NORWICH – The Franklin murder trial began on Wednesday with two versions of events from the prosecution and defense, three witnesses, and testimony that described the defendant's demeanor and actions as flat and stoic on the night his adopted son died.

Ernest Franklin II, 36, of Guilford, was indicted on second-degree murder, third-degree arson, and tampering with physical evidence. Franklin is currently on trial.

According to Chenango County District Attorney Michael Ferrarese, at around midnight on March 1, 2017, in their residence on 457 State Route 8 in the Town of Guilford, Ernest Franklin and his wife Heather Franklin worked together to kill their disabled son Jeffrey Franklin and burn the evidence.

“Jeffery’s last breaths on this earth prove that this was not an accident,” said Ferrarese. “The defendant killed his adopted son, and set the fire in his home to destroy the evidence.”

He said not once did Franklin actively seek out emergency responders, or ask them to save his son. The DA also noted Franklin did not get dirt, soot, or ashes on his clothes, saying the defendant did not try to save his son from the burning trailer.

According to Defense Attorney Veronica Gorman, the day of the fire was one of the worst days of the Franklins' lives, it was the day they lost their son and their home.

“If J.R.’s (Jeffrey’s) limitations became too much for the Franklins, they could have placed him in a foster home, but they didn’t do that because they loved him, and they knew what they were getting into,” said Gorman. “The district attorney says the Franklins watched a movie, and then immediately set up a plan and put it into motion.”

She said there’s no way that’s what happened on the night of the fire, Franklin went to let his dogs out, an open wood-stove accidentally started the fire while he was away, and that resulted in the death of his son. She added that by the end of the trial, the prosecution will have failed to meet its burden of proof, and the jury will find her client not guilty.

Ferrarese discussed evidence he plans to submit throughout the trial including testimony from the defendant’s sister on how the Franklin family treated their adopted son, testimony from three expert witnesses, a medical examiner who will say Jeffrey died before the fire, a toxicologist who will confirm the findings of the medical examiner, and a fire investigator who will discuss the cause and origin of the fire.

He said testimony will prove the victim died before the fire, and the that fire was intentionally caused by the Franklins to cover it up. He said Ernest Franklin gave three different versions of events to investigators, and that his wife illegally drove around for several hours while the house burned down.

Ferrarese said, "Between 11:18 p.m. and 2:18 a.m., Heather Franklin is not at the scene."

The DA said the couple set-up the circumstances for the fire and then intentionally left the home as it caught fire and burned.

He said as planned by the Franklins, Heather Franklin was driving around to various locations, including Walmart in Norwich twice and a Price Chopper parking lot in Sidney to buy pregnancy medication she already had in her home and easter candy. He added that while she was driving around, her husband said he was out with their dogs.

Body camera footage and witness testimony

According to his testimony, at approximately 1:26 a.m. on March 1, 2017, Chenango County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Dustin Smietana was only about a mile-and-a-half away from the Franklin residence at 457 State Route 8 in the Town of Guilford when a 911 call came in stating the trailer was burning down.

Smietana said he and a fellow officer drove to the scene and parked with their emergency lights on near the edge of the road, and then the two ran up a steep and muddy hill to the trailer to see if anyone was in danger.

He said as he neared the top, he saw a silhouette of a person moving in a nearby tree-line, and he called out to it.

"I yelled to the person, is anyone in there," said Smietana. "The person responded, my son."

He said he didn't see the person, who he later identified as Franklin, doing anything besides walking around the side of the trailer.

The prosecution then played Smietana's body camera footage for the jury.

In the video Smietana attempts to go towards the burning side of the trailer, but says he has to find another way in because of the heat. He then walks around to the other side of the home, and asks Franklin where his son is located in the building.

"Where the fire is," said Franklin on the footage, but then he points to a window with a hole in it where there are no flames.

Smietana said at that point he realized they wouldn't be able to get into the trailer without firefighter equipment, and as firefighters appeared on the scene they moved with Franklin to another area to get basic information from him.

"I'm not a firefighter, I didn't have protective clothing on and I couldn't get any closer," he said. "When the fire department arrived on the scene, we stayed back a little bit so we didn't get in their way."

Smietana said as they getting his information, Franklin laughed at the other officer as he asked about a good phone number to reach him. The body camera footage confirmed there was laughter, but Gorman pointed out that its difficult to tell if it was the officer laughing, Franklin laughing, or both of them laughing at the same time.

According to Ferrarese, law enforcement may have been able to get into the building upon arrival if Franklin had pointed out where his son's body was located, and Franklin showed a complete lack of emotion or expression towards the loss of his adopted son.

On cross examination Gorman asked Smietana if he heard Franklin say, "I can't get to him, (expletive) sucks," to a nearby firefighter, and they played back the footage confirming that he had said that.

She also asked him if in his years of service he had ever seen a person go into shock and respond to a situation like Franklin did on the night of the fire, and he responded that he hadn't.

"I've never seen someone respond to an emergency situation with a family death like Mr. Franklin did," said Smietana. "...I've had people in the past try to fight to get past emergency personnel to get to their loved ones."

He and two other witnesses, Franklin's neighbors, described Franklin's demeanor as quiet, flat, or stoic. His neighbors added that Franklin was always a quiet and more reserved person. The neighbors said they heard Jeffrey was having issues with urinating throughout the trailer, and one of them said the Franklins had an alarm installed on Jeffrey's door incase he got up in the middle of the night to make a mess.

Read more about the trial in Friday's edition of The Evening Sun.