‘Murder in Oregon’ and the ripple effect
(Contains spoilers)
Last week I listened to the 'Murder in Oregon' podcast, a meticulously documented record by journalist Phil Stanford and producer Lauren Bright Pacheco of the senseless murder of Oregon’s head of Corrections, Michael Francke, in 1989.
Michael’s colleagues either loved or hated him for his fearless pursuit of the rampant corruption in the Oregon corrections system.
Ultimately, it was a cause for which he would sacrifice his life.
His brutal murder as he went from his office to his car on the evening of 17 January — the night before he was to blow the whistle about everything he knew — was treated as a 'robbery gone wrong' by those who know more about his death than they are willing to admit.
What struck me about these events is the many people whose lives were affected, and still are...
...The Francke family — Michael’s brothers Pat and Kevin, and their parents — left heartbroken and searching for justice.
...The multiple witnesses coerced into giving false evidence by the investigators covering up a crime, diverting attention from the real killer.
...Phil Stanford, the journalist who wrote dozens of columns about the case so it wouldn’t be forgotten, and was censured by his own newspaper in the process.
Most poignant of all is the involvement of Frank Gable — a petty criminal wrongly convicted of, and imprisoned for, the murder. He served almost 30 years of his life for a crime he didn’t commit, and was finally released in 2019 to await a new trial after a judge ruled he’d been denied due process during his original trial, and that his innocence had been established by new evidence (including eight witnesses recanting their statements).
Rather than dropping their unjust and now baseless case, the state of Oregon continues to pursue this innocent man.
Finally, I was disturbed by the number of mentions of different people involved in this story who had experienced childhood trauma — I couldn’t help wondering whether they’d have been diverted from their involvement altogether had their little lives been different. I don’t view it as coincidence that Michael Francke believed in education for children and incarcerated people as a means of preventing — or a way out of — cycling in and out of imprisonment (recidivism).
I won't give too much else away, but I commend the makers of this podcast for fearlessly speaking truth to power when it would have been easy to say nothing and appease the powerful.
If after listening to the podcast you’d also like to support Frank Gable, you can do so via this page, set up by Kevin Francke, Michael’s brother. (Did I mention there were also little bits of light in this story? Well, there are).
‘Murder in Oregon’ isn’t easy listening — it’s not for the faint-hearted — yet at the same time, it’s essential.
