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www.titlovi.com
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I've been down
and read this case file.
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Every interview,
everything that's in that file.
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Where you live...
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I know it.
That's what gets me, man.
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You know?
Not a lot of very good suspects in there.
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I know it.
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This girl passed
on the street and he said, "I'd like...
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I'd like to rape her and kill her."
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He had the knife in his hand like this.
And he was stabbing.
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- Hard?
- Yes.
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- How hard? Show me how hard.
- Enough to get the full blade in.
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Did she beg y'all not to hurt her or...?
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She goes, "Tommy, I didn't think
you'd ever do anything like this."
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We had it all planned out, you know...
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What were you planning on doing
with her after you got her?
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Raping her.
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- Raping her and then killing her?
- Yes.
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I knew I wouldn't have done it
if I wasn't drunk.
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'Cause I thought it was just a dream.
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What do you say there, young man?
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- Good. How you doing?
- I'm here.
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- Yup, me, too.
- I'm...
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I'm just so happy.
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Well, if I was any happier,
I'd be triplets.
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- How about you?
- Yeah.
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Okay.
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Two hundred and fifty-four.
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Here we go.
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Well, I tell people Ada's halfway
between Dallas and Oklahoma City
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and a little bit east.
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The smith plant located out there,
in the southwest part of town,
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it's probably been there since 1906.
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Ada's not a bad town, uh,
you know, I grew up in towns like Ada.
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Everybody goes to the high school football
game on Friday night and, you know,
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the businessmen go to the Rotary Club,
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and people hang out in the coffee shops
for breakfast, and, um...
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You know, it's a close-knit community.
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One of the things that people notice is
that when they come here,
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we just about have a church
on every corner.
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Lutheran, Methodist, lots of Baptist.
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This area of the state
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is really known for pecans.
We have a lot of pecan groves around here.
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You know, some pretty views
and things like that.
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And then, sadly,
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some, you know,
a couple of pretty notorious murders
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that happened here.
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I've written 40 books.
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And this was halfway through my career.
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Innocent Man was book number 20 I think.
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And it was my only, um...
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foray in the nonfiction.
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I'd never researched a novel
to that extent before.
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If I wrote the...
The Innocent Man as a...
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novel,
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fiction,
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folks probably wouldn't believe it.
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We're going to the storage unit,
uh... to see the exhibits
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that are kept in storage.
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My storage.
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Any exhibit
that's been admitted into evidence
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is kept by the court reporter.
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So I still have all the exhibits.
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This is "hair found under body."
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This was under Debbie Carter's body
in her apartment.
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And it's sealed.
It has not been opened.
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These are the hair slides,
and you can see that they're labeled.
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Um...
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This is her western belt,
which has her name.
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I don't know if you can see that or not.
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It has "Debbie."
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This is the electric blanket, um, cord.
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What was the significance of that?
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Might be what they strangled her with,
or he strangled her with.
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I'll turn it this way,
so that you can see it.
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I don't really want
to pull that out of there.
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I mean, for me to touch it.
I don't really want to.
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- What is it?
- It's the ketchup bottle, um...
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that was...
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used on her.
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Um...
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I... A torture tool or a murder weapon.
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I don't know what
you would have labeled it.
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But the, um, ketchup bottle...
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I mean, the lid, the ketchup bottle lid
was found inside of her body.
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So he did stuff with this.
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These are letters
from Debbie's family members.
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This one is from Peggy Carter,
which is her mother.
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It says, "The first thing I want people
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to know about Debbie
is I loved her so much.
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We were very close
and did a lot of things together.
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We did friends things together.
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She was not only my daughter,
but my friend.
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She was a picky person. Feisty.
Full of energy and life.
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She loved life.
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She was very outgoing, a people person.
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Almost always had a smile on her face
and very modest.
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She was a quiet person.
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She was a good girl with a lot of morals.
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I've never heard anybody
who didn't like Debbie."
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So...
this is where Debbie's apartment was.
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She moved here on October the 8th,
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and she was murdered on December the 8th.
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So she lived here exactly two months.
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It's heartbreaking to think that's...
that she died right in that room.
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I have specific memories about Debbie.
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I did go to her apartment
a couple of times.
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There were still stuffed animals
on the bed.
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I mean, it looked like
just a bigger version of,
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you know, a teenager's room.
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I was just so amazed by that.
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Debbie was very independent.
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She wanted to do her own thing,
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and, you know, have things on her terms.
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When she, um...
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graduated high school, she moved out.
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She had her own apartment.
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- She wanted to have her...
- a job, a career.
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She wanted to be on her own,
make her own money.
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She was employed at the Coachlight.
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You might refer to it
as a boot scootin' bar.
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There was lots of dancing and bands
and that sort of thing.
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One other memory that I have was
that we were sitting on the couch
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and I was driving her crazy
about pulling me around the block
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on my skates.
And, I guess I finally wore her down,
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and she pulled me
around the entire block twice
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00:10:14,447 --> 00:10:16,866
on my skates before she went to work.
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00:10:16,950 --> 00:10:19,786
So, I guess I wore her down quite a bit.
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00:10:24,624 --> 00:10:25,959
When Debbie was murdered,
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she was actually...
lived a couple of blocks from my house,
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where my mom and I lived.
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So it was really a trying time for, not...
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00:10:36,928 --> 00:10:39,305
you know, not just my family,
but for the whole town
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00:10:39,389 --> 00:10:41,391
'cause nothing like that
had happened here before.
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When Debbie was killed,
it really changed the dynamics
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00:10:46,312 --> 00:10:47,772
of our family.
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00:10:48,439 --> 00:10:52,277
Debbie's dad's name was Charlie
and my Aunt Peggy, we call her Peppy.
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00:10:52,569 --> 00:10:54,362
I'm Peggy Sue Carter
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00:10:54,445 --> 00:10:56,531
and I'm Debbie Carter's mother.
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Peppy likes to say
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that she's the reason
that we're all here in Ada.
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Because Peppy had come over here
when she married Charlie.
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And everybody kind of followed.
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00:11:05,081 --> 00:11:06,457
Since '59...
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00:11:06,541 --> 00:11:08,585
I married her daddy in '59.
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I had her oldest sister in, uh, '60.
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00:11:12,630 --> 00:11:15,633
A year later, I had Debbie, in '61.
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Then I had my third daughter, in '63.
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I got the three daughters.
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See, I'd had this...
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bad, weird feeling,
and I told Debbie about it.
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She said, "Mama, you're so silly.
Don't be like that."
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But I did.
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I remember that feeling, it was awful.
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That morning,
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I know I was changing the sheets
on my bed.
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And right after I talked to my sister...
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I started... Went back in the bedroom
and started to put the sheet on
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and the phone rung again.
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So I picked it up. "Hello?"
161
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And it's not my little sister.
162
00:12:04,724 --> 00:12:05,934
It's Debbie's friend.
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00:12:06,601 --> 00:12:08,895
And she saw Debbie's car at home.
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And she said,
as she started up the stairs,
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she heard this loud...
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music.
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00:12:16,819 --> 00:12:19,239
And then she said,
when she got to the porch,
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"There's all this glass."
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00:12:24,035 --> 00:12:26,287
Debbie's friend had found her...
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00:12:27,038 --> 00:12:28,373
and called my aunt.
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00:12:28,456 --> 00:12:32,001
She was very panicked
and told Peppy that,
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00:12:32,085 --> 00:12:34,045
you know, Debbie was laying
on the floor and that,
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you know, there was blood.
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00:12:36,339 --> 00:12:38,675
So Peppy runs out, and...
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...her car won't start.
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Probably by the grace of God.
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00:12:45,139 --> 00:12:47,392
I call Christy's mother, Glenna.
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There's no answer.
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00:12:49,852 --> 00:12:52,480
I call Debbie's phone,
there's no answer.
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00:12:54,607 --> 00:12:57,277
I'm going crazy.
I don't know what to do.
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00:12:57,944 --> 00:13:00,571
I'm in there, in my dining room,
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talking to Debbie,
talking to that picture.
183
00:13:03,783 --> 00:13:05,410
"Honey, you're going to be okay.
184
00:13:05,535 --> 00:13:08,204
Mom will be there
just as soon as I can get there."
185
00:13:09,163 --> 00:13:11,791
I started walking up the hill there.
186
00:13:13,334 --> 00:13:15,753
Well, I seen my best friend's car.
187
00:13:15,962 --> 00:13:19,590
She had my sister in there.
Glenna, Christy's mother.
188
00:13:20,675 --> 00:13:23,845
I remember,
she saw me sitting in a car...
189
00:13:24,470 --> 00:13:25,555
And...
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00:13:26,723 --> 00:13:29,350
I never said a word, she just knew.
191
00:13:40,278 --> 00:13:43,823
I don't know what happened to me.
I just... I couldn't help it.
192
00:13:44,490 --> 00:13:48,286
I'm a-balling and a-squalling,
and just having a fit.
193
00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:00,048
I guess, when I did believe it,
that night about 7:30.
194
00:14:00,381 --> 00:14:02,342
This detective come by that...
195
00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,346
I know he leaned down
and he kept patting me on my knee.
196
00:14:06,429 --> 00:14:07,430
And he kept saying,
197
00:14:08,139 --> 00:14:10,767
"Peggy, it happened.
It happened to Debbie."
198
00:14:11,351 --> 00:14:12,894
And I just sit there and cry.
199
00:14:12,977 --> 00:14:15,271
I just sit in that chair and cry.
200
00:14:16,022 --> 00:14:17,398
I don't know what to do.
201
00:14:18,524 --> 00:14:20,234
My girl... My daughter's gone.
202
00:14:20,610 --> 00:14:23,404
I just kept looking at him
and he kept telling me,
203
00:14:24,614 --> 00:14:27,367
"Peggy, it happened,
and it happened to Debbie.
204
00:14:28,743 --> 00:14:30,661
It happened to you and Debbie."
205
00:15:01,150 --> 00:15:05,988
I first heard about this case
from a lawyer friend of mine in 2000.
206
00:15:06,572 --> 00:15:08,825
And, uh, almost immediately,
207
00:15:08,908 --> 00:15:11,702
we were surprised
at the way this case was handled.
208
00:15:19,710 --> 00:15:23,673
Ada Police, Dennis Smith, was one
of the first investigators on the scene.
209
00:15:24,090 --> 00:15:25,090
They had a, uh...
210
00:15:25,299 --> 00:15:27,802
patrolman answer
and he called in Dennis Smith.
211
00:15:29,011 --> 00:15:31,222
Uh, Dennis Smith was the...
212
00:15:31,597 --> 00:15:34,684
senior detective
for the Ada Police Department.
213
00:15:34,767 --> 00:15:35,768
His reputation,
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00:15:35,852 --> 00:15:37,520
as far as being a good officer,
215
00:15:37,603 --> 00:15:38,729
was impeccable.
216
00:15:39,188 --> 00:15:42,066
But he was normally
in charge of whatever...
217
00:15:42,817 --> 00:15:44,193
big case was happening.
218
00:15:45,695 --> 00:15:48,489
Most people seemed to like him.
He was a pretty friendly guy.
219
00:15:48,573 --> 00:15:50,825
And, as a matter of fact,
his daughter went to school
220
00:15:50,908 --> 00:15:52,548
with Debbie Carter and they were friends.
221
00:15:52,577 --> 00:15:54,996
So, he had a personal connection there.
222
00:15:57,123 --> 00:15:59,292
The crime scene was a total mess.
223
00:15:59,917 --> 00:16:02,044
Debbie's body was lying naked
on the floor,
224
00:16:02,128 --> 00:16:04,046
except she had a cord wrapped
around her neck.
225
00:16:04,630 --> 00:16:07,675
She had "Duke Graham" written on her back
226
00:16:08,301 --> 00:16:09,969
and "die" on her chest.
227
00:16:10,052 --> 00:16:11,721
On the walls was written,
228
00:16:12,263 --> 00:16:14,098
"Jim Smith next will die."
229
00:16:14,182 --> 00:16:15,975
And on the kitchen table was written,
230
00:16:16,601 --> 00:16:18,394
"Don't look fore us or ealse."
231
00:16:18,561 --> 00:16:21,898
And "for" and "else"
were both misspelled.
232
00:16:23,149 --> 00:16:24,901
There was a palm print on the wall.
233
00:16:25,151 --> 00:16:27,778
And, before she was killed,
234
00:16:28,112 --> 00:16:30,656
someone had raped Debbie Carter.
235
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,661
And evidently, it was like
Grand Central Station over there,
236
00:16:35,745 --> 00:16:37,580
as far as police officers
or a crime scene.
237
00:16:38,748 --> 00:16:42,835
Jim Smith and Duke Graham,
both of them had alibis, and...
238
00:16:42,919 --> 00:16:45,755
well, neither one of them gave
statements that, that fit anything.
239
00:16:45,838 --> 00:16:48,382
And they just didn't have anything
on either one of them.
240
00:16:49,717 --> 00:16:52,512
Dennis Smith came in and immediately saw
that he would need some help,
241
00:16:52,595 --> 00:16:55,723
so he called the Oklahoma State Bureau
of Investigation.
242
00:16:55,806 --> 00:16:57,725
To help him with the crime scene.
243
00:16:57,850 --> 00:17:00,520
Gary Rogers, he was the OSBI agent,
244
00:17:00,603 --> 00:17:02,897
which is Oklahoma State Bureau
of Investigation.
245
00:17:03,481 --> 00:17:06,776
Gary had been a former, uh, police officer
in Shawnee.
246
00:17:06,859 --> 00:17:09,487
He was a rancher.
247
00:17:10,112 --> 00:17:12,865
And always wore a hat and boots,
248
00:17:12,949 --> 00:17:15,576
and jeans, and belt with a coat and tie.
249
00:17:16,661 --> 00:17:20,206
Dennis and Gary basically
worked the crime scene.
250
00:17:21,624 --> 00:17:24,961
They would funnel their reports
to Bill Peterson,
251
00:17:25,044 --> 00:17:26,504
who was the prosecutor of the case.
252
00:17:33,219 --> 00:17:36,305
I've known Bill Peterson for all my life.
253
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,309
He, uh, went to Ada High School.
254
00:17:40,643 --> 00:17:43,062
Um, he went to University of Oklahoma.
255
00:17:43,354 --> 00:17:46,357
He did go through
some prep schools back East.
256
00:17:46,983 --> 00:17:49,569
His father was a doctor
257
00:17:49,652 --> 00:17:53,447
and his mother was a,
a member of the Norris family.
258
00:17:55,032 --> 00:17:59,787
I would say Bill was
more of a folksy-type DA,
259
00:17:59,870 --> 00:18:02,915
where he would, uh, tell stories.
260
00:18:03,291 --> 00:18:06,002
Which is a very effective way.
When picking a jury
261
00:18:06,085 --> 00:18:08,045
is to be somewhat folksy and tell stories.
262
00:18:09,547 --> 00:18:11,007
He could get angry.
263
00:18:12,258 --> 00:18:14,427
I think we all feel the pressure
to do what's right.
264
00:18:14,510 --> 00:18:17,763
And I know,
since my nephew is a prosecutor,
265
00:18:18,222 --> 00:18:21,225
they have that kind of police mentality.
266
00:18:21,517 --> 00:18:23,561
They're prosecutors for a reason.
267
00:18:23,644 --> 00:18:26,606
You're not going to make a lot of money
in your life being a prosecutor.
268
00:18:26,939 --> 00:18:28,232
You like to put...
269
00:18:28,858 --> 00:18:30,276
bad people in jail.
270
00:18:31,110 --> 00:18:34,864
And protect your constituents.
I believe that.
271
00:18:41,329 --> 00:18:45,708
Somebody took some time
to really stage that crime scene.
272
00:18:47,710 --> 00:18:49,670
You know,
most people panic and they leave,
273
00:18:49,754 --> 00:18:51,547
and they leave all kinds of stuff.
This...
274
00:18:51,631 --> 00:18:56,802
Whoever did this was really thinking
about trying to create a diversion.
275
00:18:57,970 --> 00:19:03,559
Dennis Smith had made a comment
that before he retired...
276
00:19:03,893 --> 00:19:04,893
that he would...
277
00:19:05,645 --> 00:19:07,021
solve Debbie's case.
278
00:19:10,900 --> 00:19:13,110
When something like this happens to...
279
00:19:13,319 --> 00:19:17,031
your family or to the town, you know,
it's the ripple effect.
280
00:19:18,324 --> 00:19:20,910
I always like to say
that it's like a tsunami.
281
00:19:21,911 --> 00:19:24,288
You know, you don't even recognize
that it was coming.
282
00:19:24,372 --> 00:19:26,290
It just takes everything away.
283
00:19:30,628 --> 00:19:32,922
That was a huge shock.
284
00:19:33,714 --> 00:19:36,342
You think, "Who was it?
Somebody in this community?"
285
00:19:42,139 --> 00:19:44,600
I'm sure it was, um...
286
00:19:44,975 --> 00:19:47,061
you know, terrifying
in a small town like that.
287
00:19:47,144 --> 00:19:48,938
And then, um...
288
00:19:49,689 --> 00:19:52,108
two or three years later,
Denice Haraway disappeared.
289
00:21:41,342 --> 00:21:45,095
Denice worked at
the little Quick Stop out on Highway One.
290
00:21:45,805 --> 00:21:49,350
We were very concerned
because Denice had disappeared,
291
00:21:49,433 --> 00:21:51,519
and so the word spread quickly.
292
00:21:51,602 --> 00:21:54,730
By the way, Denice worked
for me for, um, a semester.
293
00:21:55,439 --> 00:21:56,899
Part of a semester.
294
00:21:56,982 --> 00:21:58,526
A real, sweet little girl,
295
00:21:58,609 --> 00:22:00,653
and she worked for me
when she was in school,
296
00:22:00,736 --> 00:22:01,736
at East Central.
297
00:22:03,239 --> 00:22:05,991
She was working as a work-study student.
298
00:22:06,075 --> 00:22:08,577
Just as sweet as could be. Nice.
299
00:22:08,661 --> 00:22:11,497
Just a pretty little girl, you know,
that was in college
300
00:22:11,580 --> 00:22:13,040
and needed a job.
301
00:22:13,123 --> 00:22:15,709
And I had an opening
for a work-study student
302
00:22:15,793 --> 00:22:17,253
to be my secretary.
303
00:22:19,129 --> 00:22:23,634
The town was in disbelief, you know,
at what had happened.
304
00:22:23,968 --> 00:22:29,181
They would search out by Lawrence
and out southwest of town.
305
00:22:29,265 --> 00:22:33,811
And there was all kinds
of strange stories going around
306
00:22:33,894 --> 00:22:34,937
where they were looking.
307
00:22:35,020 --> 00:22:38,274
Because, apparently,
there was no rhyme or reason.
308
00:22:38,691 --> 00:22:42,278
I don't know what was happening.
I just know that there were many rumors
309
00:22:42,570 --> 00:22:44,446
about where she might be.
310
00:22:48,659 --> 00:22:51,579
On April 28th, 1984,
311
00:22:51,662 --> 00:22:55,749
at about 8:30 at night,
Denice Haraway was working in the, uh...
312
00:22:55,833 --> 00:22:59,545
a little convenience store
on the east side of Ada, Oklahoma,
313
00:23:01,046 --> 00:23:06,677
when Gene Whelchel and his two nephews
were getting ready to go to a card game.
314
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,221
And they stopped by the convenience store
315
00:23:09,305 --> 00:23:11,432
to get some cigarettes and some change.
316
00:23:13,475 --> 00:23:16,478
They saw a man and a woman walk out
317
00:23:16,562 --> 00:23:19,940
and get into the passenger side
of a pickup and drive off.
318
00:23:23,944 --> 00:23:25,279
So we stopped at, uh...
319
00:23:25,404 --> 00:23:27,781
McAnally's to get change
for the poker game.
320
00:23:28,782 --> 00:23:30,284
And I waited in the pickup.
321
00:23:30,367 --> 00:23:32,870
My nephew went inside, Lenny.
322
00:23:33,537 --> 00:23:36,874
And he came back out in a little bit
and said there wasn't anybody in there.
323
00:23:37,333 --> 00:23:40,419
We went in and kinda looked
the place over. Discovered that...
324
00:23:40,502 --> 00:23:42,254
Figured that something was wrong.
325
00:23:42,338 --> 00:23:43,714
So we called the police.
326
00:23:45,591 --> 00:23:47,718
Money was taken out of their drawer.
327
00:23:48,010 --> 00:23:52,348
Whoever was there made a quick grab
for the money and obviously took the girl.
328
00:23:54,141 --> 00:23:56,393
I know it was her
that left as we pulled up.
329
00:23:58,395 --> 00:24:03,150
They put an APB out for a faded,
light blue pickup truck
330
00:24:03,233 --> 00:24:06,278
with a straight bed,
with gray primer spots on it.
331
00:24:07,613 --> 00:24:11,367
And they, uh, stopped a number of people,
and developed information,
332
00:24:11,450 --> 00:24:13,953
but they didn't find the girl
with any of that.
333
00:24:15,537 --> 00:24:16,872
Then, later on that night,
334
00:24:16,956 --> 00:24:19,083
they went to a store just down the street.
335
00:24:19,708 --> 00:24:20,918
J.P.'s
336
00:24:21,543 --> 00:24:24,880
And the, uh, clerk there,
her name is Karen Wise.
337
00:24:26,048 --> 00:24:28,467
She then reported
that she saw a couple of people
338
00:24:28,550 --> 00:24:31,637
that she felt were suspicious
and she was worried about.
339
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,181
They kind of scared her.
They went into her store
340
00:24:34,264 --> 00:24:35,766
just a few hours earlier.
341
00:24:36,850 --> 00:24:40,854
She is also the one
that gave a composite sketch
342
00:24:40,938 --> 00:24:44,149
of the two guys that she thought
was in her store that night.
343
00:24:46,777 --> 00:24:49,363
They showed it to Gene Whelchel
and he said that he thinks
344
00:24:49,446 --> 00:24:51,699
that looks sort of
like the guy that they saw.
345
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,538
Pretty soon, they published that composite
346
00:24:57,621 --> 00:25:00,082
that she had made in the Ada newspaper.
347
00:25:01,834 --> 00:25:05,295
People started calling in.
"I know a guy that looks like this.
348
00:25:05,379 --> 00:25:08,799
I know a guy."
And all these names started pouring in.
349
00:25:10,634 --> 00:25:13,762
A guy by the name
of Billy Charley was identified.
350
00:25:15,514 --> 00:25:18,892
Billy Charley had an alibi.
He was home with his parents that night.
351
00:25:20,936 --> 00:25:25,441
And then they started getting
quite a few calls about Tommy Ward.
352
00:25:41,206 --> 00:25:44,543
Okay, Tommy,
I've got a few things I need to say first.
353
00:25:44,626 --> 00:25:47,546
The date today is October 18th, 1984.
354
00:25:47,629 --> 00:25:48,909
We're at the headquarters office
355
00:25:48,964 --> 00:25:51,735
of the Oklahoma State Bureau
of Investigation located in Oklahoma City.
356
00:25:51,759 --> 00:25:53,761
I'm Deputy Inspector Rusty Featherstone.
357
00:25:53,844 --> 00:25:57,097
Present also in the room,
is Special Agent Gary Rogers of the OSBI.
358
00:25:57,181 --> 00:25:58,307
Out of the Ada office.
359
00:25:58,390 --> 00:25:59,641
Captain Dennis Smith
360
00:25:59,725 --> 00:26:01,852
of the Ada Police Department,
Detective Division.
361
00:26:01,935 --> 00:26:04,104
I know we've already talked about it
a little bit,
362
00:26:04,188 --> 00:26:08,192
but what I'd like you to do at this point,
is just start on that afternoon,
363
00:26:08,275 --> 00:26:10,277
and just in your own words,
at your own speed,
364
00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:12,797
I want you to go step by step through
everything that happened
365
00:26:12,821 --> 00:26:14,941
through the rest of that evening,
involving this girl.
366
00:26:14,990 --> 00:26:15,991
- Okay?
- Okay.
367
00:26:16,075 --> 00:26:17,618
Just go ahead and begin.
368
00:26:19,244 --> 00:26:20,537
My name is Johnny Lee Daniels.
369
00:26:21,121 --> 00:26:22,456
I've known Tommy Ward...
370
00:26:23,207 --> 00:26:25,125
since we were childhood kids.
371
00:26:25,876 --> 00:26:28,921
Boy, we did a whole lot of
running around on the back roads
372
00:26:29,004 --> 00:26:30,964
and drinking back in the day
when we was young
373
00:26:31,048 --> 00:26:32,424
and didn't have no sense.
374
00:26:33,842 --> 00:26:35,135
He was just, um...
375
00:26:36,345 --> 00:26:38,180
a pretty quiet person in general.
376
00:26:39,014 --> 00:26:40,734
Can you tell me
what her blouse looked like,
377
00:26:40,808 --> 00:26:41,808
that she was wearing?
378
00:26:42,434 --> 00:26:43,434
It was...
379
00:26:45,437 --> 00:26:46,437
It was...
380
00:26:46,939 --> 00:26:48,232
white with little blue...
381
00:26:49,316 --> 00:26:51,110
uh, roses on it.
382
00:26:51,610 --> 00:26:52,945
White with blue roses.
383
00:26:53,612 --> 00:26:57,282
At that point in time,
you're kinda seen the downfall.
384
00:26:57,950 --> 00:27:00,786
I didn't know if I was going to see him
when he wasn't...
385
00:27:01,703 --> 00:27:04,081
on some kind of drugs or alcohol.
386
00:27:04,873 --> 00:27:06,792
He was a total different person.
387
00:27:07,251 --> 00:27:09,461
Tommy had his run-in with the police.
388
00:27:09,545 --> 00:27:12,464
They looked at Tommy as a ruffian.
389
00:27:12,756 --> 00:27:15,342
A lower class person.
390
00:27:16,176 --> 00:27:18,637
And the police didn't like him
for some reason.
391
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,430
I have no idea why.
392
00:27:21,014 --> 00:27:25,269
Unless it was just those things, you know?
I mean, Tommy liked to drink.
393
00:27:26,353 --> 00:27:27,771
I... I was at a...
394
00:27:28,063 --> 00:27:29,398
keg party.
395
00:27:30,065 --> 00:27:31,942
And I ran into a couple of guys.
396
00:27:32,025 --> 00:27:35,737
Asked me if I wanted to go riding around
with them and go get high,
397
00:27:35,821 --> 00:27:38,198
and drink some beer.
And I told 'em, "Sure."
398
00:27:39,408 --> 00:27:41,535
My name is Robert Mayer.
399
00:27:41,618 --> 00:27:43,370
I'm originally from New York City.
400
00:27:43,996 --> 00:27:46,915
When I graduated from college
and journalism school,
401
00:27:46,999 --> 00:27:49,084
I became a reporter.
402
00:27:50,544 --> 00:27:51,628
I had...
403
00:27:52,004 --> 00:27:57,467
no conception whatever,
if these guys were guilty or innocent.
404
00:27:57,843 --> 00:28:00,888
I thought, "Well, I'll look into it
and see how far it goes."
405
00:28:00,971 --> 00:28:05,976
And so that's how I got into the book
that later became The Dreams of Ada.
406
00:28:07,811 --> 00:28:10,147
And the confession of,
"Was anybody else there?"
407
00:28:10,230 --> 00:28:12,441
"Yeah, well, the ringleader,
the guy who's idea it was,
408
00:28:12,524 --> 00:28:14,276
was Odell Titsworth."
409
00:28:15,819 --> 00:28:18,739
And Odell Titsworth was
this Indian fellow
410
00:28:18,822 --> 00:28:21,617
who uh, was known,
had a reputation among the cops
411
00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:23,452
as a bad dude.
412
00:28:23,535 --> 00:28:27,122
Titsworth, he grabbed money
out of the register,
413
00:28:27,206 --> 00:28:28,624
and we went out to the pickup.
414
00:28:28,707 --> 00:28:30,185
Where did you go from there?
415
00:28:30,209 --> 00:28:31,460
Out to the power plant.
416
00:28:31,752 --> 00:28:33,912
What did he say he was gonna do with her?
417
00:28:34,129 --> 00:28:36,131
He told me that he was going to kill her.
418
00:28:36,548 --> 00:28:38,926
Now, the other person
he had mentioned was...
419
00:28:40,052 --> 00:28:41,136
Carl Fontenot.
420
00:28:52,439 --> 00:28:54,942
What was the purpose
of taking her with you?
421
00:28:55,484 --> 00:28:56,484
From the store?
422
00:28:57,986 --> 00:29:00,697
To keep from her...
coming to y'all and letting y'all know.
423
00:29:00,781 --> 00:29:03,092
I mean, was that the plan, though,
whenever you went there?
424
00:29:03,116 --> 00:29:04,493
- Yes.
- Okay.
425
00:29:04,826 --> 00:29:06,828
We had it all planned out, you know, to...
426
00:29:07,287 --> 00:29:09,873
What were you planning on doing
with her after you got her?
427
00:29:10,540 --> 00:29:12,292
- Raping her.
- Raping her and
428
00:29:12,376 --> 00:29:13,853
- then killing her and getting rid of her?
- Yes.
429
00:29:13,877 --> 00:29:14,877
Okay.
430
00:29:16,380 --> 00:29:17,380
Karl Fontenot
431
00:29:17,422 --> 00:29:19,841
I've known Karl Fontenot
since we were little kids.
432
00:29:20,133 --> 00:29:21,133
Karl...
433
00:29:21,426 --> 00:29:24,012
was a little slow
when it come to his thinking.
434
00:29:26,515 --> 00:29:29,685
As we was going to McAnally's,
we stopped there at the apartments,
435
00:29:30,602 --> 00:29:34,106
and decided to smoke some pot
and get high and everything.
436
00:29:34,189 --> 00:29:35,190
We drank some.
437
00:29:42,614 --> 00:29:45,450
Then when we got...
We planned it out before we got there.
438
00:29:45,909 --> 00:29:47,452
And then, when we got there...
439
00:29:48,412 --> 00:29:49,412
Odell...
440
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:51,957
set it up for us and everything.
441
00:29:53,834 --> 00:29:55,627
He took her out of the store.
442
00:29:55,961 --> 00:29:57,671
Brought her to the truck.
443
00:29:57,754 --> 00:29:59,965
Where were y'all at? Karl?
444
00:30:00,048 --> 00:30:01,508
Right there by the gas pumps.
445
00:30:11,435 --> 00:30:14,187
He was just someone
that pretty much stayed to hisself,
446
00:30:14,271 --> 00:30:17,983
even though he was not a violent guy
or anything like that.
447
00:30:18,108 --> 00:30:20,652
He just pretty much stayed to hisself,
and then...
448
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,781
when his mom got killed,
I believe he seen his mom get killed,
449
00:30:24,865 --> 00:30:28,994
he... he just kinda really
stayed more to hisself.
450
00:30:29,077 --> 00:30:29,911
He, uh...
451
00:30:29,995 --> 00:30:34,583
He had pretty much no ambition to work,
or really do anything.
452
00:30:34,958 --> 00:30:38,712
Karl's father used to beat Karl
when he was a little boy,
453
00:30:38,795 --> 00:30:41,923
and they had dogs and cats and sheep
454
00:30:42,007 --> 00:30:45,344
and whatever else you can think of
out there in that little yard.
455
00:30:45,427 --> 00:30:47,220
And Karl's father...
456
00:30:47,971 --> 00:30:48,971
would...
457
00:30:49,473 --> 00:30:51,892
have sex with animals...
458
00:30:52,434 --> 00:30:54,019
in front of Karl.
459
00:30:54,102 --> 00:30:56,188
- Was she scared?
- She was scared.
460
00:30:56,313 --> 00:30:59,608
- What was she saying?
- She was hollering for help.
461
00:31:00,817 --> 00:31:03,028
And then there was nobody around
for to help.
462
00:31:04,738 --> 00:31:07,574
I didn't know anything about Karl Fontenot
463
00:31:07,657 --> 00:31:09,534
until I received a call
464
00:31:09,618 --> 00:31:12,454
from, um, District Judge Ron Jones...
465
00:31:12,621 --> 00:31:13,621
um...
466
00:31:13,789 --> 00:31:16,333
asking if I would accept
a court appointment
467
00:31:16,416 --> 00:31:19,336
to represent Mr. Fontenot.
468
00:31:19,836 --> 00:31:22,631
And I thought he was competent
in, in all respects.
469
00:31:22,839 --> 00:31:25,467
The real problem with that
was the confession tapes.
470
00:31:26,051 --> 00:31:28,053
They were in bold color...
471
00:31:28,303 --> 00:31:30,889
and, and, and basically were...
472
00:31:31,723 --> 00:31:35,143
just came across really somewhat...
473
00:31:36,311 --> 00:31:39,981
cold-blooded, matter-of-factly,
emotionless...
474
00:31:43,151 --> 00:31:44,236
So...
475
00:31:44,319 --> 00:31:46,488
Odell Titsworth crawled up inside
the pickup.
476
00:31:46,571 --> 00:31:47,571
Yes.
477
00:31:47,614 --> 00:31:49,074
Did he have something in his hand?
478
00:31:49,157 --> 00:31:51,284
- Had his knife.
- Was it open?
479
00:31:51,368 --> 00:31:54,830
Yes, it was open.
And he... he was attempting to stab her.
480
00:31:54,913 --> 00:31:56,808
- And...
- Did you see him stab her?
481
00:31:56,832 --> 00:31:59,042
- He was stabbing her.
- How did he do it?
482
00:31:59,126 --> 00:32:01,336
- He had the knife in his hand, like this.
- All right.
483
00:32:01,420 --> 00:32:03,547
And he was... stabbing.
484
00:32:03,630 --> 00:32:04,756
- Hard?
- Yes.
485
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:05,674
How hard?
486
00:32:05,757 --> 00:32:07,968
- Show me how hard.
- Enough to get the full blade in.
487
00:32:08,468 --> 00:32:09,468
Like that.
488
00:32:12,139 --> 00:32:15,725
Where was the first place
that she was cut with the knife?
489
00:32:16,476 --> 00:32:19,896
In her side. Right here in the side,
that's where Titsworth cut her.
490
00:32:20,522 --> 00:32:22,315
When he started to rape her, he goes,
491
00:32:22,399 --> 00:32:25,485
"If you don't cooperate with me
and everything,"
492
00:32:25,569 --> 00:32:27,279
he says, "I'll cut you deeper."
493
00:32:27,362 --> 00:32:32,033
After that, me and Odell stood there
and holded her while Tommy raped her.
494
00:32:32,117 --> 00:32:32,951
Okay.
495
00:32:33,034 --> 00:32:37,539
She had tremendous cuts all over her body,
all in her sides and on her legs.
496
00:32:37,622 --> 00:32:40,262
- Were they deep cuts?
- And on the side of her neck.
497
00:32:40,333 --> 00:32:42,002
Yeah, the ones in her stomach was.
498
00:32:42,085 --> 00:32:46,006
- How could you tell they were deep cuts?
- I could see her ribs and her insides.
499
00:32:46,089 --> 00:32:47,841
Was she saying anything?
500
00:32:47,924 --> 00:32:50,552
She was hollering for help
and telling us to stop.
501
00:32:50,844 --> 00:32:52,679
Do you believe that she died
502
00:32:52,762 --> 00:32:55,515
due to any other reason,
other than the stab wounds?
503
00:32:55,599 --> 00:32:58,143
No, that's what she died of,
the stab wounds.
504
00:32:58,518 --> 00:33:01,158
How many times did you cut
her with the knife, Tommy?
505
00:33:01,229 --> 00:33:04,191
Twice. Once upon her side
and once down her arm.
506
00:33:04,566 --> 00:33:06,943
What do you mean,
you had her "under control"?
507
00:33:07,235 --> 00:33:09,196
Well, she was more or less giving up.
508
00:33:09,362 --> 00:33:10,197
Okay.
509
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:11,280
At the end.
510
00:33:11,573 --> 00:33:13,693
Try and beg y'all not to hurt her or...?
511
00:33:14,034 --> 00:33:16,995
She goes, "Tommy, I didn't think
you'd ever do anything like this."
512
00:33:30,926 --> 00:33:32,987
I'd been in and out enough,
couple of times,
513
00:33:33,011 --> 00:33:35,263
that I was in that bullpen with Karl.
514
00:33:35,764 --> 00:33:39,017
He sat next to me
in that jailhouse and said...
515
00:33:40,435 --> 00:33:43,021
"I'm glad they're locking me up
because I don't have to worry
516
00:33:43,104 --> 00:33:46,316
about a place to sleep
or where I'm going to get my next meal."
517
00:33:46,399 --> 00:33:48,151
And that's exactly what he said.
518
00:33:48,652 --> 00:33:49,652
Karl?
519
00:33:51,488 --> 00:33:54,824
During the period of time
that we've interviewed you, today...
520
00:33:55,742 --> 00:33:58,453
Once again, I'd like to ask you,
have we threatened you or...
521
00:33:58,912 --> 00:34:00,789
- No.
- ...promised you anything?
522
00:34:01,081 --> 00:34:03,708
You're making this of your own free will,
this statement?
523
00:34:03,792 --> 00:34:06,211
It was of my own free will
to get this recorded.
524
00:34:08,672 --> 00:34:11,591
Have you been allowed to smoke, drink,
525
00:34:12,217 --> 00:34:13,552
- drink Cokes...
- Yes.
526
00:34:13,677 --> 00:34:14,928
...anything that you wanted?
527
00:34:15,136 --> 00:34:18,265
Yes, I was served
right during the meeting.
528
00:34:19,140 --> 00:34:20,976
Once again, Tommy, I want to reiterate,
529
00:34:21,434 --> 00:34:23,562
you're giving this statement
of your own free will?
530
00:34:23,645 --> 00:34:24,645
Yes, sir.
531
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,942
Is there anything else that you'd like
to add, to this tape recording,
532
00:34:29,025 --> 00:34:30,527
prior to us shutting it off?
533
00:34:31,903 --> 00:34:33,154
I knew, if...
534
00:34:33,863 --> 00:34:36,157
I knew I wouldn't have done it
if I wasn't drunk,
535
00:34:36,241 --> 00:34:38,159
'cause I thought it was just a dream.
536
00:34:45,333 --> 00:34:47,961
So immediately, and this was in...
And this was like...
537
00:34:48,503 --> 00:34:50,463
around midnight,
or whenever they were questioned.
538
00:34:50,547 --> 00:34:51,547
So, then they tell them,
539
00:34:51,590 --> 00:34:54,593
"You're under arrest
for kidnapping, rape, and murder."
540
00:34:56,219 --> 00:34:58,888
And then they called the headquarters
in Ada.
541
00:34:58,972 --> 00:35:01,474
They sent cops to Odell Titsworth's house.
542
00:35:01,558 --> 00:35:03,226
They knew him from various...
543
00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:04,644
run-ins with the law.
544
00:35:06,938 --> 00:35:10,358
They get to Odell Titsworth's
house and he's there with his mother
545
00:35:10,442 --> 00:35:11,610
and they accuse him.
546
00:35:12,319 --> 00:35:13,778
Anyway, the mother says,
547
00:35:14,654 --> 00:35:16,031
"Odell couldn't have done that.
548
00:35:16,114 --> 00:35:19,618
He was home with a broken arm
that the police broke two nights before."
549
00:35:20,076 --> 00:35:23,156
So the cops are thinking, "That the police
broke? What are you talking about?"
550
00:35:24,831 --> 00:35:26,583
So that's what their description
551
00:35:26,666 --> 00:35:29,377
of what Odell was doing
the night of the crime.
552
00:35:30,378 --> 00:35:32,255
Well, that's easy enough to prove.
553
00:35:34,716 --> 00:35:36,343
And so the police officers,
554
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,721
they go down to the hospital,
and they keep records.
555
00:35:39,804 --> 00:35:43,266
And sure enough, on that date,
Odell Titsworth had been treated
556
00:35:43,350 --> 00:35:45,226
and he had a broken arm,
557
00:35:45,727 --> 00:35:47,270
the humerus, which is up here.
558
00:35:47,354 --> 00:35:50,899
And was told that he's even going
to have to sleep in a chair
559
00:35:50,982 --> 00:35:53,068
for like a month or so.
560
00:35:53,151 --> 00:35:56,696
So the mother and Odell were not lying.
There was proof,
561
00:35:56,780 --> 00:36:00,116
in the police department itself,
that he was in no condition
562
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,578
that night to lift bodies over fences
and so forth.
563
00:36:05,246 --> 00:36:07,999
Now they've got a problem.
It's on the confession tape.
564
00:36:08,291 --> 00:36:11,961
It's a big thing, a part of the tape,
like, Odell was the leader,
565
00:36:12,629 --> 00:36:15,090
that he was at home
with a broken arm that night.
566
00:36:19,260 --> 00:36:21,471
I was actually still in school,
567
00:36:21,554 --> 00:36:25,850
but I was a radio newscaster at the time.
568
00:36:25,934 --> 00:36:30,230
And we had the only radio news team
569
00:36:30,313 --> 00:36:31,564
in the city, at the time.
570
00:36:31,648 --> 00:36:36,611
And so we covered all of the trials
and any of the big news going on there.
571
00:36:37,237 --> 00:36:40,323
I know that there were
several unsolved murders
572
00:36:40,407 --> 00:36:41,533
of women at the time.
573
00:36:41,908 --> 00:36:44,953
The Deborah Carter case was unsolved.
574
00:36:45,036 --> 00:36:48,832
And, um, there was
a lot of public pressure being put
575
00:36:48,915 --> 00:36:52,961
on the police department,
the District Attorney's office
576
00:36:53,044 --> 00:36:55,296
to make sure that these were solved.
577
00:36:57,340 --> 00:37:00,135
Dennis Smith told me one time,
and actually it was Labor Day.
578
00:37:00,218 --> 00:37:03,346
Uh, we were sitting right in front
of the courthouse and Dennis told me
579
00:37:03,430 --> 00:37:05,640
that, uh, he asked his wife,
580
00:37:06,516 --> 00:37:09,144
"What do you want to do today?"
They both had the day off.
581
00:37:09,436 --> 00:37:10,603
And she said...
582
00:37:11,813 --> 00:37:14,357
"Let's...
Let's go look for Denice Haraway's body."
583
00:37:15,316 --> 00:37:16,916
And this was, again, three months later.
584
00:37:16,985 --> 00:37:19,696
That's how this town was, was gripped
by this thing.
585
00:37:19,988 --> 00:37:22,031
The authorities
never found Denice Haraway's body
586
00:37:22,699 --> 00:37:24,993
in the Ward and Fontenot case.
587
00:37:28,037 --> 00:37:29,205
I always thought...
588
00:37:29,706 --> 00:37:32,625
that for a murder charge
you had to have the body.
589
00:37:32,959 --> 00:37:36,629
And Bill Peterson explained to me,
and of course he was dead on right,
590
00:37:36,921 --> 00:37:41,259
that corpus delicti means
"the body of the crime."
591
00:37:42,427 --> 00:37:46,347
If that was not the law,
then anybody who was good at hiding a body
592
00:37:46,431 --> 00:37:47,807
could get away with murder.
593
00:37:48,475 --> 00:37:51,269
And that's why you don't...
they don't have to produce the body,
594
00:37:51,352 --> 00:37:53,730
just evidence that a crime was committed.
595
00:37:53,813 --> 00:37:56,149
But it doesn't have to be the body.
596
00:37:57,442 --> 00:38:00,862
The prosecution has to prove
that nobody's seen her here.
597
00:38:00,945 --> 00:38:03,448
Nobody's seen her at church.
Nobody saw her at school.
598
00:38:03,531 --> 00:38:04,991
Nobody saw her at home, etc.
599
00:38:05,825 --> 00:38:07,243
It is very rare.
600
00:38:07,619 --> 00:38:09,621
I only know of maybe
601
00:38:09,704 --> 00:38:12,582
three cases where that's been done.
602
00:38:22,008 --> 00:38:23,885
The date for the trial had been set.
603
00:38:23,968 --> 00:38:26,679
So they were tried for robbery,
604
00:38:27,347 --> 00:38:28,640
kidnapping, and murder.
605
00:38:29,390 --> 00:38:31,100
The atmosphere was tense.
606
00:38:31,184 --> 00:38:34,270
Some members of the Haraway family sat in.
607
00:38:34,354 --> 00:38:38,566
Some members of Tommy Ward's family sat in
on the trial.
608
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,946
I was waiting for Denice Haraway
to walk back through the door.
609
00:38:43,029 --> 00:38:44,239
- Yeah.
- I honestly was.
610
00:38:44,322 --> 00:38:45,949
At the trial, just walk in.
611
00:38:47,033 --> 00:38:49,244
- I honestly was.
- But never happened.
612
00:38:50,745 --> 00:38:51,913
Never happened.
613
00:38:55,083 --> 00:39:00,213
Both Don Wyatt,
who represented Tommy Ward, and I...
614
00:39:00,421 --> 00:39:01,256
uh...
615
00:39:01,422 --> 00:39:04,634
knew that we were facing uphill battles
616
00:39:04,801 --> 00:39:06,469
because there was no body.
617
00:39:07,053 --> 00:39:09,597
Bill Peterson was
the main prosecutor. He had...
618
00:39:09,681 --> 00:39:11,307
Chris Ross was helping with his case.
619
00:39:12,225 --> 00:39:16,813
Chris was a very effective attorney.
Very smart. Could think on his feet.
620
00:39:17,856 --> 00:39:22,151
The prosecution,
as is normal in such cases, went first.
621
00:39:22,527 --> 00:39:27,115
And Bill Peterson has a mindset
of presenting a story.
622
00:39:29,409 --> 00:39:33,872
So he started
with the fellow who came and found...
623
00:39:33,955 --> 00:39:37,584
you know, who saw the couple walking out
and thought they were lovers,
624
00:39:37,667 --> 00:39:40,003
and then went in and found
that she was missing.
625
00:39:41,254 --> 00:39:43,798
Like I said, I saw her periodically.
626
00:39:43,882 --> 00:39:46,342
I didn't recognize her when she came out.
627
00:39:46,426 --> 00:39:48,803
But after I got in the store
and nobody was there, I said,
628
00:39:48,887 --> 00:39:51,472
"That girl that just left
is the girl that works here."
629
00:39:51,806 --> 00:39:53,057
I told my nephews that.
630
00:39:53,141 --> 00:39:53,975
No, I know.
631
00:39:54,058 --> 00:39:57,061
There's no doubt in my mind
that she was taken.
632
00:39:58,229 --> 00:39:59,272
As we arrived.
633
00:40:01,024 --> 00:40:02,734
They called Karen Wise.
634
00:40:02,817 --> 00:40:07,196
The girl who worked up the road
at J.P.'s Pack-To-Go.
635
00:40:07,822 --> 00:40:08,822
And asked
636
00:40:08,865 --> 00:40:12,118
if those were the two people
who were messing around in her store.
637
00:40:12,577 --> 00:40:14,162
And she said, "Without a doubt."
638
00:40:14,245 --> 00:40:17,707
She testified
that one of them was Tommy Ward.
639
00:40:21,044 --> 00:40:25,965
There's a, uh, woman that testified,
called by the prosecutors,
640
00:40:26,090 --> 00:40:29,969
that she had been
in the jail for several weeks
641
00:40:30,053 --> 00:40:32,263
at the same time
that Tommy and Karl were there,
642
00:40:32,347 --> 00:40:33,598
before the trial.
643
00:40:33,681 --> 00:40:34,933
And she testified
644
00:40:35,016 --> 00:40:38,394
that she overheard Karl confessing
to the crime,
645
00:40:38,478 --> 00:40:40,146
how they had killed the girl.
646
00:40:41,105 --> 00:40:43,107
'Would you tell this jury
what he said?'
647
00:40:43,191 --> 00:40:46,110
'He said that Odell raped her first
648
00:40:46,194 --> 00:40:47,487
and then it was Tommy's turn.
649
00:40:47,570 --> 00:40:50,198
He bit her on the breast
and cut her down the arm.
650
00:40:50,281 --> 00:40:53,451
And Odell killed her,
stabbed her to death and killed her.
651
00:40:53,534 --> 00:40:55,161
And then Karl raped her.'
652
00:40:55,244 --> 00:40:58,915
'When he told you this statement
Terri, what was your reaction to that?'
653
00:40:58,998 --> 00:41:00,375
'He scared me.'"
654
00:41:01,209 --> 00:41:04,462
And then, for the denouement,
655
00:41:04,545 --> 00:41:06,965
the final piece of testimony, of evidence,
656
00:41:07,423 --> 00:41:10,009
they played the confession.
657
00:41:10,093 --> 00:41:13,137
You said earlier
that you noticed, when you came back up,
658
00:41:13,221 --> 00:41:14,847
a large amount of blood.
659
00:41:14,931 --> 00:41:16,557
Where all was she bleeding from?
660
00:41:16,808 --> 00:41:18,101
Mostly in her side.
661
00:41:18,476 --> 00:41:20,019
Where the deep cut was.
662
00:41:20,103 --> 00:41:23,481
- And where else?
- In the side of her neck, right here.
663
00:41:24,148 --> 00:41:28,194
There was only one leader
of this two-person church,
664
00:41:28,277 --> 00:41:29,404
and that was Tommy.
665
00:41:29,487 --> 00:41:33,908
I think that Karl's relationship
with Tommy was that
666
00:41:33,992 --> 00:41:37,203
if Tommy Ward had anything
to do with that crime,
667
00:41:37,286 --> 00:41:41,207
Karl would have been there
handing him what he needed.
668
00:41:41,290 --> 00:41:46,004
- Was she conscious then?
- No. She wasn't very lively at all.
669
00:41:46,087 --> 00:41:48,589
- How come?
- Because we'd all three raped her.
670
00:41:49,340 --> 00:41:53,136
I knew that she was dead
because she was white.
671
00:41:54,262 --> 00:41:56,222
We had to get rid of her and all,
672
00:41:56,305 --> 00:41:58,725
and he asked me a good place
to get rid of her.
673
00:41:59,225 --> 00:42:03,271
And I told him about a house,
and about this ditch down by the...
674
00:42:04,939 --> 00:42:06,190
Sandy River.
675
00:42:06,274 --> 00:42:09,110
And then he put her off
in the rotten place in the floor.
676
00:42:09,444 --> 00:42:11,738
- Where was that?
- Over where the floor was missing.
677
00:42:12,113 --> 00:42:13,906
Once the tapes were played,
678
00:42:14,741 --> 00:42:15,783
uh, the audience was...
679
00:42:15,867 --> 00:42:18,327
the spectators in the room...
680
00:42:18,828 --> 00:42:21,247
they were horrified.
And once people saw that...
681
00:42:22,290 --> 00:42:24,751
these people were guilty.
How can anybody even say
682
00:42:24,834 --> 00:42:25,877
they did things like that?
683
00:42:26,335 --> 00:42:28,713
- You poured gasoline on her?
- Yes.
684
00:42:29,047 --> 00:42:32,800
And then what? What did you do
after you poured the gas on her?
685
00:42:34,218 --> 00:42:35,428
We lit the house.
686
00:42:36,345 --> 00:42:38,473
We lit the gas
and burnt the house and her.
687
00:42:40,141 --> 00:42:42,244
That was the first murder trial
that I had done
688
00:42:42,268 --> 00:42:44,228
and it lasted two and a half weeks.
689
00:42:44,604 --> 00:42:45,813
And, um...
690
00:42:47,065 --> 00:42:48,985
I went home at the end
of it every day and cried.
691
00:42:49,192 --> 00:42:52,945
Every day, hearing bad things...
692
00:42:53,029 --> 00:42:54,781
and so much of it.
693
00:42:54,864 --> 00:42:58,618
And I believed, I believed the evidence.
694
00:43:00,036 --> 00:43:02,538
I think in these particular cases,
695
00:43:02,622 --> 00:43:04,957
Mr. Peterson and Mr. Ross
were the prosecutors.
696
00:43:05,041 --> 00:43:09,003
It's like they're telling a story
and a story unfolding, and, um...
697
00:43:09,712 --> 00:43:11,547
for sure, Mr. Ross is a very good...
698
00:43:12,548 --> 00:43:13,800
very good at his job.
699
00:43:17,637 --> 00:43:21,265
When Chris Ross began
his closing arguments,
700
00:43:21,349 --> 00:43:24,685
he used psychiatry
as a way of explaining...
701
00:43:25,019 --> 00:43:28,981
for where the third person came from
in the, uh, confession tapes.
702
00:43:33,945 --> 00:43:36,114
"I submit, ladies and gentlemen...
703
00:43:36,614 --> 00:43:39,033
everything Mr. Ward did in his confession,
704
00:43:39,117 --> 00:43:40,910
things he did in reality,
705
00:43:41,327 --> 00:43:43,287
he blamed on Odell Titsworth.
706
00:43:47,834 --> 00:43:50,044
You'll notice that Odell and Tommy Ward
707
00:43:50,128 --> 00:43:53,714
never did one single,
significant thing together.
708
00:43:54,674 --> 00:43:56,467
I submit, ladies and gentlemen,
709
00:43:56,968 --> 00:43:59,512
everything Mr. Ward did
in his confession.
710
00:43:59,929 --> 00:44:03,933
He sees himself doing it
and then he says that Odell did it.
711
00:44:04,851 --> 00:44:08,855
And this is confusing, but ladies
and gentlemen, when he's doing this,
712
00:44:08,938 --> 00:44:12,275
and he recounts what happened,
and he sees it in his mind.
713
00:44:12,733 --> 00:44:14,861
He sees himself doing something...
714
00:44:15,611 --> 00:44:17,738
that he tells himself he would never do.
715
00:44:18,322 --> 00:44:19,907
He says Odell did that.
716
00:44:21,701 --> 00:44:24,954
I submit to you,
Odell Titsworth was Tommy Ward
717
00:44:25,538 --> 00:44:28,457
and he raped her first,
and then Karl raped her.
718
00:44:29,083 --> 00:44:31,794
And one of these two men
killed Denice Haraway.
719
00:44:32,211 --> 00:44:34,630
One of these two men stabbed her to death.
720
00:44:35,715 --> 00:44:40,136
I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen,
that man was Tommy Ward."
721
00:44:43,139 --> 00:44:45,766
Chris took the confessions
722
00:44:45,850 --> 00:44:49,395
and wove a closing argument
and presented it,
723
00:44:49,478 --> 00:44:51,480
and the jury bought it.
724
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:57,236
And that's what I think was the final nail
725
00:44:57,737 --> 00:45:01,115
in that coffin of conviction.
726
00:45:02,408 --> 00:45:05,870
The judge goes down all the jurors' votes.
727
00:45:06,871 --> 00:45:09,582
And it was 12 to nothing on all counts.
728
00:45:13,669 --> 00:45:15,772
Are you confused about any of this today
729
00:45:15,796 --> 00:45:17,423
or do you understand what's going on?
730
00:45:17,506 --> 00:45:19,425
- Yes, I understand what's going on.
- Okay.
731
00:45:19,508 --> 00:45:21,469
You understand
how serious this investigation is?
732
00:45:21,552 --> 00:45:23,346
- Yes, I do.
- Okay.
733
00:45:25,014 --> 00:45:27,308
We'll end the tape at this time.
734
00:45:28,142 --> 00:45:31,479
I've got 7:29 p.m.
735
00:45:33,064 --> 00:45:34,649
And we'll conclude the tape now.
736
00:45:34,815 --> 00:45:36,192
Still present in the room...
737
00:45:36,776 --> 00:45:39,695
Deputy Inspector Rusty Featherstone,
Special Agent Gary Rogers,
738
00:45:39,779 --> 00:45:41,822
Captain Dennis Smith,
and Agent Dee Cordray,
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00:45:41,906 --> 00:45:43,616
as well as Tommy Ward.
740
00:46:26,117 --> 00:46:27,660
My name is Thomas Ward.
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I've been in prison for the last 33 years
for a crime I did not commit.
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Preuzeto sa www.titlovi.com
62080
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