A  parole review hearing was held in Cookeville Monday for 40-year-old Christopher Nicholas Orlando, who was convicted of facilitation of first degree murder in a 2002 death of 20-year-old Joshua Murphy in DeKalb County.
Orlando has served 11 years of a 45-year prison sentence.
Unless the decision of two Board of Parole members, to decline his parole  and reconsider the case at a later date, is overturned by the remainder of the board, Orlando will serve at least three more years.
 Four matching votes from the seven-member board are needed for a decision in this case.
The file now goes to the remaining board members, who will review it and cast their votes.
The members will consider such factors as seriousness of the offense, time served, victim input, any programs the offender may have completed or disciplinary actions against the offender while incarcerated.
Board Chairman Charles Traughber and member Richard Montgomery voted to decline parole for Orlando and reconsider the case in three years at the Monday hearing.
Orlando was convicted of  facilitation of first-degree murder in the case, and is currently incarcerated at the Northeast Correctional Complex in Mountain City.
Murphy was shot three times with a shotgun in an out-of-the-way spot in the Laurel Hill community on Sept. 15, 2002.
His body was discovered three days after the incident.
The prosecution contended that Orlando and his co-defendant Melvin Turnbill lured Murphy to the wooded area and killed him because they  suspected him of stealing their drugs.
Orlando was tried and convicted of the crime in April 2004, while Turnbill entered a guilty plea to facilitation to first-degree murder in September 2003 and was given a 25-year sentence, of which he must serve at least 30 percent.
Turnbill has a parole hearing scheduled for April, 2014.
Orlando’s Monday hearing was held via video, with Traughber and Montgomery communicating with him from other locations in the state while Orlando remained at the prison where he is being held.
Deputy District Attorney General Gary McKenzie and local media viewed the proceedings from the Board of Parole facility in Cookeville.
None of the victim's family members attended the hearing.
Orlando maintained, as he did at his original trial, that he did not pull the trigger,  and blamed Turnbill for the murder.
“I was there and I made a lot of poor decisions but I didn't shoot him,” Orlando told those present.
Orlando said that drugs played a large part in the crime.
“It was a bad time in my life and in all three of our lives. We were on meth. It was a horrible thing. I'm trying to do what I can to better myself. I am truly, truly sorry for what happened. It’s something that disturbs me everyday. Since I've gotten off drugs, I've seen the bad choices I've made. I know that the drug part of it itself was the main cause of it. If you by chance would let me get parole and let me prove it to the parole board, to Josh's family, and to my family that I can be a law-abiding citizen, I'll do the best I can,” Orlando said.
Orlando told the board that Turnbill pulled the trigger.
“My charge partner (Turnbill) had pulled out the shotgun, loaded it and pointed it at me and Murphy,” Orlando said. “We (Orlando and Murphy) were standing next to each other. He (Turnbill) said ‘I know you stole my meth lab.’ At the time all three of us had been doing meth. I looked at Josh and Josh looked at me. He (Turnbill) was talking out of his head. As he pointed the gun and shot it, Josh and I turned around and ran. I fell down and he shot Josh,” Orlando said.
Traughber told Orlando that he found his claims to be suspect.
“You have not been forthcoming,” the chairman said. “You have been trying to evade and distance yourself as to your involvement in this crime. It’s evident that you were more heavily involved in this crime than you would want us to believe. The way this man was killed was very horrific. Because of that, my vote is to decline you and see you in three years. You were really involved in this crime. You wanted to distance yourself from it which does not indicate that you really accept the responsibility for your part in this crime.”
“I too agree with the chairman,”  Montgomery told Orlando. “You should serve more time for the seriousness of this crime.”
Deputy District Attorney Gary McKenzie agreed that Orlando was not representing his role in the crime properly.
“After 13 years of prosecuting, this is probably one of the more cold-blooded cases that I've seen,” McKenzie noted.
“The state had difficulty in proving who pulled the trigger. But that in no form or fashion lessens the responsibility of what Mr. Orlando did. What came out at trial, the facts of the case were that Mr. Turnbill and the defendant here today had a dispute with the victim over narcotics. After that dispute, Mr. Orlando went and purchased the ammunition for the shotgun that was used. The co-defendant in the case and Orlando had agreed upon a secluded area. Turnbill brought the victim to this location where Orlando was waiting. Orlando had possession of the shotgun and ammunition, which he gave to the co-defendant, Turnbill.
“They went out into the woods. The evidence would have shown that at gunpoint, the victim went out into a secluded location. At this point and time the co-defendant in the case pulled the shotgun on the victim and the victim fled. The first shot nearly blew the victim's leg off. And as that victim lay dying in the woods, and would have succumbed to his injuries from the massive blow to the leg and laid there and bled out, the two individuals charged with this crime walked over to where the victim was at and shot him twice in the face with a shotgun at such close range that the wadding used in the shotgun shell that contains the pellets, was deep inside the wound and had to be removed by the Medical Examiner's office.
“That is the close distance at which this victim received the fatal blow. No question this victim knew it was coming, saw the shotgun in his face, and his last visions were these two individuals standing over him. After this was over with, the evidence was that these two conspired together to hide the evidence to get rid of it,” McKenzie said.
Officials said it should take about two weeks to reach a final decision.