The Donna Payant Story:

A story of Murder, Corruption and Cover-up Part I

Disclaimer: I am a friend of Chris Payant (Donna Payant’s son) We attended Saratoga Springs Junior and Senior High School many years ago. Much of the information you will read here is from material that I obtained from Chris and other information I have gotten from the internet and YouTube. (see video)

The Donna Payant Story is one of the most intriguing stories of murder in the history of New York State. The narrative about what happened to Donna Payant has always left us with more questions than answers. This is a story about murder, corruption and cover up. My hope in investigating and writing about this story is to discover what really happened to her and why it happened.

Let’s begin…

In 1981, legislation was passed in New York State to allow women to be Corrections Officers in the New York State Penitentiaries. Donna Payant was one of 50 females to be hired by the Department of Corrections that year. After her training in Albany, New York she was assigned to Greenhaven Correctional Facility. Donna’s husband Leo was also a Corrections Officer, and her father was also worked in Corrections. Donna was only 31 years old and the mother of three kids.

Donna Payant had worked at Greenhaven Correctional Facility for just over a month when she clocked in at 12:08pm on Friday May 15th, 1981. Her shift officially started at 1pm and ended at 9pm. She attended role call and got her assignment for the day.

Greenhaven Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison located in Stormville New York, in Dutchess County. Being a corrections officer is dangerous work for a man, and it was especially dangerous for women. Donna had already experienced the unpleasantness of being sexually harassed while attending her training at the academy in Albany.

At Greenhaven Correctional Facility she was bullied by male corrections officers and had inmates expose themselves to her. To say this was a hostile work environment would be an understatement. Donna remained undeterred. She took her job seriously and wanted to do well.

Shortly after roll call Donna was talking to a couple of co-workers. A phone rang and another corrections officer answered it, the co-worker told Donna the phone call was for her. Donna took the call and turned away from the co-workers while on the phone. She hung up the phone and seemed annoyed. She told her co-workers that she would be right back and indicated that she was going to get something resolved. Before she walked away, she inexplicably gave one of those co-workers her keys and walkie-talkie.

The walkie-talkie was essentially the only lifeline to communicate with her co-workers if something went wrong. It seems strange that she would relinquish this tool of communication even if she did intend on coming right back as she had indicated to her co-workers.

That was the last time Donna was seen alive.

Why would someone want to kill Donna Payant? What would be the motivation to do something like that?

While in training at the Academy in Albany, Donna filed a complaint and subsequent lawsuit against a superior who entered her room while she slept one evening. She later dropped the lawsuit.

Donna did not play games when it came to her job.

When we think of a maximum-security facility, we have been led to believe that the inmates are on lockdown for the majority of the day with a minimum of free time for exercise. This was not the case at this penitentiary.

In 1981 Greenhaven Correctional Facility, resembled a disorganized summer camp where most of the inmates had free range to almost the entirety of the prison during the day, including the gym, auditorium, kitchen, and woodwork rooms. They also had access to the Jewish and Catholic Chaplains office even when the Chaplains were not there. The inmates took full advantage of the telephones in those offices, and it was not uncommon for inmates to make long distance telephone calls whenever they wanted. They also would use the phones to make prank calls to Corrections officers to get them away from their assigned post. That kind of access would be unheard of today.

To this day, the individual who called and summoned Donna to another area of the prison has never been identified.

The murder of Donna Payant has always been blamed on serial killer Lemuel Smith but was he the actual murderer or was he just the fall guy?

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To be continued…

www.donnapayantuncovered.com