Prosecution rests its case in Franklin murder trial
NORWICH – The prosecution put its final witness on the stand, displayed a portion of the movie "Manchester by the Sea," and showed a two-hour long interrogation video to the jury in the Franklin murder trial Wednesday.
Ernest Franklin II, 36, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree arson, and tampering with physical evidence.
Prosecutors say at around midnight on March 1, 2017 Ernest Franklin and Heather Franklin worked together to kill their 16-year-old disabled son, Jeffrey Franklin, and burned the evidence at their home at 457 State Route 8 in the Town of Guilford.
Chenango County Sheriff's Office Detective Sergeant Gary A. Miller testified Wednesday and told jurors about his two-hour long interrogation of Franklin.
"After I was made aware of the results from Jeffrey's autopsy, the investigation turned from a tragic death investigation to a murder investigation," said Miller. "At that time we did another interview with the defendant."
He said during that interview Franklin gave a timeline that was at least an hour off, and he couldn't explain why his wife was out shopping for three hours and returned home around 2 a.m. He added that Franklin showed very little emotion or compassion towards the death of his adopted son.
"He was very cold and unsympathetic," said Miller. "Whenever a person loses a 16-year-old child I'd expect that they'd be at least somewhat emotional."
According to Defense Attorney Veronica Gorman, Franklin did show signs of remorse for not saving his adopted son from the fire, and the interrogation of Franklin yielded nothing because he's an innocent man.
"In that interview you can hear Ernest say, 'He should be here,' right?" asked Gorman. "You also hear him say, '(Expletive) sucks,' when he tells fire fighters that J.R is in the fire, correct?"
She said that multiple times law enforcement asked if Franklin started the fire to cover up for Heather Franklin committing the murder, or if they did it together, and he has consistently maintained their innocence.
She added while Franklin's emotional state may not have met the standards of what Miller thought they should be, Franklin wished he could have saved Jeffrey or brought him back, and was an advocate for adopting him since the beginning.
Miller said in the interrogation footage Franklin can be heard describing how he tried to save Jeffrey from the building by trying to enter the home through a master bedroom window, before getting pulled away by law enforcement.
He added that the body camera footage that was viewed by the jury earlier in the trial shows that there wasn't any attempt to enter the building by Franklin. He said Franklin didn't have any injuries when they held the interview, and body camera footage also shows that Franklin wasn't pulled back by law enforcement.
"The footage shows Franklin standing by himself in a tree-line near the house," said Miller. "While a window to Jeffrey's room had a hole in it, there didn't appear to be any glass cleaned off from the area indicating that someone had tried to climb through."
The interrogation footage showed a conversation between Miller and Franklin, where Miller asks if there were any reasons why Jeffrey didn't make it out of the fire, and Franklin responds that he doesn't know but that Jeffrey probably slept through it.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it," said Franklin. "When he sleeps, he gets into a dead sleep."
Franklin said Jeffrey wasn't the kind of kid to get up when you want him to, and when asked if he killed Jeffrey before the fire, Franklin responded, "Why would I kill him? Why would I snap?"
Miller said it was probably frustrating having someone pee throughout the house, and Franklin later implied law enforcement may have killed his son.
"Maybe it was you who snuck up there," said Franklin. "We were both gone, I don't know why the fire started."
Franklin said his wife was out shopping for pregnancy medication, and he was out getting his dogs when everything happened, so he didn't know how Jeffrey died.
The prosecution then played a segment of, "Manchester by the Sea," a movie the Franklin's allegedly watched before the fire and death of Jeffrey.
Miller said the movie depicts a father who leaves his fireplace open, goes out to the store, and comes back to his family having died in an accidental fire. He added that Franklin's situation appeared to be similar, and when asked about the movie in the interview, Franklin couldn't remember anything besides that it was a drama.
The prosecution then rested its case. The defense is expected to call its first witness Thursday morning.
Ernest Franklin II, 36, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree arson, and tampering with physical evidence.
Prosecutors say at around midnight on March 1, 2017 Ernest Franklin and Heather Franklin worked together to kill their 16-year-old disabled son, Jeffrey Franklin, and burned the evidence at their home at 457 State Route 8 in the Town of Guilford.
Chenango County Sheriff's Office Detective Sergeant Gary A. Miller testified Wednesday and told jurors about his two-hour long interrogation of Franklin.
"After I was made aware of the results from Jeffrey's autopsy, the investigation turned from a tragic death investigation to a murder investigation," said Miller. "At that time we did another interview with the defendant."
He said during that interview Franklin gave a timeline that was at least an hour off, and he couldn't explain why his wife was out shopping for three hours and returned home around 2 a.m. He added that Franklin showed very little emotion or compassion towards the death of his adopted son.
"He was very cold and unsympathetic," said Miller. "Whenever a person loses a 16-year-old child I'd expect that they'd be at least somewhat emotional."
According to Defense Attorney Veronica Gorman, Franklin did show signs of remorse for not saving his adopted son from the fire, and the interrogation of Franklin yielded nothing because he's an innocent man.
"In that interview you can hear Ernest say, 'He should be here,' right?" asked Gorman. "You also hear him say, '(Expletive) sucks,' when he tells fire fighters that J.R is in the fire, correct?"
She said that multiple times law enforcement asked if Franklin started the fire to cover up for Heather Franklin committing the murder, or if they did it together, and he has consistently maintained their innocence.
She added while Franklin's emotional state may not have met the standards of what Miller thought they should be, Franklin wished he could have saved Jeffrey or brought him back, and was an advocate for adopting him since the beginning.
Miller said in the interrogation footage Franklin can be heard describing how he tried to save Jeffrey from the building by trying to enter the home through a master bedroom window, before getting pulled away by law enforcement.
He added that the body camera footage that was viewed by the jury earlier in the trial shows that there wasn't any attempt to enter the building by Franklin. He said Franklin didn't have any injuries when they held the interview, and body camera footage also shows that Franklin wasn't pulled back by law enforcement.
"The footage shows Franklin standing by himself in a tree-line near the house," said Miller. "While a window to Jeffrey's room had a hole in it, there didn't appear to be any glass cleaned off from the area indicating that someone had tried to climb through."
The interrogation footage showed a conversation between Miller and Franklin, where Miller asks if there were any reasons why Jeffrey didn't make it out of the fire, and Franklin responds that he doesn't know but that Jeffrey probably slept through it.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it," said Franklin. "When he sleeps, he gets into a dead sleep."
Franklin said Jeffrey wasn't the kind of kid to get up when you want him to, and when asked if he killed Jeffrey before the fire, Franklin responded, "Why would I kill him? Why would I snap?"
Miller said it was probably frustrating having someone pee throughout the house, and Franklin later implied law enforcement may have killed his son.
"Maybe it was you who snuck up there," said Franklin. "We were both gone, I don't know why the fire started."
Franklin said his wife was out shopping for pregnancy medication, and he was out getting his dogs when everything happened, so he didn't know how Jeffrey died.
The prosecution then played a segment of, "Manchester by the Sea," a movie the Franklin's allegedly watched before the fire and death of Jeffrey.
Miller said the movie depicts a father who leaves his fireplace open, goes out to the store, and comes back to his family having died in an accidental fire. He added that Franklin's situation appeared to be similar, and when asked about the movie in the interview, Franklin couldn't remember anything besides that it was a drama.
The prosecution then rested its case. The defense is expected to call its first witness Thursday morning.
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