Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)

September 9, 1989

BROTHER OF MURDERED FRANCKE INTERVIEWS INMATE AT PRISON

Author: PHIL MANZANO - of the Oregonian Staff

Summary: Patrick Francke says he'll share what he learned from Johnny Crouse with the Marion County district attorney.

The brother of slain Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke met Friday with an Oregon State Penitentiary inmate whom police have questioned in connection with Francke's death.

Patrick Francke, who testified Thursday before a Marion County grand jury meeting on the case, said he wanted prison inmate Johnny Crouse ``to tell what he knows.''

Francke, 42, was stabbed to death Jan. 17 outside the Corrections Department headquarters. No one has been arrested in connection with the crime.

Crouse, who was out on temporary leave in January, was questioned by police in February about the case. He was returned to the penitentiary on a parole violation in April.

An Oregon Parole Board warrant issued March 24 for Crouse's arrest said he was wanted for questioning as a suspect in the Francke case. But Crouse has not been charged, and he has denied in published reports that he was involved in the murder.

Patrick Francke entered the prison with Crouse's attorney, Steven Gorham, around 8 a.m. and was allowed into the prison visiting area after passing through a metal detector. The interview took place in a high-security visiting area. A plexiglass barrier separated Crouse from Francke and Gorham, and two guards were with Francke.

After the interview, which lasted about a half-hour, Francke would not disclose what the two had discussed, but he said he would share his information with the Marion County district attorney, Dale Penn.

``John Crouse wants out of there. He feels threatened, and I've only talked to him 30 minutes; I can't make an evaluation of the guy,'' Francke said.

Francke said he would try to meet with Penn, but he left Salem about 9:30 a.m. to catch an 11 a.m. flight to return to his home in Lenexa, Kan.

Phil Stanford, a columnist for The Oregonian, testified for about an hour Friday morning before the grand jury. Stanford has written numerous columns on the Francke murder and has criticized the investigation.

``It was all very friendly. They wanted to know about some of the columns I had written, and I told them what I could without revealing any sources,'' Stanford said.

Oregon's shield law protects journalists from being compelled to disclose sources and unpublished material. The law allows sources to talk to journalists freely without fear of becoming known.

Stanford said his impression after the meeting was that the grand jury's charge was to find a connection between Michael Francke's murder and allegations of prison corruption.

In another development, officials said Friday that a rusted, 10-inch knife found by a Willamette University Law School student Sunday in the general area where Francke was killed was not the only weapon in possession of the murder investigators.

Major Dean Renfrow of the Oregon State Police said investigators had found several knives during earlier searches of the area. Penn said more than 20 weapons had been seized during searches and interviews in the course of the investigation.

Brad Leutwyler, 24, spent five hours Sunday examining the area where authorities believe a suspect was seen fleeing the night of the murder.

Police in January said someone was seen running ``westbound from the parking lot of the Dome Building across 23rd Street'' and into a paved parking area next to the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Center.

Leutwyler said he found the knife behind a Headstart school near the rehabilitation center.

Officials, however, say it is unknown whether the knife he found is significant in the case.

``It's a piece of evidence that needs to be examined at this point,'' Penn said.

Leutwyler said he was surprised to have found the knife.

``The big question in my mind, even if it does not turn out to be the knife, is `Why didn't someone else find it before me?' '' he said.