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"A Killing That Won't Go Away" Jim Hill - Former Oregon Senator
| "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." -Benjamin Franklin |
Published by the Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon - 4/28/91
www.statesmanjournal.com
Jan. 17, 1989
5:30pm-Corrections Director Michael Francke concludes usual Tuesday meeting of his directors. During the
meeting, Dome Building security became a topic; Francke tells those present, “If anyone is out to get you,
they can get you.”
Corrections Administrator Lowell Kester is followed out to his car by a man he later describes as a little over
6 feet tall, 185 pounds, wearing a gray mid-length jacket and dark pants. The man makes Kester, who
resembles Francke somewhat, so nervous that Kester walks around his car to put the vehicle between him
and the man, who paused but continued on his way.
6:30pm-Another unknown man, well-groomed and wearing a pin-stripe suit, is seen inside the Dome Building.
Despite a two-year search and numerous tips, District Attorney Dale Penn says that police have not been able
to positively identify the man.
Different witnesses have contended that Frank Gable, Tim Natividad, or a corrections official could have been
the man. (1)
This is a composite drawing of the unknown, well-groomed man wearing a pin-striped suit
seen inside the Dome Building the night of the murder
6:45pm-Last reported time that Francke was seen alive in Dome Building by a corrections employee,
according to police reports. Francke tells administrator Dave Caulley that he is going to his office to call
estranged wife, Bingta.
6:50pm-Caulley leaves the Dome Building. He notes nothing unusual about Francke’s car, which is parked
several spaces from his. (2)
At this time during the winter months, it is dark outside and lighting in the Dome Building parking lot is poor.
7:00pm-Dome Building custodian Wayne Hunsacker leaves Dome Building for his car, which is in a parking lot
north of the Mental Health Division building. (3)
He hears a “surprise hurt” sound behind him, and sees two men turn away from each other in front of Dome
Building. One man walks to the building, moving slowly but apparently unhurt; the other man, dressed in a
light trench coat, runs west. (4)
Play video for dramatization of Wayne Hunsacker statement
Prosecution witness Cappie “Shorty” Harden contends that he saw Frank Gable struggle with a well-dressed
man, who Gable stabs and knocks to the ground. (2)
Harden told police that Gable was dressed in dark clothes.
Corrections employee Diana Moore leaves her Dome Building office; she sees nothing unusual.
A Dallas couple sees three men run out onto Center Street from 25th Street, which runs behind the Dome
Building. The man in the lead is wearing a light-colored trench coat; the two men behind him are dressed in
dark clothes. (5)
7:05-7:08pm-State hospital patients Stan Kudearoff and Stephen Laknas, who are walking across the Dome
Building parking lot, notice that Francke’s car door is open. They see no sign of Francke or his assailant.
7:15-7:30pm-Corrections employees Mary Blake and Elyse Clawson stop to talk on the Dome Building’s main
steps. They notice that Francke’s car door is open. Attempts to page Francke go unanswered, and a quick
search of corrections offices fails to locate him.
7:18pm-A man running from the direction of the Dome Building crosses Center Street in front of a Salem
couple who are driving east. (6) The couple described the man to police as having no facial hair and wearing
light-colored khaki pants and a dark jacket.
8:00pm-Maintenance worker Larry Hill receives a worried telephone call from Blake and Clawson at the
Oregon State Hospital communications center. The women leave for home.
8:10pm-Hill drives around the Dome Building searching for Francke with his truck’s spotlight. He cannot find
Francke and leaves that message on Blake’s answering machine.
8:30pm-Blake telephones Caulley, who says he will go look for Francke at the Dome Building. Caulley
telephones Dick Peterson, who is Francke’s second in command, and they agree to meet at the building.
8:45pm-Caulley arrives first, followed shortly thereafter by Peterson. Peterson searches the building but not
the north porch where Francke’s body was later found. (7)
9:30pm-Hill sees two more cars in the parking lot and approaches Caulley and Peterson, who are talking in a
Dome Building office, which coincidentally looks out onto the porch. The officials tell Hill that they are worried
about Francke and came to search the premises.
10:20pm-Dale Harp, a passenger in a car driving west on Center Street, sees five to six men running from the
front area of the Dome Building toward the southwest corner of the property. (8)
11:45pm-Hill again returns to the Dome Building and sees only Francke’s car. He notes that the lighting on the
north porch appears dimmer than usual.
Jan. 18, 1989
12:40am-While making his rounds, hospital security officer Stephen Rubino , who had been alerted about
concerns about Francke, finds Francke’s body on the north porch. (7)
He calls in another security officer, and they call for Salem police and emergency help.
1:12am-Salem police at the scene call for a state police officer to come to the Dome Building. A state police
logbook mistakenly notes that the state police “have a deceased male subject, well-dressed, inside the
building.”
1:38am-Medical Examiner Lee Hicks is called to the scene. He is told that there will be no “processing of the
body” until the state police crime lab arrives from Springfield.
Deputy District Attorney Sarah Moore also is at the scene.
2:28am-The crime lab is called out.
3:00am-Gov. Neil Goldschmidt arrives at the scene with his state police escort.
6:20am-Hicks returns to the scene after getting a call that the crime lab personnel have arrived.
10:00am-Goldschmidt calls a press conference. He says, “This may be the most depressing day I’ve ever had
since I’ve been in state government.”
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| Timeline of a Murder: Jan. 17, 1989 |
| The numbers in this map correspond with numbers in this story |
