At trial, Jeannot says murder by co-worker shocked him

On the night of Dec. 3, 2004, Herve Jeannot recalled, he had plans to go to watch a movie with his girlfriend.

Instead, the night turned into a hellish ordeal in which he was shocked to witness his co-worker Mark Orlando fatally shoot Robert Calabrese on a deserted Island Park street, Jeannot testified Monday in a Nassau County courtroom in Mineola.

"I just saw him exterminate a man," Jeannot said under questioning by his lawyer, William Petrillo of Rockville Centre.

Jeannot, 30, of Deer Park is being tried on first-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon charges for the fourth time, after two juries deadlocked on a verdict and a conviction by a third jury was overturned on a technicality. He testified at his first two trials but not the third.

Calabrese, 24, was a bookmaker's runner from Long Beach who handled Orlando's bets on sporting events, including a $17,000 bet that Orlando lost and Calabrese was collecting on, prosecutors said.

Orlando and Jeannot were co-workers at Professional Credit Services in East Farmingdale. Orlando, 39, of Bay Shore, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2005 after one trial and is serving a 25-years-to-life sentence.

A Calabrese relative declined to comment during the trial yesterday.

Petrillo painted a portrait of his client as a college student and honorably discharged Marine with minor convictions for identity fraud and possession of stolen items - but nothing approaching the brutal killing of a man.

"Have you ever been arrested anywhere for violence?" Petrillo asked. "No," Jeannot answered.

Jeannot said he took a ride with Orlando to the rendezvous spot on Dec. 3, 2004, unaware of the meeting with Calabrese or of Orlando's intentions. He said he was distracted and barely noticed at first when Calabrese's silver car drove up.

"That's when I hear the first shot," he said. "I see Mark standing over the victim. I yell at him immediately, 'What the -- is going on?' " Jeannot said.

"He then shoots the victim two more times in the back of the head."

Jeannot said Orlando told him, " 'I knew they were going to do me, so I decided to strike first.' " He said Orlando threatened to kill his family if he told police, and handed him $2,000 in cash as hush money.

"I knew it was a bad situation but there was no way I was going to call the cops," Jeannot said.

He said he later signed a statement under duress from Nassau police confessing to shooting Calabrese.Under cross-examination, prosecutor Sheryl Anania questioned Jeannot's prior convictions on stolen property and identity theft charges.

She questioned him about a statement he made to police in the 2002 identity theft charges, but later testified his statement was not completely true -- a similar defense to the present case, she pointed out.