The Case of False Confessions - Tommy Ward Pt. 2

📻 Episode #354
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 May 01, 2023

◆ EPISODE PROFILE

About This Episode

No body, no bones, no motive. Just a decades long nightmare that has not ended.

The Case

No body, no bones, no motive. Just a decades long nightmare that has not ended.

For the final episode of Season 2 Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin take us back to Ada, OK, for the second half of the story of Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot. When we left off last week, Tommy and Karl were sitting on death row, after police turned Tommy’s bad dream into a murder confession. This week, we hear about some serious twists in the case, from the discovery of the victim’s body to the revelation of hidden evidence that turned this case upside down.

Laura and Steve update us on everything that’s happened since the 2018 Netflix series, The Innocent Man, told Tommy and Karl’s story. There’s been some very good news for one of them….and a breaking story that brings some hope for the other.

Since this episode's original release, in January 2021, a District Judge vacated Tommy's conviction, yet he remained in prison while the state appealed. The state won, reinstating the conviction, and Tommy and his team are still fighting for his freedom.

http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org/

https://www.facebook.com/tommywardslegalteam/

In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts

Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.

00:02:57
“Speaker 1: a dream. On January twenty firstnineteen eighty six, a man Speaker 1: was walking through a field in Gurdy, Oklahoma, when he Speaker 1: found a skull under some brush. Police found more human Speaker 1: remains spread across the field, and dental records confirmed a match. Finally,”

00:11:10
“Speaker 4: Center on Ronical Convictions got involved, and we've been involved Speaker 4: in it for the ensuing a dozen or thirteen years, Speaker 4: still fighting. Speaker 1: Now here's one thing that fascinated Rob about the case Speaker 1: and about Ada, Oklahoma. Turns out Tommy Ward wasn't the”

00:19:17
“Speaker 3: I would guess Tommy would be dreaming about freedom now. Speaker 1: In this case that's started with a nightmare. There are Speaker 1: new things to hope for now, doors opening, chains being removed, Speaker 1: family embracing you and taking you home. These are the Speaker 1: things that all wrongfully convicted people hope for until finally,”

Listen to the Episode

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🔊 How You Can Help

Share this case, follow the organisations working on it, and support the podcast's fight for the innocent at lavaforgood.com.

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Also on the podcast: #115 False Confessions - Origin Story · #116 False Confessions - Robert Davis · #117 False Confessions - Dixmoor 5