April 13 and runs through April 28 and will be held at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville and limited hours at the Fairgrounds in Alexandria.

Early voting hours in Smithville are as follows: Mondays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Thursdays 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to Noon.

Early voting hours in Alexandria will be Tuesday April 19th from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday April 25 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

All properly registered voters can vote early at either location. Early voting will not be held on Good Friday.

“We’re pleased to be able to offer limited early voting in Alexandria this election,” Stanley said. “And remember, just like Smithville, anyone in the county can vote early in Alexandria as well.”

Voters are also reminded to keep their address up to date with the election office to avoid delays when they come to vote.

“During the petition process we noticed several voters signed a candidate’s petition with an address different than what we had on file,” Stanley said. “In order to avoid delays or possibly a trip to another voting site on election day, voters need to make sure their current address is the same address the election office has on file.”

March 15, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A man who broke into and stole items from a church before driving away in a church van has been arrested after an investigation by Smithville Police.

38-year-old Daniel Ray Wilson of 1100 West Broad Street was arrested on March 2 for four counts of burglary, theft of property, and two counts of joy riding. His bond is $52,500 and he will make a court appearance on March 17.

Smithville Police were dispatched to Outreach Baptist Church on South Congress Boulevard February 23 in reference to a burglary that had occurred there. The officer met with the pastor and was advised that an unknown white male had entered the building through a classroom door on Monday, February 21 and Tuesday, February 22. The suspect then went throughout the building taking several items totaling approximately $2,370. The suspect later identified as Wilson loaded the stolen items in a church van and drove away before returning later with the van but not the stolen goods. One day, Wilson was spotted getting into another van there where it appeared he had been sleeping. On another day Wilson was seen leaving the property on foot. After an investigation by Smithville Police, Wilson was taken into custody and charged in the case.

A man who walked into a local business and threatened to shoot employees there has been arrested for assault.

55-year-old Marty Brent Tallent of 465 West Broad Street is under a $3,500 bond and he will be in court on the charge March 24.

According to Smithville Police, Tallent entered Galaxy Ford on West Broad Street last Thursday, March 10 and threatened to shoot employees. No one was injured. Tallent then left the dealership and went to Pokey’s Tire Shop and attempted to make entry into a vehicle that didn’t belong to him. He was later stopped by officers at A Plus heating and Cooling where he became belligerent and began threatening physical harm to officers. Tallent was placed under arrest and no weapon was found on his person.

26-year-old Kenneth Randolph Stokes III of Texas was arrested on March 1 for evading arrest and cited for reckless driving. His bond is $10,000 and March 31 is his court date. According to Smithville Police, an officer spotted a gold Toyota Camry traveling at a high speed through the parking lot of Village Market with no regard for public safety. He then activated his blue lights on North Congress Boulevard but the driver, Stokes did not stop. Stokes turned east onto Smith Road and continued traveling at approximately 50mph before turning west onto East Broad Street and coming to a stop in the parking lot of Gill’s Automotive. Stokes was then taken into custody without incident. A Glock 9mm handgun was recovered from Stokes’ vehicle and taken into evidence.

Paul Allen Willingham of 107 East Webb Street was cited for simple possession of schedule II & IV drugs on March 2. According to police, Willingham was stopped for failure to use a turn signal at East Bryant Street onto South College and for no tag lights. The arresting officer discovered that Willingham had in his possession, one Oxycodone and four Alprazolam pills for which he had no prescription. His court date is April 22.

38-year-old Sheri Leeann Murphy of 150 New Bildad Road was cited for Theft of Property on March 9. According to Smithville Police, Murphy entered Center Hill Wine & Spirits and tried to steal a bottle of Vodka but a store clerk confronted Murphy and she removed the bottle from her purse and left the store. Murphy’s court date is March 24.

41-year-old Brandon Ryan Haggard of 104 West Woodlawn Street was arrested on March 9 for aggravated assault. Smithville Police received a call about a physical domestic in progress and upon arrival at the scene spoke with the victim who had marks around her neck, up and down her arms, and a knot on her head. The officers discovered that Haggard had hit and grabbed the victim by the hair and threw her to the ground causing her injury. Bond for Haggard is $15,000 and his court date is April 7.

36-year-old Michael Andrew Snyders Jr. of 739 West Main Street was cited for theft of property on March 10. A loss prevention employee at Wal-Mart spotted Snyders putting a padlock in his jacket pocket. When confronted Snyders admitted to the officer that while he had put the padlock in his pocket he felt bad and put it back on the shelf. His court date is April 8.