1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: Col Zone Media. In July of nineteen eighty four, a 2 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: court appointed defense attorney in Tennessee was fighting an uphill battle. 3 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: He didn't have a very sympathetic looking client. Joseph Paul 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: Franklin was let into the courtroom shackled at the wrists 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: and ankles. He'd once escaped through the window of a 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: police station during an interrogation during one of his trials, 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,160 Speaker 1: he'd gotten as far as hot wiring an elevator during 8 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,919 Speaker 1: a recess, and he'd once been tackled by US marshals 9 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: after trying to attack a prosecutor in a courtroom. Things 10 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: were off to a rocky start. The defense acknowledged that 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: the jury would hear evidence about the defendants passed his 12 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: membership in the American Nazi Party in Ku Kluck's Klan. 13 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: They would hear, in his own words, his views about 14 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: race mixing, communism, and the Jews, but they should just 15 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,919 Speaker 1: try to focus on the evidence. Then the prosecution played 16 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: the tape the defendant had already confessed. For over an hour, 17 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: the jury heard Franklin explain why and how he'd bombed 18 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: the Beth Shalom Synagogue in Chattanooga in nineteen seventy seven. 19 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: I was trying to kill as many Jews as I could, 20 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:29,039 Speaker 1: He'd told the detective who interviewed him in prison. That detective, 21 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: surprised at this willingness to confess, asked him, don't you 22 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: understand you're confessing to a serious crime, And in that 23 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: taped confession, Franklin replied, quote, I don't really think it 24 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: is serious. I don't even consider it a crime. I 25 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: think it was good. The defense was simple, the only 26 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: option they really had. The confession was fake. They argued, 27 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: this was a man who was willing to say anything 28 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: to get transferred to a different prison. He just made 29 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:11,959 Speaker 1: it up. The trial lasted three days. There was evidence 30 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: sure he purchased the explosives using his real name. His 31 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 1: finger prints were on the forms, but we'll never know 32 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: how convinced that jury might have been either way. An 33 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: he doubts they may have had about the truth of 34 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: that recorded confession were blown away just before they were 35 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: sent out to deliberate for three days. His attorneys had 36 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: done their best to provide him with a zealous defense, 37 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,679 Speaker 1: but when the trial was completely finished, closing arguments were made, 38 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: the jury was moments away from leaving the court. Room, 39 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: the defendant stood up. He wanted to make a statement. 40 00:02:54,720 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: His attorneys objected, but the judge allowed it and he 41 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: confessed again. He didn't just confess, he boasted, I want 42 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: to make your job a little easier here as far 43 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: as deliberations go. He said, you know, I admit to 44 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: you I bombed the synagogue. You know I did it, 45 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: and I'll tell anybody around it was a synagogue of Satan. 46 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: In that courtroom in Tennessee in the summer of nineteen 47 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: eighty four, a man who had tried and failed to 48 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: ignite a race war carried his Bible to the lectern 49 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: and delivered a bizarre ten minute speech littered with quotations 50 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: from the Book of Revelation. He told the jury they'd 51 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: been fed nothing but lies and slander about him, and 52 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: the prosecutor was just jealous because he was a real man, 53 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: a white man who knew the truth about the Jewish 54 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: control of the media and the government, that this was 55 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: a nation founded by white men, but it had been 56 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: taken over and he was just trying to take it back. 57 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: The jury, of course, convicted him. He was performing not 58 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: for the jury, but for the men on the outside, 59 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: still trying to fight that same imaginary war. Later that month, 60 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: after a gang of Nazis robbed an armored car, they 61 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,919 Speaker 1: tried to put some of that stolen money on his 62 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 1: books in prison. I'm Molly Conger, and this is weird, 63 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: little guys. I have a confession to make. I'm really 64 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: only barely interested in Joseph Paul Franklin. Truthfully, at this point, 65 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: I'm downright sick of him. But if you're a regular listener, 66 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: you know by now that even though I've been writing 67 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: about Joseph Paul Franklin for weeks now, it was never 68 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: really about him. I mean, this is the sixth episode 69 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,279 Speaker 1: with his name and the title. It's kind of about him, 70 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: but only as an entry point. Every episode about him 71 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: so far has a sort of central kernel that is 72 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: a snippet of his story, But mostly it's about the 73 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: world that existed around that moment in his life, the 74 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: world he was doing those things, in the political landscape 75 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: in the United States, the state of the white power 76 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: movement he grew out of. In the nearly three months 77 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: and more than fifty thousand words, I've committed to telling 78 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: a story that is allegedly about Joseph Paul Franklin. He's 79 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,559 Speaker 1: kind of a supporting character, and you're all just along 80 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: for the ride while I try to piece together my 81 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: grand unified theory of right wing violence. And Joseph Paul 82 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,239 Speaker 1: Franklin has turned out to be a pretty useful vehicle 83 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: on that journey. Despite his reputation as the quintessential lone 84 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: wolf terrorist. Following him through history has introduced us to 85 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: quite a few characters in the Weird Little Guy's extended universe. 86 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: Once we've met before, and some you'll see again one 87 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: day in an episode of their own. So as we 88 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: wind our way towards the end, let's piece together the 89 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: story so far and lay out the full timeline of 90 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: the Weird Little Guy at the center of this In 91 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: the first episode, a teenage Joseph Paul Franklin abandoned his 92 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,480 Speaker 1: young wife in Alabama to join the National Socialist White 93 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: People's Party in Northern Virginia in the late nineteen sixties, 94 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,160 Speaker 1: the American Nazi Party. The group was struggling to rebrand 95 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:07,679 Speaker 1: and regroup after the assassination of its founder, George Lincoln 96 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: Rockwell in nineteen sixty nine. Franklin attended the group's first 97 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: annual all member conference in Virginia. He carpulled up from 98 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: Alabama with two other young members from the South, Don Black, 99 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: the future founder of the Nazi forum Stormfront, and David Duke, 100 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: who hadn't yet become an infamous clan leader and was 101 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: still just a college student testing the waters of political activism. 102 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: At that conference, Franklin heard speeches from the party's leadership, 103 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: including William Luther Peers. He also met a teenage boy 104 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: from Ohio who'd moved into the party barracks to be 105 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: mentored by Pierce. Franklin made quite an impression on that 106 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,679 Speaker 1: young man. When James Mason sat down to write Siege 107 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: more than a decade later, he wrote fondly of the 108 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: time they broke into the headquarters of an anti war 109 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: group and unleashed clouds of tear gas on the hippies 110 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: and communists inside. It must have been a formative experience 111 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: for Mason, one of his first real rushes with political violence. 112 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: It comes up several times in his essays on the 113 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: Proper Way to use Terrorism to bring about the White Revolution. 114 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: In the second episode we explored a Blank Space. The 115 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: sources I have about Franklin's life are pretty fair. When 116 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: it comes to where he was and what he was 117 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,959 Speaker 1: doing in all of nineteen seventy seven in the months 118 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: leading up to his first murder. So instead of looking 119 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: for him, we looked at what he was probably reading 120 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:51,319 Speaker 1: that year, and in nineteen seventy seven, the Nazi newsletters 121 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: written by men he'd met in the movement were full 122 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 1: of praise for murderers. There were at least three high 123 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: profile attacks that year racially motivated homicides committed by members 124 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: of groups that Franklin had some kind of connection to, 125 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: and like Franklin, all three of those men went unclaimed 126 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: by the hate groups that had fueled their violent fantasies. 127 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: After Frederick Cowen killed six people and himself in a 128 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: New York suburb, the leadership of the National States Rights 129 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: Party lied about his membership in the organization, claiming they 130 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: didn't know the man, and the National States Rights Party 131 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: had no comment at all a few months later about 132 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: Ray Schultz, a member who took his own life after 133 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: being arrested for using cyanide to murder a Jewish man 134 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: in Chicago. Police found a bomb making workshop and a 135 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: dungeon in Schultz's basement, but there was no real public 136 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: speculation that I could find about whether the hit list 137 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: of Jews that police found at his house had anything 138 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: to do with the nearly two decades as an active 139 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: member of several neo Nazi organizations. He'd been very involved 140 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: in both the American Nazi Party and the National States 141 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: Rights Party, and really theirs is such a small world. 142 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: I only came across Schultz in the context of this 143 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: murder in nineteen seventy seven. But for those of you 144 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: updating your red string boards at home, this lone wolf 145 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: killer had some interesting roommates over the years. At various 146 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: points in the nineteen sixties, he shared an apartment with 147 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 1: some guys you might remember from past episodes. In nineteen 148 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: sixty three, he lived with Christopher Vidnevitch. Bidnevitch was the 149 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: American Nazi Party member who got into a shootout in 150 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: Maine with a one eyed Mafia hit man while both 151 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: men were pushing competing conspiracy theories about the assassination of 152 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:59,679 Speaker 1: George Lincoln Rockwell. That strange saga was in the Frank 153 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: Smith episodes a few months ago. Schultz later shared an 154 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:08,679 Speaker 1: apartment with Matias Kle. This was years before Cale took 155 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: over leadership of the Nazi Party, and during Schultz's brief 156 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: stint living outside of Washington, d C. He lived with 157 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: Dan Burros, the American Nazi Party member who shot himself 158 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: after the FBI leaked information about his Jewish upbringing to 159 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: the New York Times. So he's not just a casual 160 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: member of these organizations, right, He's sharing living space with 161 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: prominent members we've encountered before. But surely his decision to 162 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 1: start poisoning Jews was one he made entirely on his own. 163 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,679 Speaker 1: Back to those murders in nineteen seventy seven, though, when 164 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: Kenneth Wilson opened fire on a picnic at a Black 165 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 1: church in North Carolina while dressed in a Nazi uniform, 166 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 1: the leadership of the National Socialist Party said that the 167 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: young man had filled out an apples, but he wasn't 168 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: a member of their organization, And in all three cases, 169 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: the newsletter written by James Mason was filled with praise 170 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: for these murderers, all of whom took their own lives 171 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: rather than be arrested. At the end of the summer 172 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy seven, Joseph Paul Franklin committed his first 173 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: murder by his own account, he'd driven to Wisconsin to 174 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 1: murder a particular judge, and after spending a week reading 175 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 1: every Nazi newsletter I could find from nineteen seventy seven, 176 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: I noticed that he'd chose that target right around the 177 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: time he might have read a scathing article about that 178 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 1: judge written by William Luther Pierce. The third episode backtracked 179 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: a little bit covering what we know about Franklin's activities 180 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies. In the years before the murder start, 181 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: he spent a few years in the National Socialist White 182 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,679 Speaker 1: People's Party before switching over to the National States Rights Party. 183 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: That name might lead you to believe this was some 184 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 1: kind of quaint Southern lost Cause Confederate Nostalgia Racism Association, 185 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: but it was in fact just a neo Nazi group 186 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: without the baggage of the swastika branding. Franklin moved down 187 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: to Atlanta to work for the party, and more specifically 188 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: to work on the state election campaign being run by 189 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: the group's chairman, JB. Stoner. By nineteen seventy six, he'd 190 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 1: officially legally changed his name from James Vaughan to Joseph 191 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: Paul Franklin. Hoping to hide his criminal record from the 192 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: Rhodesian Army recruiter so he could join as a mercenary 193 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,679 Speaker 1: in the Rhodesian Bush War. Before he could actually get 194 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: his hands on a passport with his new name on it, though, 195 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: he'd already been arrested again, this time for his first 196 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: documented attack on an interracial couple. So he never made 197 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: it to Rhodesia, but he was getting closer to starting 198 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: his own race war here at home. So four episodes 199 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: into this series we still hadn't made it out of 200 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven. Those Nazi newsletters were full of praise 201 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: for the men who were murdering for the movement that year, 202 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: But turning to the regular newspaper, there were signs of 203 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: mounting legal pressure on JB. Stoner, the chairman of the 204 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 1: National States Rights Party. There was going to be a 205 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: congressional inquiry into the possibility that there had been a 206 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: wider conspiracy behind the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior, 207 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: one that involved JB. Stoner. Now, no such conspiracy was 208 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: ever proven, of course, but JB. Stoner had worked briefly 209 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: on the legal defense team for the convicted assassin James 210 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: ol Ray, and for nearly a decade after the assassination, 211 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: James Earl Ray's brother, Jerry Ray, was Stoner's personal assistant 212 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: and bodyguard, and in an odd coincidence, Franklin's crime spree 213 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: begins with a bank robbery outside of Atlanta, not far 214 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: from where he lived when he worked for Stoner, and 215 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 1: that robbery took place the week that James Earl Ray 216 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: briefly escaped from prison, shortly before Stoner was called to 217 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: testify before Congress. After his first bank robbery, he tried 218 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: his hand at bombing. After two failed attempts to kill 219 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 1: Jewish people with bombs, one placed at an apac lobbyist's 220 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: home in Maryland and wanted a synagogue in Chattanooga, Franklin 221 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: started shooting people instead. First, he drove to Wisconsin to 222 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: try to find that judge. Instead of assassinating a judge 223 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: he mistakenly believed to be Jewish, he got distracted by 224 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: a pair of teenage girls trying to hitch hype to 225 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: the mall. He was in that mall parking lot where 226 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: he murdered an interracial couple. His second murder, the one 227 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: he would eventually receive the death penalty, for came two 228 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: months later in Saint Louis. It was perhaps another remarkable 229 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: coincidence that he was in Saint Louis on October eighth, 230 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, when he shot and killed Gerald Gordon 231 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: outside of the Brith Shalom Synagogue. That afternoon, there was 232 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: a Nazi rally going on a few miles away. The 233 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: National Socialist Party of America had been hyping up their 234 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: showdown in Florescent in their newsletters for months. Franklin himself 235 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: wasn't ever a card carrying member of that particular group, 236 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: which had splintered from the National Socialist White People's Party 237 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: during his life time as a member there, But many 238 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: years later, a once prominent member of the National Socialist 239 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: Party would write Franklin in prison, developing a deep friendship 240 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 1: and then an obsession so all consuming that after Franklin 241 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 1: was executed, that man murdered several people. On Franklin's birthday, 242 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 1: I skipped over a pretty big chunk of the timeline 243 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: between parts four and five. I've been sort of jumping around, 244 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: so let's fill that in here. In February of nineteen 245 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,119 Speaker 1: seventy eight, he made one of his many return trips 246 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: to Atlanta. Throughout this three year crime spree, he keeps 247 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: popping back to the Atlanta area and it's not clear why. 248 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: And while he was there he shot an interracial couple, 249 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: killing Johnny Brookshire and paralyzing Joy Williams. I struggled to 250 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,960 Speaker 1: find much information about this couple. Initial reporting in the 251 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: local papers said that Joy Williams had been eight months 252 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: pregnant at the time. When Franklin confessed to this attack 253 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety nine, homicide detectives in Atlanta couldn't find her. 254 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,199 Speaker 1: The Atlanta Journal Constitution published an article asking anyone who 255 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: might know how to get in touch with her to 256 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: contact the police so they could interview her about the shooting. 257 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:23,720 Speaker 1: And as far as I can tell, that's as far 258 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: as it ever went. A month later, he shot Larry 259 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: Flint outside of a courthouse in Gwinnett County. He rubbed 260 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: a few banks that summer before shooting another interracial couple 261 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: in the parking lot of a pizza hut in Chattanooga. 262 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: William Bryant Tatum, a basketball player the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, 263 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:46,160 Speaker 1: was killed and his girlfriend, Nancy Hilton, was injured. Franklin 264 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 1: received a life sentence for this murder in nineteen ninety eight, 265 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: and then he slowed down on the crime for a 266 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: little while. Towards the end of nineteen seventy eight, he 267 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,440 Speaker 1: moved back to Alabama. He was twenty eight years old 268 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: when he met a sixteen year old girl at an 269 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:06,120 Speaker 1: ice cream parlor and struck up a sexual relationship with her. 270 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,880 Speaker 1: When they married in the January of nineteen seventy nine. 271 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:15,639 Speaker 1: She believed he was a plumber named James Cooper. She 272 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: thought he was away on contracting jobs when he would 273 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 1: disappear for weeks at a time and return with huge 274 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: wads of cash. In March of nineteen seventy nine, he 275 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: shot and killed Johnny Noyce Junior, who was washing his 276 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:33,159 Speaker 1: car in Jackson, Mississippi. Franklin confessed to this murder in 277 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,920 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six, but authority saw no need to pursue 278 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: the case given the number of life sentences Franklin was 279 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,960 Speaker 1: serving at that point. And while I am inclined to 280 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,360 Speaker 1: believe all of Franklin's confessions were genuine, given the level 281 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 1: of detail they contained and the number of them that 282 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 1: were successfully corroborated with actual evidence, it is worth noting 283 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: that he wasn't the first person to confess to this murder. 284 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: If you're a big true crime fan and you've certainly 285 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:05,120 Speaker 1: heard of Henry Lee Lucas, he was a serial killer who, 286 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,440 Speaker 1: after his arrest in the eighties, got a reputation for 287 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: confessing to anything. Over the years, he falsely confessed to 288 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: more than one hundred murders. Cops from all over the 289 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 1: country would fly out to see him just trying to 290 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: close old cases, because he would confess to anything you 291 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: asked him about as long as he got a little 292 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,120 Speaker 1: bit of time out of his cell and some fast 293 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 1: food for lunch while they talked. Lucas's confession to this 294 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: murder was never going to hold up, but a pre 295 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: existing false confession would have made a successful prosecution more difficult, 296 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: although newspaper articles don't mention it as a factor in 297 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: the decision not to prosecute. In the summer of nineteen 298 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: seventy nine, he robbed a few more banks. In the 299 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,199 Speaker 1: transcript of one of his early confessions, it kind of 300 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: sounds like the detective who was talking to him didn't 301 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,360 Speaker 1: think he was telling the truth when he said he'd 302 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:10,399 Speaker 1: once robbed two banks in one day in Nashville. But again, 303 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,880 Speaker 1: even these incredible details of his confession can be corroborated. 304 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: Police in Nashville confirmed that there had been an incident 305 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,679 Speaker 1: in April of nineteen seventy nine. A man robbed a 306 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 1: branch of the Nashville City Bank, making off with about 307 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,919 Speaker 1: six thousand dollars, and as the man's exiting the building, 308 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: he opens up the bag to see what he'd gotten, 309 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,159 Speaker 1: only to have the die pack explode in his face. 310 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 1: So at this point he's covered in red dye and 311 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 1: suffering from the effects of the tear gas released by 312 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: the die bomb, so he drops the bag and he 313 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,679 Speaker 1: goes directly into another bank a few blocks over and 314 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,440 Speaker 1: made off with seven thousand dollars. A report in Franklin's 315 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: FBI file says that at the time of that robbery, 316 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: the FBI got involved to assist the Nashville police, and 317 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: the robber alude them, but they did find the hotel 318 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: room where he'd been staying under one of his pseudonyms. 319 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:08,879 Speaker 1: After the botched robbery, he left town in a hurry, 320 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:13,199 Speaker 1: so he left behind some of his belongings, and in 321 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,919 Speaker 1: that hotel room the FBI found bomb making supplies, and 322 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: a book on explosives. They were able to lift fingerprints 323 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: from those items, and later on those prints were matched 324 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 1: to Franklin he was telling the truth. In July, he 325 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,120 Speaker 1: murdered Harold mac ivor in a Taco bell parking lot 326 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:38,679 Speaker 1: in Doraville, a city outside of Atlanta. In August, he 327 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: murdered Raymond Turner at a Burger Gang in Falls Church, Virginia. 328 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: A week after that murder, he made a phone call 329 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,880 Speaker 1: home to his teenage wife and learned she'd given birth 330 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:53,359 Speaker 1: to a daughter. Franklin confessed to both of those murders 331 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: in the nineties, but was never prosecuted. A grand jury 332 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: in Georgia did indict him for mc Ivor's murder, but 333 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: the case was never tried. In October, he shot and 334 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: killed Jesse Taylor and Marian Bressett in Oklahoma City. The 335 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:14,360 Speaker 1: couple had taken their three children to a hula hoop 336 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: competition that afternoon, and they stopped at the grocery store 337 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: on their way home. The children were in the car 338 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 1: watching as their parents were murdered. Charges were filed in 339 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: that case shortly after Franklin's arrest in nineteen eighty, but 340 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: the prosecutor quietly dropped the case in nineteen eighty three, 341 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: saying there were issues with the evidence and they just 342 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: couldn't justify the cost of a trial. After the murders 343 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: in Oklahoma City, Franklin again returned to the Atlanta area. 344 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: He picked up a fifteen year old hitchhiker and developed 345 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: a sexual relationship with the girl. Mercedes Masters was fifteen 346 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: years old. She was fifteen. She'd run away from home before. 347 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: Her mother said she'd only been missing for a few 348 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:12,439 Speaker 1: days before her body was found, but an unnamed friend 349 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: quoted in the newspaper said she'd actually been away from 350 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 1: home for weeks. In most sources about Franklin's crimes, Mercedes 351 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: Masters is not described as a child, but as a prostitute. 352 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: There isn't much about her in any of those sources. 353 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:39,400 Speaker 1: She's just Mercedes Lynne Masters, fifteen prostitute. It is possible 354 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: that she was engaging in survival sex work while she 355 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: was living on the streets as a runaway. The coroner 356 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: said she'd been dead for a day or two before 357 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,560 Speaker 1: her body was discovered outside of an abandoned house on 358 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: Christmas Day. When Franklin confessed to murdering Mercedes in nineteen 359 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: ninety eight. He said he'd killed her after she told 360 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: him some of her customers were black, and this does 361 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:07,360 Speaker 1: align with statements provided to the police by other sex workers. 362 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: A woman Franklin picked up in Utah a few months 363 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,919 Speaker 1: later survived her encounter with him, and she told police 364 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: that he'd been very insistent in questioning her about whether 365 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: she ever slept with black men, if any of her 366 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: customers were black, and he spoke at length about his 367 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 1: hatred of black people and the white women who associated 368 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:30,200 Speaker 1: with them, saying that they were the worst of all. 369 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 1: He told her he'd killed before, and that he enjoyed 370 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: killing black people and race mixers, and he said he 371 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: was in the clan, and he asked her for a 372 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: list of black pimps so he could kill them. Melissa Powers, 373 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: a prosecutor in Ohio who interviewed Franklin extensively when he 374 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,479 Speaker 1: was confessing to crimes in the nineties, has said that 375 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: she believed he almost certainly killed other sex workers, that 376 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: there were more female victims that he'd never confessed to. 377 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 1: When frank Eklund was arrested, one of the items he 378 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: had on him was a scrap book containing polaroid photos 379 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,479 Speaker 1: of the sex workers he'd spent time with over the years, 380 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: pages and pages of nude photos, photos of naked women 381 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,040 Speaker 1: holding the guns he'd used in his murders. Power said 382 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,119 Speaker 1: she did everything in her power to get hold of 383 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 1: that scrap book, but it's unclear what became of it. 384 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: She seems to imply that it was lost or destroyed 385 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:36,639 Speaker 1: or withheld intentionally by some other law enforcement agency, but 386 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: she doesn't offer a theory as to why. And the 387 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: book definitely existed. Franklin told Powers he was surprised it 388 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: wasn't produced as evidence in any of his trials, and 389 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,679 Speaker 1: that sex worker who'd spent the night with Franklin in 390 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,680 Speaker 1: Utah was at some point asked by police to look 391 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:57,840 Speaker 1: at some of the photographs in it, but it disappeared 392 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:02,880 Speaker 1: not long after his arrest. In nineteen eighty, two, weeks 393 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: after murdering Mercedes Masters in Atlanta, Franklin was in Indianapolis. There, 394 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: he shot and killed Leo Thomas Watkins and Lawrence Reese 395 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: in separate attacks two nights apart. These murders were remarkably 396 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,119 Speaker 1: similar to the murder of Raymond Turner in Virginia a 397 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: few months earlier. All three victims were young black men, 398 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: shot around ten o'clock at night while they were inside 399 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:32,119 Speaker 1: of a business near a large plate glass window. In 400 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:35,639 Speaker 1: all three cases, Franklin fired a single shop through the 401 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:40,320 Speaker 1: window from outside in the dark. He was later indicted 402 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: in these cases but never tried. Later that same month, 403 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,920 Speaker 1: January of nineteen eighty, he was arrested in New Orleans 404 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 1: for illegally carrying a concealed firearm. He spent a week 405 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: in jail under a fake name. He got a speeding 406 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 1: ticket in Iowa in March and one in Florida in 407 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: eight and I have no idea what he was doing 408 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: in any of those places. In May, he picked up 409 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: a hitchhiker in Wisconsin. Twenty year old Rebecca Bergstrom had 410 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: just returned home to Wisconsin from a trip to Jamaica, 411 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,639 Speaker 1: and she was hitchhiking to her uncle's house in Toma. 412 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: Her body was found in Mill Bluff State Park. She'd 413 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,359 Speaker 1: been shot at close range with a handgun, twice in 414 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: the back and once in the head. When Franklin confessed 415 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: to this murder in nineteen eighty four, he said he'd 416 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: done it because while they were chatting in the car, 417 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,920 Speaker 1: she said she'd gone out with a Jamaican man while 418 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: she was on vacation. He was never tried for her murder, 419 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: but the case was closed after his confession. A few 420 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: weeks later, he shot but did not kill Vernon Jordan 421 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: in a hotel parking lot in Indiana. Just one week 422 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: after that, on June eighth, nineteen eighty, Franklin shot and 423 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: killed Dante Evans Brown and Darryl Lane in Cincinnati. They 424 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 1: were thirteen and fourteen years old. He would later deny 425 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: that he knew they were children, but both boys had 426 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: recently graduated from middle school and they were having a 427 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: sleep over at their grandma's house. They'd snuck out to 428 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:22,360 Speaker 1: go to the corner store to buy candy. First responders 429 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: arrived on the scene of the shooting quickly. Engine Company 430 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: number nine was dispatched from the firehouse that was just 431 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: a few blocks away, and both boys were still alive 432 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: when paramedics reached them. Frederick Wellman had been a fireman 433 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 1: for six years, but he'd only just completed his medical 434 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: training a few weeks earlier, so this was one of 435 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:46,400 Speaker 1: his first serious medical calls. He got right to work, 436 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: putting the back valve mask over the face of one 437 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: of the bleeding boys. It was dark, there was a 438 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: lot going on, and when he pulled the mask away 439 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: just for a second, just to adjust the seal, he 440 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:03,200 Speaker 1: looked down and he realized that the boy dying in 441 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,040 Speaker 1: his arms was his stepson, fourteen year old Daryl Lane. 442 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,640 Speaker 1: He'd been separated from Darrell's mother for a few years, 443 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: but they had a good relationship. He'd raised the boy, 444 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: and Darrel would often stop by the firehouse on his 445 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: way to visit his grandmother. Wellman told the Cincinnati Post 446 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,479 Speaker 1: that he tried talking to the boy, quote to tell 447 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: him to come back. I couldn't try any harder. Darrel 448 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: died at the scene. Four days later during Darrell's wake. 449 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 1: His cousin Dante, died of his injuries in the hospital. 450 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers obtained Franklin's confession for those 451 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 1: murders and an interview a night ninety seven, and he 452 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: was convicted at trial in nineteen ninety eight. Just a 453 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 1: week after the murders in Cincinnati, Franklin shot and killed 454 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: Arthur Smothers and Kathleen mccoolaugh in an, a racial couple 455 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 1: in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He confessed to these murders in nineteen 456 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: ninety seven, but was never charged. After murdering the couple, 457 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: he drove to Burlington, North Carolina, and robbed a bank. 458 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: The day after the bank robbery, a female hitchhiker he 459 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: picked up in Virginia rejected his sexual advances and fled 460 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 1: from his vehicle. According to a book by Ralph Eckles, 461 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: with whom Franklin corresponded for years, it was then that 462 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: he resolved that he would kill the next hitchhiker he 463 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: picked up, quote if she turned out to be a 464 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:48,640 Speaker 1: race mixer, and according to the account in eccles book, 465 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: he did just that. The very next day, he picked 466 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: up Nancy Santamaro and Vicki Duryan in West Virginia. Their 467 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,680 Speaker 1: bodies were found in Bogahannas County. I don't want to 468 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: risk getting off into an episode long tangent here when 469 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 1: I'm just trying to get through the timeline. But again, 470 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: I am inclined to believe this confession. His other confessions 471 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 1: are well corroborated. When anyone bothers to do the work, 472 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: he was detailed and consistent, and at this point he 473 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: had no reason to give false confessions, and this was 474 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 1: one that stayed very consistent over the years. But this 475 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: is one of the confessions that some people have doubts about, 476 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,960 Speaker 1: mostly because another man was falsely convicted of this crime 477 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:39,920 Speaker 1: and served many years in prison before being acquitted after 478 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 1: an appeals court granted him a new trial in two thousand. 479 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: For my money, though, I think he did it, and 480 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: I think Melissa Powers is right, I think there were 481 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,720 Speaker 1: a lot more white women that he tried to have 482 00:32:54,840 --> 00:33:01,080 Speaker 1: sex with and killed. By August of nineteen, he'd made 483 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: it out to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he shot 484 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: Theodore Fields and David Martin, two young black men who 485 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: were jogging in a park with white female friends. In 486 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:16,120 Speaker 1: the span of just eight months, he killed eleven people. 487 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 1: His arrest a few weeks later was kind of an accident. 488 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 1: I mean, they were closing in on him. They probably 489 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 1: would have found him eventually. At this point, he'd gotten 490 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:33,520 Speaker 1: pretty sloppy in Salt Lake City, and after those murders, 491 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:37,920 Speaker 1: investigators from cities all over the country, cities where remarkably 492 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: similar murders had been happening over the last few years, 493 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: got together to compare notes. Cops from Oklahoma City Indianapolis, 494 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 1: Salt Lake City, and Johnstown all traveled to Cincinnati. They 495 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: all had unsolved sniper killings of black men or interracial couples, 496 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,560 Speaker 1: and none of them had much, but they all had something, 497 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: an eyewitnessed description, a license plate, a shell casing, an alias. 498 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: One of the sex workers he'd spent time with in 499 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,319 Speaker 1: Salt Lake City was an artist, and the sketch she 500 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: drew of the man she'd met was critical in tying 501 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:19,919 Speaker 1: everything together. And he was still driving the car he'd 502 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 1: been seen with in Salt Lake City, so they were close, 503 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:33,239 Speaker 1: but the actual arrest that was his own fault. A 504 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:35,640 Speaker 1: month after the murders in Salt Lake City, he was 505 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 1: lying low at a motel in Florence, Kentucky. On the 506 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:44,000 Speaker 1: evening of September twenty fifth, local police swarmed the motel. 507 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: Half a dozen cop cars were in the parking lot, 508 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:52,759 Speaker 1: lights and sirens, but they weren't there for Franklin. They 509 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: were looking for a nineteen year old who'd stolen a car, 510 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,160 Speaker 1: who just happened to be staying in the room next 511 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: to Franklin's. Now, I feel like if I were in 512 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:07,759 Speaker 1: his shoes, I would probably just close the curtains and 513 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,799 Speaker 1: stay very quiet. I mean, even if I weren't in 514 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,839 Speaker 1: his exact shoes, if I weren't on the run after 515 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 1: committing multiple homicides, even if I were just a regular 516 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,600 Speaker 1: person in a motel, I feel like that's what I 517 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,719 Speaker 1: would do in that situation, right, I mean, that's pretty volatile. 518 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:26,400 Speaker 1: You don't know what's going to happen. I would just 519 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: sit quietly in my motel room and try not to 520 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 1: draw attention to myself. Just mind your own business and 521 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:38,600 Speaker 1: don't go anywhere. But that is not what he did. Instead, 522 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:41,800 Speaker 1: he called the front desk to complain about the noise. 523 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: The motel clerk was, unsurprisingly unable to do much about 524 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,399 Speaker 1: the police raid in the parking lot, so Franklin called 525 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 1: the police over and over again. He called the dispatcher, 526 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: demanding to know why his car was being blocked in 527 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:05,239 Speaker 1: by all these cop cars. According to quotes in Melayton's 528 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,640 Speaker 1: book from a documentary, I couldn't find a copy of 529 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:12,799 Speaker 1: a police officer in Florence, said, Franklin called dispatch four 530 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:16,000 Speaker 1: or five times in a row, demanding to know what 531 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 1: the cops were doing there. And eventually they got frustrated 532 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:22,799 Speaker 1: and they said, look, we're not here for you, we're 533 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 1: here about a robbery. But there on the scene, the 534 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: clerk at the front desk had gone out to speak 535 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,319 Speaker 1: with the officers about the man who kept calling to 536 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 1: complain about the noise and the fact that his car 537 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 1: was blocked in, and the officer the clerk spoke to 538 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 1: thought that sounded kind of weird, so he went over 539 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:44,600 Speaker 1: to have a look at the car, and the first 540 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,360 Speaker 1: thing he sees is that there's a gun sitting on 541 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:51,400 Speaker 1: the front seat in plain view. So now he's curious 542 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,799 Speaker 1: and he runs the plates. Salt Lake City had put 543 00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 1: those plates in the system as a vehicle of interest 544 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:02,759 Speaker 1: in a double homicide. So they knocked on his door. 545 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: He opened the door and they saw two shotguns lying 546 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:10,560 Speaker 1: on the bed. Once they had him in handcuffs and 547 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: they turned out his pockets, they found ID cards for 548 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:20,520 Speaker 1: multiple fake identities. They had him police in Florence, Kentucky 549 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:24,400 Speaker 1: put him in an interrogation room and started asking questions. 550 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:29,799 Speaker 1: He got very upset when they asked about Salt Lake City. 551 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,600 Speaker 1: When the detective was called away momentarily to discuss some 552 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:37,760 Speaker 1: detail related to the search warrant for the car. Franklin, 553 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:41,640 Speaker 1: who had for some reason been uncuffed jumped out of 554 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:48,120 Speaker 1: an open window. Those Kentucky cops had completely accidentally arrested 555 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:56,240 Speaker 1: a wanted serial killer and then almost immediately let him escape. 556 00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,080 Speaker 1: He spent an entire month on the run before a 557 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 1: phlebotomist had plasma donation center in Florida recognized his tattoos 558 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:11,239 Speaker 1: from an FBI wanted poster and called the police. So 559 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:13,160 Speaker 1: that brings us back up to where we were in 560 00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:18,440 Speaker 1: Part five. After his arrest, he was tried twice in Utah, 561 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: once by the state and once in federal court, and 562 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:26,320 Speaker 1: he was convicted both times, earning him four life sentences 563 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:30,560 Speaker 1: right off the bat. After the DOJ fumbled the case 564 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 1: they brought in Indiana for the Vernon Jordan shooting, several 565 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 1: localities who had been waiting their turn to try him 566 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:42,759 Speaker 1: lost their nerve and quietly backed off, so Franklin was 567 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,040 Speaker 1: just shipped off to federal prison in mary in Illinois 568 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 1: to begin serving his time. In nineteen eighty four, desperate 569 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,960 Speaker 1: to be anywhere that wasn't Marian, Franklin started confessing to 570 00:38:56,040 --> 00:39:00,319 Speaker 1: more crimes. His goal was to get transferred to jail 571 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,000 Speaker 1: in Wisconsin, which he believed would have fewer black inmates, 572 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 1: but honestly, at this point, anything would do. He confessed 573 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:11,480 Speaker 1: to the murders of Alphonse Manning and Tony Schwenn in Madison, 574 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:15,239 Speaker 1: Wisconsin in nineteen seventy seven, the murder of Rebecca Bergstrom 575 00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:18,120 Speaker 1: in Wisconsin in nineteen eighty, the murders of Nancy Santa 576 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:20,560 Speaker 1: Maro and Vicki Duriyan in West Virginia in nineteen eighty, 577 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:23,719 Speaker 1: shooting Larry Flint and Georgia in nineteen seventy eight, and 578 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:27,759 Speaker 1: the Chattanoog synagogue bombing in nineteen seventy seven. And that 579 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:29,920 Speaker 1: was right off the bat, Just in the span of 580 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:33,760 Speaker 1: a week or two, He's confessing to all of these crimes, 581 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:38,000 Speaker 1: and it kind of worked. He did get indicted for 582 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:41,800 Speaker 1: the Flint shooting, the synagogue bombing, and the nineteen seventy 583 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:46,759 Speaker 1: seven murders in Madison. West Virginia was never interested and 584 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:51,640 Speaker 1: the Bergstrum murder was just closed, but his confession's breed 585 00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:56,680 Speaker 1: had netted him three indictments. The case in Georgia never 586 00:39:56,719 --> 00:39:59,920 Speaker 1: did get tried. It seems there was no interest in 587 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:03,200 Speaker 1: pursuing it. After the prosecutor who brought the indictment lost 588 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:07,160 Speaker 1: reelection later that year, and authorities in Madison were going 589 00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:10,680 Speaker 1: to take their time getting the case nailed down. So 590 00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:16,720 Speaker 1: it was Chattanooga that got him first. And here here 591 00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:20,560 Speaker 1: in the summer of nineteen eighty four, in a courtroom 592 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:26,359 Speaker 1: in Chattanooga, Tennessee, this is the thing I'm actually interested in. 593 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:32,400 Speaker 1: I've been telling the story in this circuitous sort of 594 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:39,120 Speaker 1: way because it isn't about the murders themselves. Yes, Joseph 595 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:42,160 Speaker 1: Paul Franklin murdered at least twenty two people over the 596 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,719 Speaker 1: course of his three year killing spury. He robbed more 597 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,759 Speaker 1: than a dozen banks, carried out a handful of bombings. 598 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:53,360 Speaker 1: He killed inter racial couples, white women who he believed 599 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:56,680 Speaker 1: had been intimate with black men, and he shot black 600 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:02,520 Speaker 1: men and boys at random. He shot pornographer Larry Flint. 601 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,840 Speaker 1: He tried to assassinate civil rights activist Vernon Jordan. He 602 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:09,840 Speaker 1: was a neo Nazi, a klansman, a racist and anti Semite, 603 00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:14,840 Speaker 1: and a murderer. But one thing he wasn't was a 604 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:21,160 Speaker 1: lone wolf. Telling the story that exists around the story 605 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:27,640 Speaker 1: of those murders brings that into focus. I'm less interested 606 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,560 Speaker 1: in the caliber of rifle he used, or which alias 607 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:32,680 Speaker 1: he was using at which motel when he switched the 608 00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:34,400 Speaker 1: license plates on a car he bought out of a 609 00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:37,880 Speaker 1: classified ad than I am in the way that these 610 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:43,240 Speaker 1: murders function in a larger narrative about white supremacist violence, 611 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:47,920 Speaker 1: and very specifically the white supremacist violence that was happening 612 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:52,799 Speaker 1: in the summer of nineteen eighty four. You see, this 613 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:56,200 Speaker 1: trial was taking place just weeks after members of the 614 00:41:56,360 --> 00:42:01,879 Speaker 1: Order murdered Alan Berg in Colorado. Forasmuch as we love 615 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:05,360 Speaker 1: to pretend, these crimes were the completely unpredictable acts of 616 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:09,680 Speaker 1: an unhinged lunatic, disconnected from any larger societal forces, groups, 617 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:13,120 Speaker 1: or movement that could potentially spawn another wave of attacks 618 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:16,520 Speaker 1: carried out by another man just like him. He sure 619 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:21,920 Speaker 1: did know a lot of people, and I have been 620 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:25,680 Speaker 1: holding out on you a little bit. There is one 621 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:30,919 Speaker 1: man in particular that I've been particularly interested in all 622 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:36,280 Speaker 1: this time. It's a man I'm almost always quietly looking 623 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:39,600 Speaker 1: for in the background every time I'm researching a story 624 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:41,480 Speaker 1: that took place in the last few decades of the 625 00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:47,480 Speaker 1: twentieth century. It's been so long now with this series 626 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:52,680 Speaker 1: about Joseph Paul Franklin, actually started before the first episode 627 00:42:52,719 --> 00:42:56,960 Speaker 1: with his name in the title. The first episode of 628 00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 1: this year was about a book. The Turner Diaries, is 629 00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:05,320 Speaker 1: kind of a character on this show given how often 630 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:09,080 Speaker 1: it comes up. It's a novel so many Nazi terrorists 631 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:13,640 Speaker 1: hold dear. When Timothy McVeigh was arrested after the Oklahoma 632 00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:17,640 Speaker 1: City bombing, he was carrying pages with his favorite passages 633 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,879 Speaker 1: from this novel. When Robert Matthews formed his Nazi terror 634 00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:24,360 Speaker 1: cell in nineteen eighty three, he named the group the 635 00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:27,880 Speaker 1: Order after the group in the book, and copies of 636 00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:30,640 Speaker 1: the novel were presented to each member at their oath 637 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:37,000 Speaker 1: swearing ceremony. In the world of white supremacist terror, it's 638 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:41,160 Speaker 1: a very important book, but it wasn't the only book 639 00:43:41,200 --> 00:43:47,680 Speaker 1: by that author. William Luther Pierce's second novel was called Hunter. 640 00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:52,800 Speaker 1: I probably could have just immediately followed that Turner Diaries 641 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:57,800 Speaker 1: episode with an episode about Hunter, but I'm glad I didn't. 642 00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:03,279 Speaker 1: I wasn't ready. I knew going into this, and I 643 00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:06,480 Speaker 1: said in that episode about The Turner Diaries that the 644 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:10,640 Speaker 1: first edition of Hunter was dedicated to Joseph Paul Franklin. 645 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:15,319 Speaker 1: But Pierce always fervently denied that he'd based any part 646 00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:20,520 Speaker 1: of the story on Franklin's crimes, and I knew Peerce 647 00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:23,200 Speaker 1: was lying. I mean, just on its face, that is 648 00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:26,600 Speaker 1: obviously a lie. The protagonist of the novel is obsessed 649 00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:30,959 Speaker 1: with murdering interracial couples, just like Franklin, and you can't 650 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,080 Speaker 1: pretend that's a coincidence given Franklin's name is on the 651 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:39,960 Speaker 1: dedication page. I knew he was lying. But beyond the obvious, 652 00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:45,600 Speaker 1: I didn't really have anything, nothing concrete. I didn't know 653 00:44:45,640 --> 00:44:48,840 Speaker 1: how the pieces fit together, or even what kind of 654 00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:53,880 Speaker 1: picture those puzzle pieces were going to form. It's been 655 00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:58,400 Speaker 1: a long winding road, but where finally where I wanted 656 00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:02,200 Speaker 1: to be two months ago. You have the full timeline 657 00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:04,879 Speaker 1: of Franklin's crimes and his trials, and you know who 658 00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:07,000 Speaker 1: he was hanging out with and what he was reading 659 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:11,240 Speaker 1: in the seventies. And now that I've spent two months 660 00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:15,160 Speaker 1: reading Nazie newsletters and decades of newspaper archives and every 661 00:45:15,160 --> 00:45:17,520 Speaker 1: book I can find that even has Franklin's name in it, 662 00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:21,240 Speaker 1: thousands of pages of FBI memos, and spent days studying 663 00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:26,080 Speaker 1: ancient forum posts for clues. I think I see something 664 00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:30,560 Speaker 1: and I reread Hunter with all of that in mind. 665 00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:35,839 Speaker 1: This has all been a necessary preamble before I tell 666 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:40,080 Speaker 1: you about this very weird self insert murder fanfic and 667 00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:42,759 Speaker 1: old Nazi self published in the hopes of inspiring a 668 00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:49,640 Speaker 1: whole pack of not so lone wolves. I think I 669 00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:52,440 Speaker 1: know why Joseph Paul Franklin stood up at the end 670 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:55,440 Speaker 1: of his trial in Chattanooga and confessed to the jury. 671 00:45:57,040 --> 00:45:59,359 Speaker 1: And I think I know why William Luther Peerce wrote 672 00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,799 Speaker 1: the first chapter of Hunter in nineteen eighty four, even 673 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,960 Speaker 1: though he didn't publish it untilnineteen eighty nine. And I 674 00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:07,799 Speaker 1: think I know why he flew into a rage and 675 00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:10,360 Speaker 1: ordered the staff at his Nazi compound to take box 676 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:12,960 Speaker 1: cutters and cut out that dedication page in every remaining 677 00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:19,080 Speaker 1: copy in nineteen ninety eight. And I think William Luther 678 00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:24,000 Speaker 1: Pierce had some idea who was behind those unsolved murders 679 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:41,840 Speaker 1: of interracial couples months before they were connected in the news. 680 00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:47,040 Speaker 1: Weird little Guys. It's a production of Coolshoe Media and iHeartRadio. 681 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:50,440 Speaker 1: It's researched, written and recorded by me, Molly Hunger. Our 682 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:53,759 Speaker 1: executive producers are Sophie Lechtman, and Robert Evans. The show 683 00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:56,560 Speaker 1: is edited by the wildly talented Rory Gagan. The theme 684 00:46:56,640 --> 00:46:59,200 Speaker 1: music was composed by Brad Dickard. You can email me 685 00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:01,440 Speaker 1: at Weird Little Guys Podcast at gmail dot com. I 686 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:03,520 Speaker 1: will definitely read it, but I probably won't answer it. 687 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:06,920 Speaker 1: It's nothing personal. You can exchange conspiracy theories about the 688 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:09,240 Speaker 1: show with other listeners on the Weird Little Guys subredd. 689 00:47:09,239 --> 00:47:12,360 Speaker 1: It just don't post anything that's going to make you 690 00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:13,480 Speaker 1: one of my Weird Little Guys