Ch. 5 - Exposure - An Interview with Terry Haynes

Friends welcome back.

Seat belts on...?

Beware, there are a lot of jolting stops and starts during this exclusive interview with a key witness and suspect in the case, Terry Haynes.

Terry initially tries to distance himself from the situation. However, as the conversation progresses, he reveals vital details about Donna and the events leading to her tragic end.

Starting strong, interviewer Jinra Illustrisimo dives into the interview by asking Terry if he knew Donna Thompkins. With nervousness, he hastily responds, “Well, I just barely know Donna.”

Jinra asks Terry, “How did you meet her?”

Terry replies, “Well, she was a friend of my family from years and years ago when I was a little bitty kid, and I’ve probably never seen her six times since—”

Jinra informs Terry about Donna’s fate—the victim of a horrifying homicide. In feigning shock, Terry suddenly—and conveniently—recognizes the name and recalls his limited relationship with Donna while covering up his previous claim by saying, “I knew another Donna Thompkins too.”

I am beginning to feel like the mere concept of honesty has become a blunt theme in Donna’s case.

(Fingers crossed, so many lies can line up to tell a true story.)

Terry corrects himself, explaining that he knew Donna when he drove for UPS and that she had been working at the bank at the time, and the two visited occasionally.

*Interesting, to say the least.

Terry casually mentions his active involvement at The Canton Elks Lodge, dropping the minor detail that Donna had worked there as a waitress.

Now, let’s take a quick pause here to fill in the details—

So, we remember the Elks from the last episode and from Donna’s point of view.

To jog everyone’s memory a bit, let me remind you that The Elks was Donna’s go-to, a spot to unwind after work, especially when she started picking up bartending shifts on Sundays—until higher-ups at the bank weren’t too happy about it, hinting that it could affect her job performance—so, Donna made the switch to being a waitress.

All right, hit play.

Intrigued, Jinra questions Terry about Donna’s character, hoping to shed light on the woman behind the tragic headlines.

Terry’s answer is finally straightforward— he remembers her as a “very nice lady,” admired by many at the Canton Elks.

Terry mentions multiple times throughout the interview describing Donna as a beautiful lady; tall, slender, with white teeth and long black hair. He references her daughter, Justine, though struggling to remember her first name. Terry also briefly mentions Donna’s divorce, adding that she had dated several guys back then, finally stating, “I guess she had a tragic end.”

I guess he had no idea about her sudden death.

I honestly can’t help but wonder if Donna’s involvement with multiple men nothing is more than a rumor circulated among the men of Canton to shift the blame on Donna while trying to cover up acts of abuse.

Or—a goal to convince authorities that fault should be shifted to her; after all, she was in these situations, to begin with.

After all, every man we’ve learned of was abusive to Donna or, at the least, toxic.

Am I wrong?

Donna strikes me as a sharp woman with big dreams for herself—it’s such a damn shame.

Even her husband, Jon, has been trying to win himself time before signing the divorce paperwork. Meanwhile, a lot of these men are aware of Donna’s divorce and are circling for the kill, so to speak.

Did I mention Terry said he only knew her briefly...?

Delving deeper, Jinra asks Terry about the nature of their relationship, and Terry clarifies that they were strictly friends. Jinra questions him again, giving him a second chance to spill the truth, but Terry embraces the same answer, “Yup, just friends.”

Jinra mentions that the case file says otherwise.

I love this part—it states that Terry actually dated Donna.

I find it fascinating when suspects start with lies, oblivious that the truth is already known—like watching a thrilling puzzle unfold before my eyes, where the interviewee hands the interviewer the wrong puzzle pieces, hoping they won’t notice.

He then begins the reveal, as Terry states, “Well, we had a few drinks here and there, but that’s it—we were never an item.”

Something smells odd; can you smell it too?

Why wouldn’t Terry have initially mentioned that they dated briefly over drinks if it’s such a critical detail?

Jinra, wanting to dig deeper, asks Terry when he last saw Donna, and I could tell that the memories were a blur for Terry or that he was trying to come up with a sort of diversion from the raw truth.

Terry says, “It was probably at the Elks when she was waiting tables.”

The conversation takes an essential turn as Jinra tells Terry that she has access to the court records and that he, himself, was indeed a suspect in the double homicide case.

Uh oooh—

Remember that initial remark about just barely knowing Donna?

And the interview heats up—

Terry explains that the police just went through a process of elimination, investigating everyone Donna had any acquaintance with. He mentions that the court “put them through hell” and then shifts, stating, in his opinion, the authorities knew the real culprit all along—and maybe he was right.

He mentions a man with the last name Bull—Donnie Bull.

But Terry’s knowledge of Donnie Bull is limited to Donnie’s reputation as a rapist, leaving a lingering question mark about Donnie’s involvement.

Reflecting on the investigation, Terry expresses mixed feelings—

While he believes they eventually caught the right person, he criticizes the unnecessary interviews and the toll the cops took on him and others.

Meanwhile, my suspicions ring louder and louder about whether law enforcement knew the truth from the beginning.

Jinra asks Terry about Sergeant David Ayers, the lead detective on the case, and Terry admits to being friends with Ayers.

“He is the one who assured me that it was, in fact, just a process of elimination and not to worry.” AKA, no worries, we got you, homie.

Key details incoming: The court conducted a test where they had all suspects identify six or seven rings of Donnas, which were supposedly found in someone’s possession, and when Terry was asked to identify the rings, he successfully identified two of the seven rings as belonging to the late Donna Tompkins.

He was also asked to testify at the trial, and he states that this made him highly uneasy—and I could sense that he did not want to dig up any of these memories.

Innocent or not, a trial like this would weigh heavy on anyone, so I get that.

Again, Terry is confident that they know the guy who did it, mentioning that he, Donnie Bull, died in prison.

Jinra asks, “Do you think during the trial, Donna was depicted as a human being?”

Terry replies, “Yeah, I thought so—I mean, they kinda made it out to seem like she dated around a lot. You know, had a lot of ‘male’ friends.”

This answer made me uneasy.

Why is this detail so emphasized?

And finally, Jinra questions Terry, asking him if he is aware of an anonymous letter concerning the Bull Case that was sent to the mayor and chief of police back in 1997.

Terry answers quickly: “Nope, I never heard of that.”

Jinra says, “Okay, this is my last question for you. If there was any last thing you could say to Donna, what would it be?”

And Terry answers, “I’m sorry, the whole thing went down that way.”

Oof.

May I say, of?

Speechless.

I mean, innocent or not, these characters in Donna’s story give me such an eerie feeling.

I personally consider that anyone could’ve been the one who took her life at this point.

I know, messed up, right?

The truth is elusive, and the whole thing gets even more twisted.

But hey, stick around and stay tuned for the next episode because we’re gonna dig deeper into the enigma that is the real Donna Tompkins.

And remember, keep your curiosity alive, my lovers of mystery,

Cheers, and safe travels,

Tati