1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 1: Murder and Oregon is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:11,960 Speaker 2: Hey Laren, what's going on? 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 3: Hey? 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 4: Phil? 5 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 3: Is it okay? If I ask you a few more questions? 6 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 2: All? I sure? 7 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 3: I met Phil Stamford while I was producing a podcast 8 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 3: about serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson. Phil's a crime reporter 9 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 3: and the newspaper columnist who branded Jessperson the happy Face Killer. 10 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 3: He and I hit it off and we became friends 11 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:33,840 Speaker 3: to the point where we talk a couple of times 12 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 3: a week. I joke, the only person I call more 13 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 3: is my mom. And that's how I got hooked on 14 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 3: this story, the nineteen eighty nine murder of Michael Frankie, 15 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 3: who is the director of Oregon's Department of Corrections. His 16 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 3: killing is deeply intertwined with deception, greed, and corruption that 17 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 3: radiates to the highest levels of politics and power. It's 18 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 3: never been and it's haunted Stanford for thirty years. 19 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 2: It was not an accident. It was not a car 20 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 2: burglary gone bad. It was it was an assassination. He 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 2: was a public official who discovered corruption in his own department. 22 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 2: Heads were going to roll the night before he was 23 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 2: to address the legislative committee on this very subject. He 24 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 2: was stabbed in the heart in front of the building 25 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 2: where he worked. It was a cover up from the beginning. 26 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 2: They couldn't afford to even look at the people who 27 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 2: might have done it, so they selected a patsy, and 28 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 2: they made up the evidence against him, put him on trial, 29 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 2: and got a conviction. Those sons a bit. 30 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 3: Do you think they knew he was innocent? 31 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 2: Of course they knew it. 32 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 3: I'm Lauren Bret Pacheco in This is Murder in Oregon. 33 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 3: As a columnist for The Oregonian and the Portland Tribune, 34 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 3: Bill wrote more than one hundred columns about Michael Frankie's murder, 35 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 3: arguing the innocence of the man imprisoned for killing him. 36 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 3: Many called Phil obsessed. 37 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 2: The worded session is kind of funny anyway. I mean, 38 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 2: it implies a compulsion that you don't have much control over, 39 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 2: and God knows there's probably some of that. But another 40 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 2: way of looking at it is stubbornness, and I will 41 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:42,799 Speaker 2: pay guilty to that too. 42 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 3: Phil's a fiercely loyal guy with a choppy head of 43 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 3: silver hair that matches the stubble of his beard, and 44 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 3: soft brown eyes that seem to have seen a bit 45 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 3: too much of the corruption he writes about. Bill once 46 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 3: told me he prefers the company of criminals to Paula 47 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 3: Titians and some cops because he finds them more honest. 48 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 3: Michael Frankie's work entangled him with all three. 49 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 4: New Mexico Maximum Security Prison was in Santa Fe and 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 4: Mike lives with the AG's office in New Mexico for 51 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 4: the first district. 52 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,399 Speaker 3: That's Kevin Frankie, Michael's little brother, although at just under 53 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 3: six foot four, they stood a hair apart. Like Phil, 54 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 3: Kevin projects the weariness and frustration of thirty years spent 55 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 3: trying to bring Mike's killers to justice. 56 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 4: It just makes me fucking sick. 57 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 3: He keeps his hair pulled back in a slim ponytail, 58 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 3: and his bushy eyebrows fight the frames of his wire 59 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 3: rimmed glasses. He looks a lot like pictures of Mike, 60 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 3: as does the eldest Frankie brother, Pat, who sports snow 61 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 3: white hair and an almost genteel cowboy swagger. He's kind 62 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 3: of like a cross between Thurston Howell and John Wayne, 63 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 3: and he's always holding a fat cigar, whether it's or not. 64 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 4: I was the oldest by three and a half years 65 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 4: to Mike, and I'm ten years older than Kevin, and 66 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 4: I got married shortly after high school, so I didn't 67 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 4: have a lot of interaction with Kevin. But Mike and 68 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 4: I were very close because we lived in our original 69 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 4: house over in Kansasity, Missouri, and then later we moved 70 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 4: to Prairie Village, Kansas. 71 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 3: Michael was a high school football star and wound up 72 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,160 Speaker 3: with a half scholarship to Kansas University, but the coach 73 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 3: who recruited him was hired by Highlands University and offered 74 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,679 Speaker 3: Mike a full scholarship to move down there and play 75 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 3: for him. 76 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 4: So that's how he wound up in New Mexico, and 77 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 4: he loved New Mexico. He loves skiing, he loved the outdoors. 78 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 4: But he graduated and scored very high on his LSATs, 79 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 4: and the University of Virginia Law School gave him a 80 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:02,359 Speaker 4: full scholarship with living style. He was drafted when he 81 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 4: was in law school, so he applied to all services. 82 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 4: The Navy came up first. He accepted the Navy commission 83 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 4: when he got out of law school. 84 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 3: According to Pat, Mike was offered a job at a 85 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 3: high profile firm in New York, City, but decided to 86 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 3: return to New Mexico. 87 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 4: They went to work for the Attorney General because he 88 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 4: liked that part of the world. As part of his job, 89 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 4: he ran a drug interdiction program which interacted with all 90 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 4: the states that bordered Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Texas, 91 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 4: and then the Mexican counterparts on the states border of 92 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 4: the United States. 93 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 3: At the time Mike Frankie moved to New Mexico, the 94 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 3: prison systems were among the worst in the country. Education 95 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 3: and recreation programs in the prisons had been canceled five 96 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 3: years before. Prisons were overcrowded and overrun with cockroaches and mice. 97 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 3: Food was inadequate, and officials began to coerce inmates to 98 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 3: provide information, creating a snitch game that turned prisoners against 99 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 3: one another. Eventually, the system deteriorated into chaos, and what 100 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 3: followed was one of the most violent prison riots in 101 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 3: US history. 102 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,359 Speaker 4: We were on a canoe trip down a real grand 103 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 4: years later in nineteen eighty four, sitting in a big 104 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 4: hot springs and we're miles from anywhere. They started talking 105 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 4: about it. These inmates were murdering, some burned to death, 106 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 4: as a settling torsues, for example, and it gets worse 107 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 4: than it. 108 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:45,359 Speaker 3: The riot was horrifying torture, brutal killings, men pushed to 109 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 3: the brink by unlivable conditions in a system designed to 110 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 3: turn them against one another, and the smell. 111 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 4: The smell of death. The inmates were breaking out of 112 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 4: the prison to get away from the killing that was 113 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 4: going off. They got into the snitch files of the 114 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 4: warden's office and started singling out the guys that were 115 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 4: writting them out and killing them methodically and in the 116 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 4: most unspeakable way. 117 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 3: Kevin's take is even more gruesome. 118 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 4: The drains were all plugged up, and there was six 119 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 4: inches of blood and guts in the dormitory where the 120 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 4: protective custody wing was. 121 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 3: When it was finally contained, the riot left thirty three 122 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 3: inmates dead and over two hundred injured. Twelve officers had 123 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 3: been taken hostage during the riot. None were killed, but 124 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 3: seven of them were severely beaten and some were raped. 125 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 4: Mike was the first civilian inside the prison after the 126 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 4: National Guard took the prison. 127 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 3: Over What Michael Frankie walked into and through would have 128 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 3: been beyond brutal floors flooded with sewage, blood and body parts. 129 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 4: He had a pair of Lukeesy boots at his house 130 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 4: that bore the scars of that first walk into the 131 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 4: prison and up to six or seven inches above the ankle. 132 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 4: It was just stained with blood, and that was his 133 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 4: permanent reminder of the atrocities that can happen if you 134 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 4: don't have the programs, if you don't have the facility 135 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:37,479 Speaker 4: under control. 136 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,439 Speaker 3: Michael kept those boots to remember the lesson they taught. 137 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 4: He had a family room that he added onto the 138 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 4: house in Santa Fe. There was a china cabinet that 139 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 4: my mom actually refinished. It was the antique net, and 140 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 4: that's where he kept his handgun. It was a smith 141 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 4: and lesson forty four magnum on the top of that 142 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:04,079 Speaker 4: because it was like six feet tall and none the 143 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 4: kids could reach up there to get it, so his 144 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 4: gun went up there. Next to that was the table 145 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 4: with a telephone, his pager charger, and there was some 146 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 4: shelves there with bookshelf built in, and there was a 147 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,719 Speaker 4: pair of boots that were setting up there and they 148 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 4: looked disgusting, and that's that they were a constant reminder 149 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 4: if it was I can't imagine. 150 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 3: Instead of running from the violence those Boots represented, Michael 151 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 3: used the riot as motivation to fix the problems that 152 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 3: caused it, moving on to the Attorney General's office, where 153 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 3: he worked tirelessly to improve New Mexico's correctional system, helping 154 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 3: to get more prisons built to ease overcrowding, and funding 155 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 3: to reemphasize prisoner education programs. 156 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 4: He felt that education was the path out of prison 157 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 4: to break the cycle of recidivism. So he was on 158 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,559 Speaker 4: the founding board of directors for the Santa Fe Community 159 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 4: College and was very very proud of that and actually 160 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 4: the dedication of the college that Reuben Cutting was after 161 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 4: he had moved up here to Oregon and they brought 162 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 4: him back down there with his family and it was great. 163 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 3: Frankie was driven to improve Corrections regardless of the obstacles. 164 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 4: He loved the business, he understood it, he knew how 165 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 4: to fix it. 166 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 3: Around the same time Michael was building new prisons in 167 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:43,839 Speaker 3: New Mexico, Corrections in the state of Oregon was experiencing 168 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:45,199 Speaker 3: its own difficulties. 169 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,439 Speaker 2: Michael Frankie got hired in eighty so in eighty six, 170 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:52,959 Speaker 2: the year before he got there, there had been a 171 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 2: brief kerfuffle referred to now as the eighty six investigation, 172 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 2: when a local state Senator Day had received word from 173 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 2: guards from inmates that alarmed him about the level of 174 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 2: corruption in the corrections department had pushed the governor to 175 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 2: have an investigation. Well, they state police didn't have much choice. 176 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 2: The governor was asking for it, so they made a 177 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 2: pass at it, and in the end demoted or fired 178 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:26,559 Speaker 2: or prosecuted six very low ranking guards, one for say, 179 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:32,680 Speaker 2: stealing a cow, another for taking tools, another for using marijuana. 180 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 2: There was brief notice of it in the papers, but 181 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:40,319 Speaker 2: that was about it. It was a cover up. I mean, 182 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 2: that was the purpose of the investigation, just to sweep 183 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 2: it under the rug. And instead of one cow, there 184 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 2: was the wholesale theft of cuckloads of cattle. There was 185 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 2: inmate labor being given to a local contractor for free 186 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 2: drugs going in and out of the prison. Drug dealers 187 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 2: in the prison, protected prison officials using drugs and partying 188 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 2: with inmates who they would have out for the week 189 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 2: or the weekend. 190 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 3: Wait, they were letting them out on the weekend. 191 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, well they're letting them out for the week. The 192 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 2: prisons were overcrowded. So their brilliant solution was to let 193 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 2: some of the prisoners out for a week and let 194 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 2: other people use their bunks, and then they let those 195 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:18,679 Speaker 2: prisoners out for a week and they'd bring the other 196 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,199 Speaker 2: prisoners back in. Of course, they came in loaded with drugs, 197 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 2: and while they were out there, they were doing what 198 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 2: they did best anyway, which was burglarizing houses. And so 199 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 2: around the prison there were a number of safe houses 200 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 2: where these stolen goods and drugs were exchanged, protected by 201 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 2: prison guards and officials. 202 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 3: So the eighty six investigation glossed over all of that. 203 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, what's so clear is that after the state police 204 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 2: turned in their investigation lb day, the senator who had 205 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 2: requested the information in the first place, wrote a letter 206 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,599 Speaker 2: to the governor saying he was dismayed that the investigation 207 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 2: hadn't gotten to the bottom of the rampant corruption and 208 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 2: the corrections. 209 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 3: To and what happened to Lbeda. 210 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 2: About two weeks after that, he died of a heart attack. 211 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 2: He was an old man, and that was the end 212 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 2: of the investigation. You fast forward a year. There's a 213 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 2: new governor, Neil Goldschmidt, and he hires a new director 214 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 2: of Corrections. 215 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 3: That's what Michael Frankie walks into. 216 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 5: Yeah, well, Neil Goldsmith had run against Norma Poulis, and 217 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 5: if there hadn't have been a third party candidate, probably 218 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 5: Norma would have won. 219 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 6: But Neil was this charismatic mayor of Portland and very 220 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 6: very gifted guy. 221 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,680 Speaker 3: That's Chuck Sides, a then state representative whose legislative district 222 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 3: included the Oregon State Penitentiary. He and Mike Frankie played 223 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 3: basketball together. Today, he's an affable business man with a 224 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 3: booming laugh and tons of stories about Oregon's history and politics. 225 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 3: Back to Goldschmidt, short story on him. From the mayor's ship, 226 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 3: he was appointed to the Secretary of Interior under Carter 227 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 3: course loss in the next election, so he. 228 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 6: Came home and was hired by Nike, and Neil was 229 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 6: given the territory of candidate run. 230 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 3: But Neil and Nike didn't get along too well, so 231 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 3: gold Schmidt decided to run for governor. 232 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 6: When he wanted the election, he did a pretty good 233 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 6: survey and what was wrong with things and what was 234 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 6: right with things, and he interviewed older people that had 235 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 6: been in those areas, and one of them was Department 236 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 6: of Corrections. 237 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 3: And one of the biggest problems, like the mob, corrections 238 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 3: was a family business. 239 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 6: Corrections was made up of literally family members, an ex wife, 240 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 6: a wife, a cousin, an uncle, a brother, they're a sister, 241 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 6: and they basically interlocked and protected each other. And if 242 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 6: you got into the system, you learned the lessons in 243 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 6: life that hey, you go along, or you get out, 244 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:13,440 Speaker 6: or something. 245 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 5: Happens to you. 246 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 3: Goldschmidt knew he had to do something about corrections and fast. 247 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 6: So he hunted nationwide and picked this guy out, Michael, 248 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 6: who was that time had just cleaned up the New 249 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 6: Mexico corrections part of it by taking the mob leaders 250 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 6: and putting him into isolation. 251 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 3: Frankie's success caught Goldschmid's attention, who tapped Mike to help 252 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 3: clean up Oregon's correction system, which, like New Mexico, was 253 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 3: also overwhelmed by overcrowding and corruption. Here's Phil Neil. 254 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 2: Goldschmidt knows there's a mess down there, but Ali has 255 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 2: publicly is that it's a management problem, and he hires 256 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 2: Michael Frankie. Michael Frankie is not the usual sort of 257 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 2: prison warden you see in the movies. He was a lawyer, 258 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 2: he was a former judge, he was a former prosecutor, 259 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 2: a really sophisticated guy. So he's brought in. He starts 260 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 2: hearing from the same people who talked to LB Day, 261 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:18,239 Speaker 2: the same guards, the same inmates. He's getting the same information, 262 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 2: and he starts his own investigation. 263 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 3: Mike's older brother, Pat believes while Frankie knew the correction 264 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 3: system needed fixing, he wasn't given the full picture. 265 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 4: He didn't know about the problems with corruption when he 266 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 4: came up here. He had looked at Alaska, Texas, Colorado, Maryland, 267 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 4: and Oregon for various reasons. The others didn't work out. 268 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 4: There was just a whole reasons why. Neil Goldschmidt had 269 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 4: promised Mike the same level of support that he had 270 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 4: gotten from Tony and I when Tony was governor. 271 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 3: Frankie hired an assistant director, Elise Claw, who recalls their 272 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 3: first meeting with the governor. 273 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 7: Neil said, and if things blow up with the counties, 274 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,680 Speaker 7: he said, because I'm going to run for reelection, he said, 275 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 7: I may hold you responsible. Michael's just they're listening kind 276 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 7: of like, oh. 277 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 3: Well, despite the difficulties he'd soon encounter. Mike's arrival was 278 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 3: well received by many, including then State Senator Jim Hill. 279 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:33,920 Speaker 8: He came across as someone who was enthusiastic and corrections 280 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 8: is the kind of feel that can just beat the 281 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 8: enthusiasm out of you if you allow it. 282 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 3: Originally from Atlanta, Hill, like Frankie, was a transplant. 283 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 2: Very impressive guy, very capable lawyer first of all, and 284 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:53,959 Speaker 2: he wasn't part of the good old boy system, so 285 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,159 Speaker 2: he saw through it. He was quite noticeable besides that 286 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 2: because he was a tall, dignified black man, which is 287 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 2: worth saying in Oregon because there are some very few 288 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 2: black people, especially in the state legislature. After LBDA died, 289 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,440 Speaker 2: he was elected to that seat in Salem. He tried 290 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 2: to take over the investigation. He was the head of 291 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 2: the legislative committee that Frankie was supposed to talk to. 292 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 2: The day after he was killed. 293 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 3: Jim Hill welcomed Mike Frankie's higher He. 294 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,400 Speaker 8: Was someone who wanted to do some things that were innovative, 295 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,200 Speaker 8: and he was a person who still cared. We had 296 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 8: a real sense of hope and that we had found 297 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:40,040 Speaker 8: the right person, someone who was going to be progressive 298 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 8: in terms of corrections, and so it was really very exciting. 299 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 3: Former Representative Chuck Sides also saw the same promise. 300 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 6: Michael came walking in and he was the first guy 301 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 6: that ever said to me, I don't want more money. 302 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 6: I can't change people. I can detain them. If they 303 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 6: want to change, they change themselves. If you want to 304 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:10,360 Speaker 6: help me out, you get more money to early childhood education, reading, writing, 305 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 6: math is more important and keeping people out of oppressions 306 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 6: than everything you'll ever know. 307 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 3: Here's Michael Frankie in his own words addressing the City 308 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 3: Club of Portland the year before he died. 309 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 9: I'm the punishment point in the criminal justice system. You 310 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 9: can put all the effort and money you want to 311 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 9: into the catch basin and the punishment exercise, but you're 312 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 9: not touching that socially complex bundle of issues having to 313 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 9: do with dysfunctional families, child abuse, substance abuse, parenting skills, 314 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 9: unwed motherhood, and teenagers and all that mess that generates 315 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 9: the people that come into prison. 316 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 3: That optimism was ill fated. It wasn't long before Mike 317 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,960 Speaker 3: Frankie began to run into pushback from the old school system. 318 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 3: He wanted to expand the prisons to help control the overcrowding, 319 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 3: but without adequate support, his job became increasingly difficult and 320 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 3: it began to interfere with his life outside of work. 321 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 3: Here's Pat Frankie. 322 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 4: There were some things that happened. I came up here 323 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 4: in August before he died. He wasn't having a great time. 324 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 4: Goldschmidt didn't give him the support. In fact that I 325 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 4: think their relationship got contentious fairly early on, so he 326 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 4: was fighting an uphill battle. We were planning another long distance, 327 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 4: long eight day canoe trip, and I talked to him 328 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 4: in December before this trip, just before he died, and 329 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:51,399 Speaker 4: he was up to his eyes trying to get his 330 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,920 Speaker 4: budget put together, and he said, I don't know if 331 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 4: I've got to get this budget thing done, and if 332 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 4: I get everything squared away, I'll go on a trip. 333 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 4: Otherwise I can't make it. It wasn't having fun. 334 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:12,639 Speaker 3: Far from it. Frankie increasingly felt his life was in 335 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 3: danger and carried a gun everywhere. One memory from a 336 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 3: visit at the time still haunts Pat. 337 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,119 Speaker 4: And I was sleeping in the family room and I 338 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:25,200 Speaker 4: opened up a slanting glass door that opened up on 339 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 4: his backyard and in a matter a couple of minutes, 340 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 4: he was there closing the door and putting the bar 341 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 4: back out, and I said, what's the matter. He said, well, 342 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 4: you can never be two security concious. I don't know. 343 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 4: It just didn't occur to me. It was two o'clock 344 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 4: in the morning or something, and I didn't give it 345 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 4: any more. 346 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 7: Thought. 347 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 4: I wish I had asked him what he was worried about. 348 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 3: That memory would pale in comparison to what Pat and 349 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 3: Kevin encountered at Mike's house after his murder. 350 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 4: We went out to his house, his wife and I, 351 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 4: her dad, and my brother Kevin was the police, to 352 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 4: pick up clothing for the funeral people. There was a 353 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,160 Speaker 4: forty five caliber pistol in the bed that had been 354 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 4: under his pillow, and a twelve gage state riotgun leaning 355 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 4: against the door that opened out slanting glass door that 356 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 4: opened out onto a deck and Scott's mills. The deck 357 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 4: and a sidewalk down below were littered with hundreds and 358 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 4: hundreds of spent twelve gage shotgun shells. Even out there 359 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:35,640 Speaker 4: doing the walk practicing with that twelve gage, I don't 360 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 4: know why that isn't a normal activity. I don't think 361 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,359 Speaker 4: I don't think that's how I would want to spend 362 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:45,199 Speaker 4: my life sleeping with a pistol under my pillow. 363 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 3: And Michael also wanted his wife, Binta to be able 364 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 3: to protect herself. Here's Chuck Sides again. 365 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 6: He told me he was teaching her to shoot, but 366 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 6: I didn't realize it was a shotgun and all that 367 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 6: other stuff. But there was probably twenty five shells laying 368 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 6: around her more or less, and I went, oh, that 369 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 6: was that understanding that things were getting tense here and 370 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 6: he wanted her to know. And that's what he told 371 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,200 Speaker 6: me when he said, I had its teacher on a 372 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 6: shoot a handgun. And that's when I first got my 373 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 6: eyes open. As you know, his life had been threatened 374 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 6: and he wanted her to know how to handle herself 375 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 6: and handle a gun. 376 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 3: Phil Stamford thinks Michael Frankie's investigation into corruption within his 377 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,400 Speaker 3: department fueled that concern. 378 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 2: Some years later, it became clear there was actually photographic 379 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 2: evidence that he was indeed going to discuss corruption that 380 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 2: morning before the Legislative committee, because we have a picture 381 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:51,679 Speaker 2: of his whiteboard. He was using that evening with his 382 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,399 Speaker 2: staff to talk about what his speech was about, and 383 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:58,119 Speaker 2: At the bottom was one item called the A shed. 384 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 2: There was a warehouse on prison property that had burned down. 385 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 2: Well as we know now, although there's been no certainly 386 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 2: no desire by any state officials to admit it, it 387 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 2: was arson for insurance purposes, and he knew it. He'd 388 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 2: gotten onto it, and he was going to discuss it. 389 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,160 Speaker 2: There at the bottom on that whiteboard was the A shed. 390 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:27,880 Speaker 2: It was the last thing he was going to talk 391 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 2: about him, which means it was what he wanted to 392 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,880 Speaker 2: leave the legislators with. He was going after his top staff. 393 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 2: Heads were going to roll, yeah. 394 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 3: They were, and instead he gets murdered. Yes, six forty 395 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,440 Speaker 3: five pm on January seventeenth, nineteen eighty nine, the night 396 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,880 Speaker 3: before he was to present the findings of his investigation 397 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 3: Michael Frank. He walked out of the Dome Building, headquarters 398 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:06,439 Speaker 3: of the Oregon Department of Corrections. Forty minutes later, Elise 399 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 3: Clausen found his car with the driver's side door open. 400 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,080 Speaker 7: I went out the front steps and the door to 401 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 7: his car was open, and I hollered at him because 402 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,640 Speaker 7: I couldn't see him, and I had this really creepy feeling, 403 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 7: and then I walked over to his car and he 404 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,119 Speaker 7: wasn't there, and the driver's side door was wide open. 405 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 7: And that's when I went in and searched everywhere, like 406 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 7: I said, and called and when security got there and 407 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 7: they started to drive around. At that point I left. 408 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:40,919 Speaker 7: I kind of kept waiting in and I thought, I 409 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 7: guess I'll go. So I left and drove home and 410 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 7: remember telling my husband about what had happened, and I 411 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,360 Speaker 7: could not go to sleep, and I said to him 412 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 7: before he had sleep, I said, I just had this 413 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 7: horrible feeling something's happened to Michael. 414 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 3: After a four hour search, his body was found outside 415 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,800 Speaker 3: the office building's north entrance. He had been stabbed in 416 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 3: the heart and was lying in a pool of his 417 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 3: own blood and the glass he shattered trying to get 418 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 3: back inside. 419 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 7: Roby Eldridge, who is our information officer, called and he 420 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,920 Speaker 7: said Michael's been killed. And I said, oh my god, 421 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 7: I knew it. 422 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 3: Chuck Sides, like many others, found out Mike was murdered 423 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 3: on the local news. 424 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 10: I learned about it from the TV and it was 425 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 10: on early and then I drove immediately. Our house is 426 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 10: only about fifteen minutes away, and there's this large crowd 427 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,680 Speaker 10: of people, and you know, you got the reporters, you 428 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 10: got the investigators, you got everything. 429 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 3: He arrived on the scene in a state of disbelief 430 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 3: and shock. 431 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 6: I got there before they quickly threw up the yellow 432 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 6: tape of that type of thing, which I thought was interesting. Later, 433 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:52,360 Speaker 6: but Michael had gone from his car, crawled up the steps, 434 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 6: went over to the double doors and couldn't get it open, 435 00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:59,239 Speaker 6: and then punched it, reached in, but he couldn't get 436 00:26:59,280 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 6: the thing opening. 437 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 3: Laid down to day there. 438 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 11: The big mystery that morning was why did it take 439 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,159 Speaker 11: them so long to find Mike's body when it was 440 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 11: right there, twenty thirty feet from his car. It's right 441 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,880 Speaker 11: there on the portico otherwise the porch of the building, 442 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 11: And why no one saw it before that point is 443 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 11: still a mystery everybody. 444 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,199 Speaker 3: That's Eric Mason, a local television reporter sent out to 445 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 3: cover the murder. 446 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,680 Speaker 11: I think the call was, there's a dead body over 447 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,840 Speaker 11: there at the Dome building. Get over there right away. 448 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 11: There's hardlydy details about it, and we'll be going live 449 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 11: at the New Hour with you. Everybody was grim faced. 450 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,800 Speaker 11: It was a dark, gray morning. I remember the four 451 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 11: door sedan that he was driving was out there. It 452 00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 11: was still parked where he'd parked it. I was surprised 453 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 11: at how close we're able to walk right up to 454 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 11: the yellow tape where the car was. And the only 455 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,680 Speaker 11: place that they really didn't want you walking through was 456 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 11: the pathway from the car, right up the steps right 457 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,920 Speaker 11: to Mike's office. The district attorney himself, the head DA 458 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:22,479 Speaker 11: was out walking around, and that's where you knew something 459 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,159 Speaker 11: big had just happened. As so it was clear someone 460 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 11: big had been murdered. 461 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 3: Kevin and Pat were both notified by phone. Kevin was 462 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 3: in Florida. 463 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 4: What's going through my mind, I think is probably what 464 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,880 Speaker 4: goes through everybody's mind when you get a tragic event, 465 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 4: is that I knew in my heart that I would 466 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 4: get out here and somebody would tell me it's a 467 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 4: big mistake. It was somebody else. Mike's okay, he's over here, 468 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 4: the person up on the patio with somebody else. The 469 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 4: gist of my thinking and feeling was this overwhelming grief 470 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 4: and sadness, but that brilliant hope of light saying that 471 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 4: there's got to be some botch up here, that it 472 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 4: was somebody else. 473 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 3: Or it was not like Pott received a call in Missouri, 474 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 3: where he was in the middle of work. 475 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 4: My pager went off like three times in a row. 476 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 4: I dialed my answering service and they said, you have 477 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:27,800 Speaker 4: an emergency call from Oregon, and they gave me a 478 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 4: phone number and I called and it was Dick Peterson, 479 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 4: who was my assistant, and he told me and I 480 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 4: went absolutely berserve, to the point that I scared the 481 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 4: hell out of the three people in the office because 482 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 4: I was absolutely screaming at the phone. I was motherfucking everybody. 483 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,360 Speaker 4: They didn't know what I was talking about, what was 484 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 4: going on. The governor got on the phone and expressed 485 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,520 Speaker 4: his condolences, and I didn't know Neil Goldschmid from mechanic Corn. 486 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 4: At that point, I didn't care. I was just absolutely flabbergasted, 487 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 4: pissed off to beat hell. 488 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 3: Kevin immediately took a plane to Oregon. 489 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 4: I slammed a lot of JB. Sketch on the racks 490 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 4: on the airplane, trying to numb it, and nothing to 491 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 4: go down. I mean, sketch would, but my emotions wouldn't. 492 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 4: And I felt the airplane sliding down and I could 493 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 4: see the clouds out there. Landing lights came on and 494 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 4: it was just this sick, dark cloud and then settled down, 495 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 4: gliding in on the Columbia River, seeing the city of 496 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 4: Portland ahead of us. I thought, shit, this in a dream. 497 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 4: This is it. It was tough. 498 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 3: Pat had to break the brutal news to their parents. 499 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 4: Nobody answered at the house. It turns out my dad 500 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:01,200 Speaker 4: was running there and shopping doing something. Mother volunteered at 501 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,840 Speaker 4: the University of Kansas Medical Center. So I went over 502 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 4: there and went in and she said, what are you 503 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:09,400 Speaker 4: doing here? I said, I just came over to see 504 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 4: you good looking, And she came up. She introduced me 505 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 4: to all the ladies and she said, what's what's going on. 506 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 4: Helen Frank is a smart gal? I said, might She's 507 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 4: been in an accident, and she got She got a 508 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 4: hold of me, got in my face and she said 509 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 4: that he did. I said, let's get the hell out 510 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 4: of here. And I thought, I'm saying about that and 511 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 4: somebody's gone. Somebody needs to pay for that. I thought. 512 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 4: It was absolutely crushed my mother. They were torn to pieces. 513 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 4: It ruined a lot of lives. 514 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 3: Kevin arrived in Oregon first and waited for Pat at 515 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 3: the airport. 516 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 4: Al Chandler with the Department of Corrections picked me up 517 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 4: at the gate with the old airport side Kevin Frankie, 518 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 4: and introduced himself and he asked me if I had 519 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,280 Speaker 4: a luggage or anything, and I said, no, I've got 520 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,400 Speaker 4: my bag, And he said, you want to go have 521 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 4: a smoke down there, and he filled me in on 522 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:36,640 Speaker 4: as much information as he had, and basically all he 523 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 4: had was what was forthcoming from the press conference they 524 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:43,440 Speaker 4: had the morning at nine o'clock and we had to 525 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 4: sit there and wait for two hours for Pat's plane 526 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 4: that was delayed in Salt Lake City to get in. 527 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 4: And I remember seeing Pat, he looked like he just 528 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 4: had the weight of the world at his shoulders. How 529 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 4: are you gods just hug each other? Oh? I said, 530 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:05,160 Speaker 4: Was it true. 531 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:06,720 Speaker 2: That? 532 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:07,120 Speaker 4: Who was that? 533 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:18,520 Speaker 3: Local authorities were quick to label Michael's murder a car 534 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 3: burglary gone bad, but it was clear to many there 535 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,040 Speaker 3: was much more to it, including former Senator Jim Hill. 536 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 8: Yes, people getting robbed all the time, they don't get murdered. 537 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:35,000 Speaker 8: Right from the beginning, it struck me as being very odd. 538 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 8: The whole car Arbory thing never made any sense to me. 539 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:43,040 Speaker 3: Alice Clawsan got the same story from the police. 540 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:47,280 Speaker 7: There was nothing about it that seemed to me that 541 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,320 Speaker 7: carburglery made any sense. There was conversation among people that 542 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,240 Speaker 7: felt like this was meant for him. I always thought 543 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 7: it was. 544 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,200 Speaker 3: Chuck Sides thought it odd for a criminal tutar get 545 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 3: a state workers car. 546 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 6: They don't have a lot of discretionary income. They don't 547 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 6: have normal things that some of the private sector has. 548 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:08,400 Speaker 6: That doesn't make sense to me. 549 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,760 Speaker 3: Reporter Eric Mason thought things just didn't add up. Given 550 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 3: Mike's nearly six foot four inch athletic build. 551 00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 11: If someone was just jockey boxing cars and going through 552 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 11: cars and looking for stuff in the car, Mike could 553 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:27,200 Speaker 11: have taken anybody on and won easily at a fistfight. 554 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:34,800 Speaker 3: Mike wasn't naive. He had a car alarm, was usually armed, 555 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 3: and was anticipating a threat. Here's Phil Stamford. 556 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,800 Speaker 2: He knew it was a very dangerous business, and he 557 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:43,840 Speaker 2: didn't let people get close to him in the yard. 558 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:46,879 Speaker 2: It's hard to imagine how he let someone get close 559 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,240 Speaker 2: enough to stab him. That's one of the first things 560 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:53,520 Speaker 2: that Kevin and Tad spoke publicly about. They were told 561 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:55,560 Speaker 2: be careful what you say to the press, don't talk 562 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,279 Speaker 2: to the press. But they did talk about how this 563 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 2: didn't make sense to them. Well, if it was a robbery, 564 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,520 Speaker 2: how come he still had his watch, still had his money, 565 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:05,359 Speaker 2: his wald was. 566 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:05,799 Speaker 5: Still on him. 567 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:07,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, that doesn't seem to make sense. 568 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:09,560 Speaker 2: No, it doesn't. It's one of the first things that 569 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 2: caught my attention to. 570 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 4: There were crimes that you could commit back then because 571 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 4: the prisons were so overcrowded that the worst case scenario 572 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 4: would be you would be at the next day the 573 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 4: jockey box in the car would be a site and 574 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:26,440 Speaker 4: release ninety nine nine percent of the time because you're 575 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,280 Speaker 4: going to get what's basically a parking ticket. The worst 576 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,680 Speaker 4: thing you could do is try to kill somebody. 577 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:38,520 Speaker 3: Over So a random car break accelerating into murder seemed 578 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 3: to stretch. Why would a small time criminal trying to 579 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 3: pil for a glove compartment kill someone and risk life 580 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,760 Speaker 3: in prison when they could just as easily run away. 581 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,520 Speaker 3: Neil Goldschmidt finally addressed the press and the public about 582 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:53,920 Speaker 3: the incident. Here's Eric Mason again. 583 00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:55,439 Speaker 4: We ended up. 584 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:59,799 Speaker 11: Over at the Capitol for a really grim faced Neil Goldschmidt. 585 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:04,320 Speaker 11: At the time He looked shell shocked, and I thought 586 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,799 Speaker 11: to myself, Wow, this is a new hire. He's just 587 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,600 Speaker 11: hired Mike Frankie. He must have become fairly close to 588 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,480 Speaker 11: Mike if he looks shell shocked and there's almost like 589 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 11: tears in his eyes. 590 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,520 Speaker 3: Here's Neil Goldschmidt at that press conference. 591 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 12: It is very hard to walk the halls in the 592 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:31,280 Speaker 12: legislature today because there's a force that's missing. The violence 593 00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:37,960 Speaker 12: seems to go on almost endlessly in this difficult time. 594 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,440 Speaker 12: It is perhaps well to ask which direction we are 595 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,960 Speaker 12: headed as a state and as a people. 596 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 11: Only later would we understand that. I think what was 597 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:53,720 Speaker 11: going on there was the governor thinking my own secrets 598 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:55,280 Speaker 11: might come rolling out of the closet. 599 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:03,279 Speaker 3: Will Stanford believes Mike Frankie was about to expose far 600 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,480 Speaker 3: too many secrets with an Oregon's Department of Corrections. 601 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:11,319 Speaker 2: There were a number of high ranking corrections officials who 602 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 2: had very good reasons to be happy that Michael Frankie 603 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,319 Speaker 2: wasn't around. I'm careful to say that that doesn't mean 604 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,640 Speaker 2: they were involved in the murder, But if you're looking 605 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,880 Speaker 2: to investigate the murder of a public official, you'd at 606 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:26,480 Speaker 2: least look at them, and they were virtually ignored by 607 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:30,360 Speaker 2: the state police investigators. The important thing to remember, Lauren 608 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 2: is that the same people who conducted the Frankie murder 609 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:39,560 Speaker 2: investigation also conducted the eighty six investigation, the same DA 610 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:42,200 Speaker 2: day O Penn, the same state police officers. 611 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:43,320 Speaker 3: Wow. 612 00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:46,280 Speaker 2: So of course they couldn't admit there was the possibility 613 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:49,359 Speaker 2: of corruption behind the murder of Michael Frankie because they'd 614 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:51,320 Speaker 2: gone out of their way to cover up the corruption, 615 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 2: and that was there when he got there. 616 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:57,120 Speaker 3: Mike's brother Kevin agrees from. 617 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:01,800 Speaker 4: Day one, I didn't believe that if somebody was stealing 618 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:05,600 Speaker 4: something out of Mike's celth compartment and kill them, the 619 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:09,000 Speaker 4: whole scenario, everything just seemed absolutely wrong because of what 620 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:11,880 Speaker 4: I knew about my brother, about his I'm not going 621 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:13,200 Speaker 4: to be a hostage mentality. 622 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:21,880 Speaker 3: Kevin and Phil were about to dive into an unimaginable 623 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:26,840 Speaker 3: world of corruption and depravity that would nearly ruin Phil's career. 624 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 2: It seemed unfair to have the paper, I mean, especially 625 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:35,040 Speaker 2: while I was there, attack me, you. 626 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,560 Speaker 3: Know, put Kevin's life at risk. 627 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:40,439 Speaker 4: Tell me to turn around. I wasn't going to turn around. 628 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,040 Speaker 4: I told me to get on my knees, and I 629 00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:44,680 Speaker 4: know you gotta do it. Put it right between my 630 00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:45,640 Speaker 4: fucking eyes. 631 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:53,760 Speaker 3: And expose the seediest underbelly of Oregon. I was thirteen. 632 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:55,799 Speaker 3: What did your mom do to you? 633 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,799 Speaker 9: She sold me for drugs. 634 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,600 Speaker 3: As having deep ties to the very people who were 635 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:04,680 Speaker 3: supposed to police it. 636 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:08,719 Speaker 8: Dirty Cox, Dirty Town Salem's the most crap place in 637 00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:10,400 Speaker 8: a new place you can find in the United States. 638 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:16,080 Speaker 3: Michael Frankie's killers were never brought to justice, and you'll 639 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:20,720 Speaker 3: find out why this season of Murder and Oregon. 640 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:28,640 Speaker 1: Murder in Oregon is hosted by Lauren Bright Pacheco and 641 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:32,720 Speaker 1: Phil Stanford. Executive producers are Noel Brown, Lauren Bright Pacheco, 642 00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:36,840 Speaker 1: and Phil Stanford. Supervising producer and lead editor is Taylor Chacogne. 643 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:40,920 Speaker 1: Sound designed by Tristan McNeil, Story editing by Matt Riddle, 644 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:45,040 Speaker 1: Written by Phil Stanford, Matt Riddle, and Lauren Bright Pacheco. 645 00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:48,440 Speaker 1: Music written and performed by the Diamond Street Players and 646 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:52,080 Speaker 1: mixed by Taylor Chaqoine with music supervision by Noel Brown. 647 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,240 Speaker 1: Murder in Oregon is a production of iHeartRadio