WEBVTT - UPDATE 5/23: Frank Gable Exonerated

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<v Speaker 1>Hello, This is Lauren Bright Pacheco and I am so

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<v Speaker 1>pleased to be joined today of all days, by Kevin,

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<v Speaker 1>Frankie and Phil Stanford to share some absolutely incredible news

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<v Speaker 1>and a wonderful update. Kevin, will you take us through it?

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<v Speaker 2>Boy? Where to start? A week ago? Yesterday so we

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<v Speaker 2>could go. Last Monday, there was a meeting with the

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<v Speaker 2>Attorney General and with Frank's attorney, Noel Brown in front

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<v Speaker 2>of Judge Acosta that I wish to God that there

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<v Speaker 2>had been there and microphone was there, because I've never

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<v Speaker 2>seen a judge as controllably livid when he realized that

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<v Speaker 2>the Marion County District Attorney's Office representative was not going

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<v Speaker 2>to be there. And finally he got it out of

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<v Speaker 2>the Attorney General Assistant Attorney General mister Gutman, that Marion

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<v Speaker 2>County had no intention of pursuing the case against Frank Gable,

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<v Speaker 2>but mister Gutman also expressed that he would like the opportunity,

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<v Speaker 2>through the District Attorney's Office in Marion County, to prosecute

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<v Speaker 2>Frank Gable at any time in the future, six months,

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<v Speaker 2>six years, sixteen years from now. And that is when

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<v Speaker 2>the fireworks went off and Judge Acosta has head. Judge

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<v Speaker 2>Acosta asked both sides to submit their opinions on what

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<v Speaker 2>should be done with Frank in terms of his indictment

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<v Speaker 2>and his future prospects of being prosecuted and further persecuted

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<v Speaker 2>by the state, and Nell and mister Goodman both got

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<v Speaker 2>those in a few days ago, and as expected, we

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<v Speaker 2>got a very prompt decision, a very brief decision and

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<v Speaker 2>statement by Judge Acosta, and fact it included capital letters.

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<v Speaker 2>And the bottom line is that from this day forth

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<v Speaker 2>and forever more, Frank Gable is not to be retried

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<v Speaker 2>in any way, shape or form for the murder of

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<v Speaker 2>Mike Frankie, my brother. And it's gone forever.

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<v Speaker 1>So he has been exonerated, and they cannot retry him.

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<v Speaker 2>Correct and that is with prejudice. They cannot come back

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<v Speaker 2>and change their minds and say whether or not, here

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<v Speaker 2>we come. We've created a whole new batch of witnesses

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<v Speaker 2>for your perusal.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, Phil, you, along with Kevin and Pat Frankie had

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<v Speaker 1>been fighting on behalf of Frank Gable for more than

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<v Speaker 1>three decades at this point. What does this mean to

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<v Speaker 1>you after all these years?

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<v Speaker 3>It's a relief Finally you know that, after all this

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<v Speaker 3>time and after all this proof that Frank Gable was innocent,

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<v Speaker 3>I mean that he was a patsy, that he's finally free.

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<v Speaker 3>And I think it's worth saying for everyone out there

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<v Speaker 3>who hasn't been following it quite as closely as we

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<v Speaker 3>have for the past thirty some years, that this meeting

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<v Speaker 3>court meeting that Kevin was just talking about occurred after

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<v Speaker 3>this judge Acosta, federal judge about four years ago, had

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<v Speaker 3>overturned the conviction. Frank Gable had already been in prison

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<v Speaker 3>about thirty years, and it went to the Ninth Circuit

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<v Speaker 3>Court of Appeals and they issued an even stronger ruling

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<v Speaker 3>of findings that all the evidence against Frank had been manufactured.

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<v Speaker 3>They'd made it up. There never was any physical evidence

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<v Speaker 3>against Frank.

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<v Speaker 2>This false foundation was established, called Frank Gable, and then

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<v Speaker 2>they were trying to pile this case on top of

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<v Speaker 2>it with further bullshit created witnesses on a foundation that

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<v Speaker 2>had absolutely no basis, and the whole thing should have crumbled.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it stands to question what would have happened

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<v Speaker 1>if they had put as much effort into investigating your

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<v Speaker 1>brother's death as they did to manufacturing a case against

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<v Speaker 1>frank That is.

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<v Speaker 2>The string that they never wanted to pull. That's the

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<v Speaker 2>string that would have pulled the whole sweater apart. And

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<v Speaker 2>that string is called Johnny Krauss.

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<v Speaker 1>Listeners of the po Post may remember that Johnny Krause

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<v Speaker 1>confessed more than once to killing Michael Frankie.

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<v Speaker 2>And Phil and I talked about this the other day.

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<v Speaker 2>Is that that is when they hit the panic button

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<v Speaker 2>and said, holy shit, Kraus is connected to this person

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<v Speaker 2>over here, who is connected to these people? Who are

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<v Speaker 2>the people that killed Mike Frankie.

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<v Speaker 1>I have to ask you both to you know, certainly

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<v Speaker 1>this is I don't want to even call this a

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<v Speaker 1>happy ending, because this is a tragedy on so many levels.

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<v Speaker 1>As you mentioned, Phil, frank lost thirty years of his

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<v Speaker 1>life for a murder we now can say with complete

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<v Speaker 1>clarity that he did not commit. But also you both,

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<v Speaker 1>in going to bat for him and in questioning who

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<v Speaker 1>really killed Michael Frankie, you were both thrown under the bus,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly by the media. What does this mean to you

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<v Speaker 1>now to be validated and vindicated in this way.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, from the beginning, I was writing the column for

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<v Speaker 3>the Oregonian back then, and then I became aware of

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<v Speaker 3>the murder in Salem that wasn't really being covered, and

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<v Speaker 3>as I watched the reporting in my own paper, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>it was obvious that the reporters weren't asking any questions.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, he was sort of typical police reporting. Police

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<v Speaker 3>reporters rely so much on information from the cops that

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<v Speaker 3>they are eventually captured by the cops, and that was

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<v Speaker 3>certainly the case here. The reporters for the Oregonian were

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<v Speaker 3>just stenographers for the state police.

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<v Speaker 2>We were struggling, encouraged not to speak with the press

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<v Speaker 2>right after Mike's murder, and I started getting hits from

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<v Speaker 2>this guy, Phil Stanford up in Oregon, and he was

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<v Speaker 2>the whitest red columnist in the Northwest paper in competition,

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<v Speaker 2>and no reporter, nobody in competition, so he had quite

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<v Speaker 2>a following.

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<v Speaker 1>And he gave you quite a megaphone.

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<v Speaker 3>I eventually parted from there, and then a few years

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<v Speaker 3>later another newspaper started up, the Portland Tribune, and I

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<v Speaker 3>started writing columns about the Frankie murder again and talking

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<v Speaker 3>more with Kevin, of course, and sort of poking the bear,

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<v Speaker 3>trying to get them to react and they did.

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<v Speaker 2>They did.

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<v Speaker 3>They did like a three page hit piece. There's no

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<v Speaker 3>other way to look at it, because it was so

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<v Speaker 3>very personal, attacking me and Kevin.

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<v Speaker 1>And calling your thoughts about the murder conspiracy theories.

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<v Speaker 3>They were taking the states line on this, the state

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<v Speaker 3>police line, and so they wrote this three page hit

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<v Speaker 3>piece attacking me. I expected that, but they went after

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<v Speaker 3>Kevin in a way I've never seen before in a newspaper.

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<v Speaker 3>They tried to make him out as crazy. Well, this

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<v Speaker 3>had been the state police line from the beginning, that

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<v Speaker 3>he was crazed by grief and he was making up

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<v Speaker 3>all these stories, these conspiracy driven theories about why his

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<v Speaker 3>brother was killed. He was obsessed, Well, we were all obsessed.

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<v Speaker 3>Anyone who's maintained an interest for more than five minutes

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<v Speaker 3>was obsessed breaking new journalistic grounds, attacking a member of

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<v Speaker 3>the murder victim's family for raising questions about his brother's death,

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<v Speaker 3>his brother's murder, about the investigation of his brother's murder.

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<v Speaker 3>And to this day, the Oregonian has not apologized for that,

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<v Speaker 3>and that's something I'd like to see.

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<v Speaker 1>Nearly thirty five years later, you guys have been proven

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely right in raising the questions that you did. And

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<v Speaker 1>your theory wasn't a conspiracy theory, it was reality.

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<v Speaker 3>You know what we were saying at that time, that

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<v Speaker 3>we were attacked for so personally by my own newspaper,

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<v Speaker 3>my former newspaper. This is essentially the same thing that

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<v Speaker 3>the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said, you know, raising

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<v Speaker 3>the same questions, coming to the same conclusions about the

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<v Speaker 3>absolute emptiness of the case against Frank Abel. They had

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<v Speaker 3>no physical evidence against them. All they ever had was

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<v Speaker 3>what they had made up and what they'd fed to

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<v Speaker 3>their line witnesses. They had no case then, but it's

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<v Speaker 3>clear it's over, have nothing.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, it's a wonderful week for Frank, and this is

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<v Speaker 1>just a wonderful testament to your effort. So I thank

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<v Speaker 1>you both.

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<v Speaker 2>And I talked to Frank twice yesterday. The first time

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<v Speaker 2>we couldn't even talk. Had to do it later to

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<v Speaker 2>get our shit together. But many, many thanks to everybody.

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<v Speaker 2>And he was still stunned and literally felt like he'd

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<v Speaker 2>been hit by a car. Just didn't know what to

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<v Speaker 2>say or how to react. All his senses were maxed out.

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<v Speaker 2>But the biggest thing that he could barely get out

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<v Speaker 2>was just thank you, everybody, Let.

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<v Speaker 1>Me ask you this, Kevin, having had the news of

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<v Speaker 1>the exoneration and the fact that Oregon cannot ever, in

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<v Speaker 1>any way, shape or form, retry frank what is left

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<v Speaker 1>for you? What does justice mean to you? What does

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<v Speaker 1>it remain?

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<v Speaker 2>I spent the better part of last night fighting a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of demons that I know are going to be

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<v Speaker 2>coming up. And the biggest demon is the preservation of

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<v Speaker 2>the evidence, the ends that they may have gone to

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<v Speaker 2>to destroy evidence or corrupt evidence. Who is going to

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<v Speaker 2>take on the new case? How can they do that

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<v Speaker 2>under the jurisdiction correct jurisdiction is the Oregon State Police.

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<v Speaker 2>Are they going to investigate themselves in the process and

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<v Speaker 2>how can that even occur? And are we going to

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<v Speaker 2>go through this whole process again where the Cranky brothers

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<v Speaker 2>and phil are marching with pitchforks and shovels saying this

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<v Speaker 2>is nonsense.

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<v Speaker 1>Because thirty five years later, the question remains, who killed

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<v Speaker 1>Michael Frankie. Oregon has never answered that question, and the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that frank has now been cleared makes that question

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<v Speaker 1>even more pressing.

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<v Speaker 2>Almost as big a question today is why did they

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<v Speaker 2>kill Mike Frankie? Why did they fabricate, create a case

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<v Speaker 2>that takes them completely out of the realm of the

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<v Speaker 2>individual or individuals I should say, or responsible for the murder.

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<v Speaker 2>So now we've got an even uglier situation that they've

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<v Speaker 2>got to hide.

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<v Speaker 1>Well. I thank you both so much for the dedication

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<v Speaker 1>that you've shown to clearing an innocent man and the

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<v Speaker 1>compassion that you have for not just one another, but

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<v Speaker 1>for the legacy of your brother Michael Frankie, and I

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<v Speaker 1>very much appreciate you two joining me to share on

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<v Speaker 1>the update.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you, Thank you. Lauren