NASHVILLE, Tenn. — James Christopher Tatrow, convicted for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of two men in the 1990s, was recommended for parole denial following a hearing on April 8, 2025. District Attorney Bryant C. Dunaway reported that the recommendation came after Tatrow’s parole hearing, where he was opposed by both the families of the victims and Dunaway.
The victims, Roger Dale Zammit and John Allen Harry, were brutally murdered in 1994. Tatrow was the ringleader in the crime, during which both victims were kidnapped, tied up, and subjected to days of torture at Tatrow’s home. Over the course of three days, they were beaten and stabbed before being killed. Zammit was strangled with paracord rope, while Harry attempted to escape but was shot in the head.
Tatrow and his co-defendants disposed of the victims’ bodies by wrapping them in woven wire, tying concrete blocks to the remains, and throwing them into Center Hill Lake.
Tatrow was convicted in July 1996 on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, receiving two life sentences to run concurrently. According to the law at the time, he was eligible for parole after serving 25 years, but changes in the law since his conviction now complicate his parole eligibility.
At the hearing, the hearing officer emphasized the severity of Tatrow’s crimes, stating that early release would depreciate the seriousness of the offenses. Following the recommendation, Dunaway urged the public to reflect on the victims’ lives, urging them to remember Roger Dale Zammit and John Allen Harry as their families continue to mourn.
