Tennessee Death Row Inmate’s Effort to Prove Innocence Backfires, Reveals More Evidence of Guilt
Note: This story originally made headlines in May 2015 and is being republished for renewed public interest.
In a dramatic twist of events, a Tennessee death row inmate’s campaign to prove his innocence inadvertently strengthened the case against him. Marlon Kiser, convicted in 2003 for the murder of Hamilton County Deputy Donald Bond, has long maintained his innocence, insisting that he was framed by his former roommate, James Michael Chattin. However, efforts to exonerate himself—particularly through a personal website and legal petitions—may have only reinforced his guilt.
Kiser, who has spent over a decade on death row, created a website, FreeMarlonKiser.com, to publicly declare that Chattin, not he, was responsible for the brutal killing. He claimed Chattin had a motive rooted in jealousy and rage: a suspicion that Deputy Bond was having an affair with his wife, Tina Chattin. According to Kiser, Chattin had made multiple threats in front of others, expressing anger over the alleged relationship and vowing to take deadly action. Kiser wrote:
“James Michael Chattin had discovered that a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy named Donald Kenneth Bond Jr. was seemingly having an affair with Tina Chattin… On several different occasions, Mike Chattin has stated to several different individuals that his wife was seeing a cop and that he was going to kill him. And in the early morning hours of September 6th, 2001, that is exactly what Mike Chattin did.”
Kiser further claimed that Chattin, knowing the police were already wary of Kiser due to a pending brutality lawsuit he had filed against the Chattanooga Police Department in 1998, saw an opportunity to deflect blame. The lawsuit was set to be heard just eleven days after Deputy Bond’s death.
“To throw suspicion off of Mike Chattin, he ran to police pointing his finger at me,” Kiser argued, portraying himself as a convenient scapegoat with a history of legal conflict against the local authorities.
The website included detailed posts where Kiser laid out his version of events, emphasizing that he had distanced himself from Chattin after discovering his drug use. He claimed that decision endangered him:
“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Kiser wrote. “In Mike Chattin’s perry old mind, he could not allow me to leave because I knew entirely too many secrets about him.”
He further alleged that Chattin had even asked him to murder the deputy, an offer Kiser says he refused.
Kiser’s digital campaign for justice didn’t end with the website. He also launched a petition to halt his execution and gain public support for a retrial or exoneration. The petition, hosted online, has gathered over 470 signatures, with supporters commenting on alleged misconduct and corruption within the police force.
One comment read:
“Marlon Kiser is on death row because of police corruption and ineptness. Marlon knew about Mike Chattin’s criminal activities and therefore was a liability to him.”
However, as Kiser pushed forward with his legal efforts—filing a petition for post-conviction relief—he inadvertently triggered a critical development in the case. His legal team asked authorities to re-test palm prints and fingerprints found on Deputy Bond’s flashlight and patrol vehicle, likely hoping the results would support his version of events and exclude him from physical evidence at the scene.
The results had the opposite effect.
Forensic analysis confirmed that the prints belonged to Kiser, not Chattin or any unknown party. Combined with earlier forensic evidence—such as fibers from Deputy Bond’s clothing found on Kiser—the new fingerprint results bolstered the original conviction rather than challenging it.
Legal experts following the case noted that while Kiser’s claims raised some eyebrows, the hard evidence continued to tie him directly to the scene of the crime. His attempt to rewrite the narrative, though impassioned and detailed, had not withstood forensic scrutiny.
The case remains a stark example of how post-conviction efforts, especially when supported by public campaigns and petitions, can backfire when new evidence reaffirms guilt rather than disproves it.
Despite the mounting evidence, Kiser continues to proclaim his innocence from death row, insisting that the real story has yet to be fully told. Whether his campaign will ever yield a different outcome remains uncertain—but for now, the courts and the evidence remain firm in their judgment.