13 Comments
User's avatar
W Breese's avatar

The wheels of justice keep turning..........ever so slowly.......

Thanks for the update.

Expand full comment
Terry Cook's avatar

Thanks for staying on this from the beginning Phil. Too many Oregonians believe our government could never indulge in this kind of corruption--a dangerous naivete. Justice is slow, but it's coming for those who did this to a man who was not guilty of the crime. Shame.

Expand full comment
Richard Cheverton's avatar

Great reporting. The question remains: who put the hit on Michael Franke?

Expand full comment
Phil Stanford's avatar

It does indeed. And the only law enforcement agency capable of getting the answer and making it stick is the FBI.

Expand full comment
Grayson Francke's avatar

The amount of people that worked together to frame and ruin Franks life is incredible, and still doing so..You cannot forge a signature on a federal plea agreement, Robert. Great right up once again, Phil.

Expand full comment
William MacKenzie's avatar

So, who the hell did kill Francke and why? Still unanswered.

Expand full comment
Jay's avatar
Apr 15Edited

Moral of the story: cops lie=no negative consequences.

You lie= prison.

Expand full comment
Jennifer Jones's avatar

A few months ago I started trying to get public records on the case but didn't get far at all. Then I decided to try the Oregon Legislature to see if any notes were in their archives from back then, since the events seem to revolve around the legislation up for review respecting prisons. A legislative aide got back to me and said there might be info from the committees involved (be interesting to see who the people involved were - the legislature was divided on Francke's proposals). But I got involved in other stuff and forgot about it until I read that two Oregon legislators have written to the FBI to open an investigation. So I'm going to follow up with the idea I had to see what records they (legislature) have, as they have taken an interest in the case now. That said, my money's on a collaboration among prison gangs and prison officials with the able assistance of LE and Oregon DOJ.

I'm inclined to think that Tim was set up to take ALL the blame and was probably going to be taken out somehow, by the people who set up Michael to be taken out. Then it would have been case closed. But Liz had to defend herself and her baby from Tim and that messed up the killers' plans.

Thank you Phil - very exciting you're writing a book, as only you can!

Expand full comment
Phil Stanford's avatar

Gloria, I'd like to know more about this. Please email me at psptown@gmail.com

Expand full comment
Gloria's avatar

Dale Penn railroaded my Aunt all the way to prison for something she didn’t do so I am not surprised he was involved in this corruption also. She received a full and total pardon but only after losing several years to prison. So glad to see a light being shone on his true colors.

Expand full comment
Jennifer Jones's avatar

I wonder what exactly would have been Konrad Garcia's "job" helping Tim Natividad take out Michael. And who did Tim get to do what he wanted Konrad Garcia to do (if he did find someone)?

Expand full comment
Phil Stanford's avatar

Or did Natividad have to take Konrad's place when Konrad backed out?

Expand full comment
Jennifer Jones's avatar

That makes sense. Having Konrad or someone like Konrad with him (Tim) would have made the purported "make it look like a suicide" plot more viable. For that to have happened, Michael would have had to been disarmed of his gun first, and (Tim) use it to kill Michael with one shot to his head. Without a big guy like Konrad to help get Michael under control, Tim would have had to do both. Wasn't Tim smaller than Michael (and presumably less fit)? Maybe Tim brought the knife "just in case", since he didn't get the muscle man he was recruiting to help him, so he ended up stabbing him instead of dis-arming him of his gun, and staging the suicide. You can't stab a guy in the heart AND make it look like a gun suicide can you? Maybe Tim ran out of time before he found someone after Konrad backed out, and had to enlist his gaggle of ex cons to help him get it done.

I think there's much more to be understood about the distance between planning a staged suicide, and the fact that Michael took some beating before dying, stabbed once in the heart, and the fact that Michael's gun was found under his pillow at home. When's your book coming out? No pressure

Expand full comment