Two years ago he stabbed a man to death with a knife and now 65-year-old Francisco Orellano says he is sorry. Today the Guatemalan mason who was charged for murder pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Orellano was charged for stabbing to death 42-year-old Andres Torres on Gibnut Street on the afternoon of January 20th of 2005.
The murderous assault was allegedly motivated by a malpago situation; Orellano had done some work for Torres but he refused to pay. A jury of 12 was empanelled and this morning the trial began in front of Justice Troadio Gonzalez. But by this afternoon, Orellano who is a diabetic and suffers from hypertension opted to plead guilty to the lesser charge. His legal aid attorney Marcel Cardona told us why.
Marcel Cardona, Defense Attorney
"Throughout the course of this morning we visited the scene of the incident and I believe that after two and a half years of being behind bars, he has started to become rather penitent over the whole situation. He has been speaking about Christ and that he wants to make his peace with God so I guess that he at the end decided to face the music and come up and own up to his responsibility. So he has admitted that he was responsible for the death of the individual but however he indicates that it was done in self-defense."
Keith Swift,
What sort of mitigation plea will you expect to make on his behalf?
Marcel Cardona,
"Well I am looking at the possibility right now of getting some people who have known him to be of very good character. Prior to this incident he has had no previous criminal history and apparently this was a one off situation for him. So hopefully the court shall consider these factors and sentence him leniently come next week Thursday."
Francisco Orellano will be sentenced on May 10th. He faces between 18 and 25 years in prison. The case was prosecuted by deputy DPP Cheryl Lynn Branker-Taitt.
