FRANCKE'S BROTHER CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT LEGISLATIVE INQUIRY PROPOSED AS WAY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS

Author: PHIL MANZANO - of the Oregonian Staff

The brother of slain Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke said Thursday that a special legislative committee should investigate the Corrections Department because of questions raised about the department following Francke's death.

Francke's brother, Pat Francke of Lenexa, Kansas, said by telephone Thursday that Oregon legislators should hear testimony ``like a Watergate hearing'' about possible fraud and corruption in the department.

Francke, 42, was stabbed to death about 7 p.m. Jan. 17 outside the Dome Building, the Corrections Department headquarters located on the Oregon State Hospital grounds in Salem.

Michael Francke's family has said that before his death, Francke had told them he had uncovered ``an organized criminal element'' within the prison system and planned to break up the group. Family members have since said Francke may have been killed because of his investigation into the ``criminal element.''

``I am not trying to vilify the Oregon Department of Corrections,'' Pat Francke said. ``Mike told me that he had some very good people working for him there. There is, however, a dark cloud hanging over the department.''

He said the Oregon Senate should conduct a full and open investigation into possible corruption and fraud going back four or five years.

``We talk to people every week who tell us confidentially that they want to speak out, would speak out, with the proper forum and adequate protection,'' Francke said. He added that people are afraid of reprisals and retribution.

Francke said the family is ``very disappointed'' with the progress of the investigation. He said he was disturbed by the initial actions of some Corrections Department employees after Francke was noticed missing.

Fred Pearce, who has replaced Francke as corrections director, had little to say about Pat Francke's statement when asked about it during a tour of possible prison sites in Washington County.

``If the Legislature wants to make an investigation that's certainly within their purview to do so,'' Pearce said. ``That's my comment.''

Francke was killed about 7 p.m. but his body was not found on the portico of the Dome Building until almost 1 a.m. by an Oregon State Hospital communications worker who was checking the grounds. Corrections Department employees failed to find Francke's body during an earlier search.

Pat Francke also said he was disturbed that some members of the Corrections Department have refused to take lie detector tests, that officials hesitated to set up a reward fund, now at $22,000, and that composite drawings investigators are using have not been released to the public.

``We understand that the lack of evidence in the case has made it a difficult investigation to conduct,'' Francke said. He added that the family is bewildered by the district attorney's refusal to release the drawings.

Last week, the family filed suit in Marion County Circuit Court to force the state medical examiner to release a complete copy of the autopsy report to the family. Dr. Larry Lewman, state medical examiner, said he has not released the report on the request of the Marion County district attorney's office, which fears its release could jeopardize the investigation.

Francke said the family wanted the report for themselves because of numerous speculation and rumors that Francke was mutilated when he was killed. Officials have denied that mutilation occurred.

The homicide investigation, headed by the Oregon State Police and Marion County district attorney's office, has consumed thousands of hours, but officials have yet to say they have a suspect in the case.

Tuesday night, a state worker who may be a witness in the Francke killing was taken to the Dome Building by investigators to discuss what he saw. The witness said in an interview with Phil Stanford, a columnist for The Oregonian, that he was leaving work when he heard a yell outside the Dome Building and saw two men standing and facing one another. One wearing a trenchcoat ran away and the other turned and walked toward the Dome Building.

The witness told KOIN (6) that he was interviewed by police shortly after the killing. He described the man who ran away as having short-cropped hair and a swarthy complexion. That description is consistent with a police composite drawing of a well-dressed man seen in the Dome Building the night of the crime.