OKLAHOMA CITY -
A group of
attorneys and OCU law students are shedding new light on a 1984 murder.
They say the man serving a life sentence for the murder was
wrongfully convicted. Those with the Innocence Project filed an application on
Wednesday for post-conviction relief on behalf of Karl Fontenot.
Fontenot was
convicted in the murder, robbery and kidnapping of Donna Denice Haraway in Ada.
Those with the project say they have evidence to prove the wrong man has been
behind bars for decades.
Karl Fontenot was convicted
in the murder of Donna Denice Haraway; a murder he says he didn't commit. Haraway
vanished from McAnally's convenience store in Ada in April 1984.
An informant told
police the name of a suspect, Tommy Ward. Ward told police about a dream he had
where he, his friend Karl Fontenot and a third man were involved in Haraway's
disappearance and death.
Police ruled out
the third man, but arrested Ward and Fontenot.
The Innocence
Project at OCU School law started investigating Fontenot's case last year.
"During the course
of our investigation, we uncovered numerous suspects in the case, many of whom
were police's initial suspects, and we're not quite clear why they stopped
pursuing those suspects," Oklahoma Innocence Project Director Tiffany Murphy
said.
The project says
Karl had an alibi that witnesses have now confirmed. He said he was at a party,
but that was never presented in his trial. The project says new evidence proves
Haraway was being stalked before her disappearance.
"Her family and friends
presented numerous reports to police of her being harassed with obscene phone
calls with people coming in the store to bother her. She was concerned to the
point where she was pursuing buying a gun. This was a woman who was afraid of
someone she potentially knew," Murphy said.
The project says
there's no evidence that Fontenot and Haraway knew each other. They also claim
police and prosecutors withheld over 800 pages of records from Fontenot's
attorneys.
Fontenot is serving life in prison without the possibility of
parole. The Innocence Project filed its petition in Pontotoc County District
Court. The state has 30 days to respond.
Karl Fontenot was convicted in the murder of Donna Denice Haraway; a murder he says he didn't commit.
