Tulsa Man Once Convicted Of Murder Desperate To Be Fully Exonerated

A Tulsa man who was once convicted of murder says he's innocent and he's desperate to get the conviction off his record.

Willard O'Neal says he needs people to know the truth. The Oklahoma Innocence Project has been working on his case for years and says they need witnesses to come forward. Until then, Willard says he's not able to truly move on with his life.

"What got me through? My mother and God. They kept me focused, if it wasn't for that, I think I'd been lost," he said.

Willard was sentenced to life without parole in 2004 after a jury convicted him of murdering a Tulsa strip club owner. 

He was in prison for 18 years.

"You've gotta change how you are, your character, your lifestyle, everything changes when you're inside, but when you got guys serving years for a crime they didn't commit when they get back out here, you've gotta adjust to this world," he said. 

The Oklahoma Innocence Project started working on Willard's case in 2015. OSBI confirmed Willard's DNA didn't match the DNA taken from the crime scene. 

The Tulsa County DA's Office offered a plea deal that would reduce Willard's charge to second-degree murder, with time already served, meaning he would be a free man.  He was released from prison in 2019.

The Innocence Project says there are people out there who know what really happened, and they need them to come forward.

"The crime could be solved, at this point the people or person who committed this crime are out there, and society benefits from these people being found and brought to justice," said Andrea Digilio Miller with the Oklahoma Innocence Project. 

Willard says he's doing good now.  He's got a job and is spending time with his family, but until the conviction is removed from his record, he can't truly move forward.

"To me, I feel like I'm still not free, I still got this hanging over me," he said.

If you have any information, you are asked to reach out to the Oklahoma Innocence Project.