FRANCKE BROTHER BEFORE GRAND JURY

Author: PHIL MANZANO - of the Oregonian Staff

Summary: Patrick Francke testifies as Oregon State Police examine a knife found Sunday near the scene of his brother's slaying in January

One of the brothers of slain Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke testified Thursday before a special Marion County grand jury that has been convened in the homicide case.

In another development, a knife found Sunday in the general vicinity of where Francke was stabbed to death is being examined by the Oregon State Police. Authorities could not say Thursday if the knife is linked to the case.

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

No arrests have been made in the case.

Patrick Francke, the older brother of Michael Francke, testified for about three hours Thursday morning before the grand jury, but came away encouraged and pleased with the jury.

``They're very hard working,'' he said after his testimony.

``They're very inquisitive. They asked a lot of hard questions.''

At the request of the grand jury, Francke arrived in Oregon Wednesday afternoon from Lenexa, Kan., on his first visit to Oregon since shortly after his brother's death. He said he planned to visit the Oregon State Penitentiary Friday and leave afterward.

Francke would not talk specifically about what he said to the grand jury, but that the grand jury covered a lot of material and that it was the jurors, not deputy district attorneys present who were asking questions.

``They were curious about Michael's background, what kind of human being he was, what kind of person he was, how he conducted his life,'' he said. ``How he would have handled a case of impropriety, if you will.''

He said the grand jury was making a lot of progress and appeared willing to stay on the case ``as long as it takes.''

Several theories have been advanced about why Francke was murdered, including that he interrupted a car burglary to one that he may have been killed to cover up alleged corruption in the prison system.

Michael Francke's younger brother, Kevin, of Port Charlotte, Fla., said his brother told him he had uncovered and was going to expose an ``organized criminal element'' in the prisons. Patrick and Kevin Francke have raised questions that this scenario needs to be examined more closely.

Marion County District Attorney Dale Penn has said investigators have looked into the theory but have found no links to the Francke case.

``I told them I didn't know what the scenario was,'' Francke said Thursday. ``I said that (the prison corruption theory) could be a possibility. I told them that I would accept anything that made sense - if they could come up with an indictment and conviction.

``If it was a random act of violence, so be it,'' Francke said. ``I'm not trying to make my brother out a martyr. I just want to find out who killed him.''

When asked by reporters if he felt the murder was a random act, he said, ``My own feeling is no, that ain't what happened.''

Francke said he provided the grand jury with information, names and phone numbers, that he has found through his own research into the case and provided them with ``a new slant on a lot of information that they had heard, we talked about some people that they have already interviewed.''

Francke said Gov. Neil Goldschmidt's appointment of a special investigator to look into prison corruption was a good idea as long as the investigator was given subpoena power to interview subjects.

``I think if the guy's got any authority it's a great idea,'' he said.

``It's high time.''

Francke called for a special investigation in early August and in the last week, Democrat and Republican state legislators have been calling for a legislative committee to examine allegations of corrupt in Oregon's prison system.

In another development Thursday, Oregon State Police began examining a knife found Sunday by a Willamette Law School student who was combing the general area where Francke was killed with a metal detector.

Out of frustration with the investigation, Brad Leutwyler, 24, said he began examining areas where authorities believe a suspect in the Francke case was seen fleeing toward the night of the murder.

Leutwyler is a law clerk for Salem attorney Steven Krasik, who has represented the Francke's in a suit to obtain the complete autopsy report in Francke's death. Penn has refused to release the full report, saying that he needs to keep its details secret for the investigation.

Shortly after Francke's murder police released a sketchy description of a man who ran ``westbound from the parking lot of the Dome Building across 23rd Stree'' and into a paved parking area next to the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Center.

Leutwyler said he spent five hours with a metal detector going over possible escape routes and looking through gutters and drains for clues.

He said he followed a westward route that leads behind a Headstart center near the rehabilitation center. Behind the Headstart classrooms

Leutwyler's metal detector went off and he scrapped off the leaves and branches and found a bottle cap, which he threw away. He scanned the area again and the metal detector went off again.

After probing the ground with a knife, he came across a long metal object.

``Bingo,'' Leutwyler said aloud.

He said the knife looked like a kitchen knife with a four-inch wood handle and six-inch blade and was buried about one-quarter to one-half inch in the dirt. He turned the weapon over to police Sunday.

Penn said investigators are still in the process of trying to find the murder weapon. He said the discovery is not a major break in the case, but the knife is being analyzed.