Not long after Michael Francke’s murder, Kevin Francke abandoned his failing marriage and business in Florida to move to Oregon to investigate his brother’s murder. Soon he was broke, nearly homeless, and living with Eric Mason, a well known local reporter. Mason soon kicked him out when he realized Kevin had no intentions of getting a job to support himself. Soon after that Kevin was shacking up with an older female ex-con by the name of Jeanne Schwartz who was teasing him with all sorts of tidbits of information pertaining to the case. Eventually Kevin’s brother Patrick had Schwartz tested on a polygraph and she failed the test. Had she been leading Kevin on wild goose chases or should we simply keep in mind the polygraph is unreliable? Why bother to have Schwartz tested at all then?
Kevin then moved on to a relationship with Liz Godlove who had shot and killed her boyfriend Tim Natividad a mere two weeks after Mike was murdered. Not surprisingly, this raised quite a few eyebrows. Nevertheless, they seemed happy together, and Liz became pregnant with Kevin’s child not long after Frank’s trial.
They were finally married in 1994. Considering the frequency of which Kevin was being harassed by the police for his involvement in the case, even at gunpoint sometimes, and considering his investigations were leading him to believe there was a widespread conspiracy responsible for his brother’s assassination involving corrupt officials within DOC and abroad, and possibly involving the mexican mafia, I’ve always found it strange that Kevin and Liz would start building a family smack in the middle of all that.
Kevin constantly carried a gun for protection. If he feared for his own life, why did his actions give the impression he felt it was safe to start building a family? Why would one in that position provide additional targets for those he feared himself?
Was he really fearful for his safety and that of the family he was quickly building?
His actions would seem to indicate he wasn’t. If I felt the need to pack a gun each day, I can assure you the last thing I would do is decide to have children at that time.
A year after Kevin and Liz were married they teamed with Phil Stanford who was also jobless to get Alan James to finance the movie, "Gathering Evidence." Later titled "Without Evidence."
Phil wrote the screenplay with Gil Dennis, and Kevin, Patrick, their family lawyer Steve Krasik, and even the actual court reporter from Frank’s trial had bit parts in the movie. It’s strange that they were able to get Alan James to finance their movie considering what Mike’s own sister, Ann Francke, wrote in a letter long ago…
… “Another confidential informant noted to the family another possible connection in Mike’s killing. Governor Goldschmidt was known by him to have received illegal campaign contributions en bloc and as an individual from one Alan James/Greenbrier Co.
Note that as a company and not a corporation, business records are sealed from public scrutiny. This wealthy Lake Oswego businessman was submitting a bid for the “privatization” of the Oregon prison system. Francke was killed the day before legislative appearances for funds to institute a massive state building program as Oregon’s prison’s are grossly overcrowded.
Oddly, this nemisis of Mike’s showed up at the Santa Fe funeral home where his body lay in order to pay his last respects–his chauffeur getting out of the stretch limo and signing the visitors book for James.”
The movie was completed and released with James backing a $1,000,000 reward for info leading to the arrest and conviction of those truly responsible for Mike’s murder. Also, in my opinion, a convenient way to hopefully manage and control the flow of information regarding the case.
By now it’s 1996, and Kevin is still unemployed and has been all along. How had the Francke’s been supporting themselves all this time? How were they able to afford the reputation they had earned themselves as drunks and partygoers? It’s in the police reports of Frank’s discovery.
Jumping ahead eight years to 2004 we have Phil Stanford who had returned to work in 2001 at the Portland Tribune after being gone for seven years, and who was also privy to the soon to be published expose on Neil Goldschmidt by the Willamette Week. After practically eight years with no apparent progress or mention of the Francke/Gable case other than the post-conviction in 2001, and the Evelyn Meeks interview by Eric Mason in 1999, Phil begins to start writing about the Francke case again.
As if on cue, Kevin and Phil begin to push a story about a document Kevin had surprisingly discovered within the numerous boxes of files he had on Frank’s case. A statement made by Linda Parker.
To be continued…
Free Frank Gable 