Oregonian, The (
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Author: PHIL MANZANO
- of the Oregonian Staff
Summary: The
Almost two years ago,
Kevin Francke
stood outside the
He took in the scene --
the trees, the parking circle, the portico, the sidewalk.
It was there, about
Fifteen months later, an
But Kevin Francke, 37,
remains convinced that his brother died at the hands of a conspiracy. Even as
his own life has crumbled around him, he cannot take his eyes off that scene.
``He's obsessed with
that murder,'' said Jeanne Schwartz, 69, a friend who allowed Francke to
stay in her apartment. ``He eats, drinks and sleeps
that murder.''
In his zeal to find
answers, Francke
left his wife, his daughter and his financially troubled construction business
in
``It has frustrated him,
depressed him some and absolutely destroyed his ambition to work,'' said his
father, Dr. Edward Francke
of
``I don't want him to
get hurt, I don't want him to get in trouble,'' said another brother, Patrick,
of
But Kevin Francke, in
an interview Saturday, played down his family's concern.
``I have absolutely no
obsession,'' he said. ``I'm not going out over the edge.''
Sitting on a couch at
Schwartz's apartment and smoking Marlboro cigarettes, Francke granted an interview on
his last day in
Francke has been
the driving force behind the conspiracy theories that surround his brother's
death.
In the months after the
murder, Kevin Francke
told of a telephone call in which Michael Francke told him about an
``organized criminal element'' he was planning to uncover.
Kevin Francke
believes his brother was referring to a widespread ring of corruption in Salem
involving drug dealers, powerful private citizens and officials from state
government and the Corrections Department.
Michael Francke
stood up to this ``deeply rooted'' and ``powerful'' machine and paid with his
life, his brother says.
Francke
interprets some of the physical evidence, the autopsy report and crime scene
photos as indicating his brother was not killed by one person, but by as many
as three or four.
According to Kevin Francke's
theory, two men waited for his brother on the steps of the
That theory has been
dismissed by the state police, Marion County District Attorney Dale Penn and a
special investigator appointed by Gov. Neil Goldschmidt. Prosecutors and police
have repeatedly said they have examined alleged links between Francke's
death and prison system corruption but have found nothing to substantiate them.
``As ludicrous as it
seems, I'm in a position where I support the defense investigators,'' said
Kevin Francke.
``That's difficult and
probably impossible for some people to understand.''
But he said their
efforts and a jury trial of Gable are the only ways to uncover the truth behind
his brother's death.
Before he came to
According to his wife,
their financial troubles began well before the murder, with the first house the
company built after a bank withdrew most of its financing.
The Frankes
were forced to draw on reserve cash and faced a slumping housing market in
1988; then creditors began baying at the company's door. The Franckes were able to survive until March, when they filed
for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in
She said the company has
about $700,000 in outstanding debts, including hundreds of thousands of dollars
loaned by relatives. The Franckes have also filed for
personal bankruptcy.
The murder consumed most
of Kevin Francke's
time, said Katie Francke
-- 12 hours a day and thousands of dollars spent on phone calls, express mail
and faxes.
As if their financial
problems were not enough, Katie Francke said she also began seeing apparitions of Michael Francke.
Once, she said, she ``became'' Michael Francke and was transported
back to the murder scene, where she experienced the killing. Although Kevin Francke
denies it, his wife said Kevin also saw Michael Francke doing a ``turtle
impersonation,'' something he occasionally did to amuse people.
Wife took overdose
Their marriage suffered,
and Kevin Francke
said in January 1990 that he wanted a divorce. Katie Francke said she deliberately
swallowed an overdose of pills shortly afterward but survived when Kevin found
her and took her to the hospital.
Kevin Francke said
recently that his company was doomed not because of neglect, but because of an
ailing Florida housing market that struck down half a dozen other companies in
Port Charlotte.
He also said his wife,
trained in finance and a former manager with a development company, handled the
books for Max Construction, and it fell to her to deal with the creditors.
``There was nothing for
me to do out there . . . except hold her hand,'' said Francke. By then, the couple
had already separated.
Katie Francke
agreed the records were her responsibility but said that Kevin Francke, as
president of the company, should have stayed.
``You didn't need to
know the books or bankruptcy proceedings to talk with some of these people,''
she said.
``I feel it would've
been nice if he stayed and held my hand.''
Although Katie Francke had
been fighting off creditors, she said she sold their wedding rings for $500 and
gave Kevin Francke
$600 for his trip to
Kevin Francke
arrived in
``I saw him as a guy
that needed help, and he showed up on my front door,'' Mason said. ``It was one
of those things after developing a source relationship over the phone and
talking to him and giving and sharing information, when he showed up in
Turn him out into the
cold?''
`A tragedy unfolding'
When it became clear
that Francke
was not going to get a job and move out, Mason asked him to leave.
``I hope he finally
comes to terms with the reality that before he can find his brother's killer,
he will have to come to terms with his own tragedy,'' Mason said. ``I saw a
tragedy unfolding before my eyes, and I couldn't turn my back on it.''
Francke then
stayed with Elizabeth Godlove, a Salem woman who shot
and killed her boyfriend, Timothy Natividad, two
weeks after Michael Francke's
murder. She was found innocent after pleading self-defense in May 1989.
Natividad ran in the same drug circles as Frank Gable,
and Gable's lawyers are trying to establish a link between Natividad
and Francke's
murder. Police contend there is nothing to link Natividad
to the case.
But Gable's lawyers also
criticized Kevin Francke
in an affidavit, saying that ``an individual'' had interfered with a potential
key witness, Godlove, and hindered their efforts.
The defense attorneys,
according to the Statesman-Journal in
Francke said he
twice made Godlove available to defense
investigators. He asserted he has provided the investigative team with reams of
information.
Francke said the
defense team asked him to back off from interviewing Jody Swearingen, a
material witness, and he agreed as long as they would share information. But he
said they never did, and ``I wanted my part of the bargain.''
Test debunked story
Most recently, Francke
stayed with Jeanne Schwartz, an ex-convict who said Kevin Francke was traveling in
``He's either going to
get killed or arrested,'' Schwartz said. Although fond of Francke, she said, ``Kevin's
got me a nervous wreck.''
At one point, there were
conflicting rumors that a contract has been put out on Kevin Francke and
that Francke
was out to get a state police officer. Police have discounted both rumors.
About a month ago, Francke's
family became concerned about his safety after he was not heard from for
several days. Francke
surfaced shortly afterward and said there was nothing to worry about.
In early September Francke
applied for a concealed-weapons permit in
Francke said he
carries a handgun but does not conceal it, in accordance with
He discounted rumors
that he was running with drug users and dealers. Francke said he has as much
right interviewing people in Salem's drug world for his investigation as do
police and defense investigators.
`I'm not a gadfly'
He said he has to talk
to people involved in drugs because of the background of the case. If the
murder involved autoworkers, he would be seen talking to autoworkers, he said.
``I'm not a gadfly, I'm
not a raving lunatic,'' he said.
Francke said he
came to
Once those are
completed, Francke
said, he will be about done with his personal investigation.
When Kevin Francke came
to
When asked if he had
uncovered anything that could be presented in court, Francke said, ``Give me $2 million
and 50 investigators, technical, logistical support and time, and I definitely
could.''