Orellana, 50, also known as “Georgino,” was shot by an
unidentified gunman as he was leaving Televisión de Honduras studios around 9
p.m., according to local news accounts. The assailant fled on foot, the local
newspaper Tiempo reported. The journalist was
taken to Hospital Mario Rivas, where he was pronounced dead.
Orellana hosted the program “En Vivo con Georgino” (Georgino
Live), which focused on local news, mostly related to cultural events, José
Peraza, a reporter with Radio Progreso in
Pedro Sula
sensitive stories such as organized crime, Tiempo
Editor Rubén Escobar said.
Before joining Televisión de Honduras, Orellana had worked
for the newspaper La Prensa and the
country’s leading network Televicentro, Honduran media reports said. After the
coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya in June 2009, Orellana left
Televicentro because of discomfort with the station’s editorial position in
support of the interim government, local reporters said. Orellana was also a
journalism professor at the National University of Honduras in
On April 30, Honduran police arrested Jonathan Joseph
Cockborn Delgado and accused him of killing Orellana. Police alleged that
Cockborn, who was also wanted on unrelated weapons and theft charges, had committed
the killing in the course of a robbery.
The next month, prosecutors announced that there was
insufficient evidence to file charges against Cockborn in the murder. Cockborn
remained in detention in connection with other alleged offenses.