In a surprising twist, a Tennessee death row inmate may have accidentally strengthened the case against himself while trying to prove his innocence.
Marlon Kiser, convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of Hamilton County Deputy Donald Bond, has long maintained that he was framed by his former roommate, James Michael Chattin. Despite his repeated denials, Kiser’s latest efforts to clear his name—published on his website, FreeMarlonKiser.com—may have raised more questions than answers.
According to Kiser’s online statement, Chattin was allegedly enraged over an affair between his wife, Tina Chattin, and Deputy Bond. “On several different occasions, Mike Chattin told people his wife was seeing a cop and that he was going to kill him,” Kiser wrote. “And in the early morning hours of September 6th, 2001, that is exactly what Mike Chattin did.”
Kiser claims Chattin shifted the blame onto him in an effort to deflect suspicion, capitalizing on Kiser’s existing legal troubles—a pending police brutality lawsuit against the Chattanooga Police Department set for a hearing just eleven days after Bond’s murder.
Kiser also alleged that he kicked Chattin out after discovering his drug use, a move he believes triggered Chattin’s betrayal. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said. “In Mike Chattin’s paranoid mind, he couldn’t let me go—I knew too many of his secrets.” Kiser further claimed Chattin had once asked him to murder the officer himself.
While Kiser’s claims are dramatic, critics argue that his narrative—intended as a defense—only deepens the suspicion surrounding his role in the deputy’s death.
In a bid to escape the death penalty, Marlon Kiser launched an online petition that has so far garnered over 470 signatures, with a goal of reaching 1,000 supporters. Framed as a fight against “police corruption and ineptness,” the petition echoes Kiser’s long-standing claims that he was set up by his former roommate, James Michael Chattin.
“Marlon is on death row because of police corruption and police ineptness,” one supporter wrote in the comments. “He knew about Mike Chattin’s criminal activities, and that made him a liability.”
At the same time, Kiser has pursued legal avenues for a new trial, petitioning the court for post-conviction relief. As part of that process, his attorneys requested testing of palm and fingerprints found on Deputy Donald Bond’s flashlight and patrol car—evidence they hoped might cast doubt on his guilt.
But instead of bolstering his innocence, the results confirmed that the prints belonged to Kiser himself.
Earlier evidence tying Kiser to the crime already included fibers from the deputy’s clothing, further cementing the prosecution’s case. Despite his continued protests and public appeals, each new effort to exonerate Kiser seems only to reaffirm the original verdict.
