(Editor’s note: The following letter regarding a 1984 murder case, penned by former Seminole resident Larry Upton, was recently received by the Seminole Producer. Rather than condense the letter into a news story, we have chosen to run the letter in its entirety, as plenty of background information on the case was provided by the author. The views expressed in the letter do not necessarily represent those of the Seminole Producer, Seminole County Publishing, Inc., or its employees and/or associates).

A letter from the family of Donna Denice Lyon-Haraway:

On April 28,1984 Donna “Denice” Lyon Haraway was kidnapped, murdered, then raped by Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot. Sadly, after 3 unanimous juries found them guilty, numerous appeals and eventually an agreed Life sentence by Tommy Ward, a Tulsa federal court judge concluded that Fontenot is entitled to a new trial and a State court judge has decided that Tommy Ward should be released and not retried.

We ask the question why? Because the facts of the case and the proof against Ward and Fontenot haven’t changed. The only thing that has changed is the release of the so-called true book by John Grisham, followed by the Netflix series. Both are filled with distortion and are completely one-sided when it comes to the case against Ward and Fontenot.

It has sickened us to see what has been done over the past few years to distort, mislead and outright lie about the facts of the case against Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot. We want to remind everyone that Denice still has many living family members, including her husband, a sister, brother, nieces, nephews, cousins that have followed this case from the beginning and have no doubt that Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot are responsible for the brutal rape and murder of Denice. Not to mention her parents, aunts, uncles and cousins that were living at the time of her murder that had to suffer because of what Ward and Fontenot did. It should never be forgotten what happened to Denice and who committed the atrocious acts.

The people that long for conspiracy theories obviously don’t care about the real killers or what these savages did to Denice. Anyone that actually looks at all of the evidence, including the actual video tape of the confessions given by Ward and Fontenot will have no doubt. Please don’t base your opinion on the onesided, distorted versions of the case presented on Netflix or in the book. Both are commercial enterprises designed to feed off of people’s desire to see and read about conspiracies.

The push to have Ward and Fontenot released from prison started with the “Innocent Man” book written about the Fritz and Williamson case. Their cases are totally different than Ward and Fontenot. The only commonality is that they happened in the same community and several of the same law enforcement officials were involved in both cases. The author of “Innocent Man” and the attorneys for Ward and Fontenot are using this coincidence to say if Fritz and Williamson were innocent, then Ward and Fontenot must be innocent. This is hogwash. There was DNA evidence that exonerated Fritz and Williamson. There is absolutely no new evidence to exonerate Ward and Fontenot. There is no smoking gun evidence or DNA that proves Ward and Fontenot innocent.

We could write an entire book refuting the falsehoods and distortions contained in the book, series and briefs filed by the attorneys. However, in this letter we will only address a few things that leave us with no doubt and should leave everyone with no doubt that Ward and Fontenot are guilty of the rape and murder of Denice. The eye-witness testimony identifying Ward and Fontenot as the kidnappers is being unfairly distorted. Denice was kidnapped from McAnally’s store where she worked. Several witnesses testified under oath at the preliminary hearing and jury trials that they saw Ward and Fontenot together that evening prior to the kidnapping. Witnesses saw Ward leaving the store with Denice. 35 years later some of the witnesses have allegedly wavered on the identification when interviewed for the Netflix movie.

The author, movie and lawyers now want you to believe that it was not Tommy Ward in the store leaving with Denice. This claim is absolutely ridiculous to anyone that reads the transcripts of the trials and preliminary hearing.

Shockingly, Tommy Ward requested to testify at his preliminary hearing. He testified under oath that he was in fact in McAnnaly’s store and left the store with Denice the night she was kidnapped, raped and murdered, as a number of witnesses had testified. Why on earth would Ward admit under oath that he was in fact the person that witnesses had identified in the store? Because the evidence was so strong against him, he was trying to convince the court that Denice left with him voluntarily. Of course, this testimony of Ward is never mentioned in the book or movie. But now, all of a sudden, Ward wasn’t there. Witnesses that testified under oath at 3 trials were mistaken or lying. Ward’s own testimony in court totally defeats any inconsistencies in eye witness statements 35 years later.

Much has been made of the confessions of Ward and Fontenot. Both confessed to the kidnapping, murder and rape in separate interviews weeks after it happened. Some of the details don’t match the discovery of the body. Does that mean that they didn’t commit the crime? Absolutely not. It isn’t unusual for killers to withhold some of the actual facts.

Why are the details that were confessed to separately by Ward and Fontenot not the same? The conspiracy theorists would have you believe that the investigators fed them the facts. However, they don’t tell you that Fontenot stated in court that he and Ward had gotten together after the murder and came up with the story that they were going to tell the police if asked.

It is our guess that the 2 judges haven’t actually viewed the confessions. Anyone that has could not believe Ward and Fontenot are innocent men.

At the time of her murder, Denice was recently married, attending East Central University, soon to graduate with a teaching degree, while working nights at an Ada convenience store.

Denice doesn’t have a famous, wealthy author/film producer or people seeking five minutes of fame to stand up for her. But, she does have her family, the Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma, friends and many good people that worked to find her killers and bring them to justice that will never forget her or who is responsible for her death. We are thankful that the Attorney General continues to fight to keep Denice’s killers in prison.

Family of Donna Denice Lyon Haraway - Larry Upton, Oklahoma City, cousin of Denice Lyon Haraway, and on behalf of the following family: David Lyon, Steve Olsen, Mike Upton, Keith Upton, Mickey Upton, Connie Lyon Bradshaw, Karrie Harrod, Nick Upton and Bryan Lyon.