Statesman Journal from Salem, Oregon • Page 2

Statesman Journal, Salem, Tuesday, April 10, 1990 Page 2A as State holds 6 as material witnesses By Steven P. Jackson The Statesman Journal A total of 154 witnesses appeared before a Marion County grand jury that, off and on, spent the past eight months trying to determine who killed Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke. The witnesses included 16 state police officers and a couple of officers from the Salem and Keizer police departments, "Jr d0 Michael Francke think they're on the right track with Gable, but I'm concerned that they think the track begins and ends with him," Patrick Francke said. Kevin Francke said he thought that his brother's autopsy report indicated that more than one person was involved in the attack. The autopsy indicated that a stab wound to the heart, which killed Michael Francke, was delivered by a powerful roundhouse blow, Kevin Francke said.

Although Michael Francke also was stabbed in the bicep of his left arm, and the fingertips on his right hand were slashed, he should have been able to use his arms to protect himself from such a blow. "Unless someone else was holding his arms, or he was defending himself from another person who hit him with whatever struck him in the head," Kevin Francke said. Both brothers contended that new information linking former corrections officials to the scene of the killing should be investigated. State Sen. Jim Hill, a Salem Democrat who has been working for several months to get witnesses of any such links to come forward, Monday called for investigators to broaden the scope of their inquiry.

Penn said that although the grand jury was no longer meeting, the jurors could be called back if new evidence was found. However, he said that at this time, no evidence of officials' involvement has been found that's admissible in court. By Steven P. Jackson The Statesman Journal After 15 months of investigation of the killing of Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke, Frank E. Gable has been indicted.

But the case is far from finished. Not only might it be several months before Gable goes to trial, Francke's brothers and a state senator are among those who don't think that Gable even if if he's found guilty acted alone. Gable, 30, is scheduled to appear in court again next Monday before Circuit Judge C. Gregory West of Marion County, who will be handling the case. Then the case is likely to be continued for at least a month while the prosecution turns over its evidence to the defense lawyer for study, District Attorney Dale Penn said.

After that, Gable will appear again to enter a plea. If it's "not guilty," that will mean setting a trial date. Francke's brother Patrick, of Lenexa, said authorities told him Monday that it could be several months before the trial begins. However, it's not the scheduling of the trial that troubles brothers Patrick and Kevin Francke, who lives in Port Charlotte, Fla. For more than a year, the brothers have contended that Michael Francke's death is connected to an organized criminal element within the Oregon Corrections Department possibly linked to official statements to him that prosecutors thought were important.

Earl Francis Childers, who said that he saw Gable near the scene of the crime, and that Gable made statements to him. Randall James Studer, Gable's brother-in-law, who said Gable made statements important to the prosecution. Cappie Clifford "Shorty" Harden, who said he saw Gable near the scene. Daniel Patrick Walsh, who said Gable made statements to him. Two others were allowed to get lawyers before possibly being declared material witnesses later this week.

One was a 17-year-old female, whose name is not being used because she is a minor; the other was John Kevin Walker. Their roles as material witnesses were not spelled out in the affidavits. Material witnesses, besides being considered vital to a case, are people who the prosecution thinks might not appear for a trial. The several alternative motives for the killing stemmed from these witnesses' accounts. The possible motives listed were: The murder was related to Francke's employment as an official in the criminal justice system.

The murder stemmed from a thwarted attempt at armed robbery. The murder was an effort to conceal an armed robbery or the identity of the person committing the armed robbery. The murder was an effort to conceal an attempted theft or the identity of the person committing the attempted theft. Janet Davies contributed to this story. "It's a question of, 'Do they have all the I don't think they do." Patrick Francke About Indictment of Frank E.

Gable for the murder of Michael Francke at least 18 corrections employees, four members of the press, the slain man's two brothers and his widow. There were several state officials and some people from the periphery of what has been called the state's most extensive murder investigation. However, the largest group of witnesses came from Salem's criminal underground. The testimony of this last group formed the basis of the grand jury's indictment of former penitentiary inmate Frank E. Gable.

When Gable appeared in Marion County Circuit Court on Monday to hear the charges against him, six of the witnesses all with criminal histories were there with him. They were declared material witnesses so that the state could force them to testify at the trial. According to Marion County affidavits, the six were: Michael Keerins, who last October said that one-time cellmate Gable told him that he killed Francke after he was caught breaking into Francke's car. Mark McLain Gesner, who said Gable made corruption or drug trafficking by employees and inmates. They have refused to accept the theory of a bungled car burglary, although that was one of the primary motives discussed in Monday's indictment of Gable.

"It's a question of, 'Do they have all the I don't think they do," Patrick Francke said after being informed of the indictment early Monday by Penn. "I hope the district attorney has a strong case and good evidence. I IndictmentJury charges ex-inmate Gable with killing Francke Continued from Page 1A. him in the killing because he was an informant for the Keizer Police Department last summer. The grand jury's indictment was announced Monday after Gable, who had been imprisoned in the Coos County jail on an unrelated charge, appeared before Circuit Judge C.

Gregory West of Marion County. The indictment was issued late Friday, and Gable was moved to Marion County on Sunday. Gable was being held without bail in the Marion County jail pending a court appearance next Monday. Penn said Monday that it wasn't unusual for a grand jury to indict someone for murder while leaving the question of motive unanswered. Penn said the jurors thought that sufficient evidence was presented for each theory to justify individual counts.

Patrick Francke, of Lenexa, a sation, he reportedly told them that he was about to expose an organized criminal element within the state Corrections Department. Penn, however, said there was no admissible or corroborating evidence of any conspiracies involving corrections officials. Neither was there admissible or corroborating evidence that anyone else was involved at the murder scene, Penn said. Francke was killed outside the Corrections Department headquarters in the Dome Building on the state hospital grounds in Salem. Penn said investigators would continue to look into other leads, including inmate Jeanne Schwartz's information that two former corrections officials were at the scene at the time police think that Francke was killed.

Schwartz's information reportedly came from someone known to her as Pat, it. Another witness has told Hill that the former official seen with the club had been overheard making a death threat against Francke after an argument between the two when the official still worked for the department. According to Hill, the official was overheard to say, "Give me 10 minutes alone with that guy in a room, and they'll be sending him back to New Mexico in a box." Francke had been a prosecutor, judge and corrections official in New Mexico before coming to Oregon in May 1987. Other than to say that investigators would continue to follow leads, Penn discounted Schwartz's information as just another unconfirmed allegation. Schwartz, 70, has a long criminal history.

However, she also has been cited by federal and state law enforcement agencies for her help in solving crimes including murder. brother of the slain man, said Penn told family members Monday morning about the theory that Michael Francke was killed because of his official duties. "In that scenario, apparently Gable was after some information that Mike had in his briefcase or car, which Gable wanted to sell or trade to the 'big boys' for drugs andor money," Patrick Francke said. The "big boys" are major drug dealers. Apparently the information was on computer tape or files, Patrick Francke said.

Penn would not disclose whether he thought that one theory was more credible than another. The only thing the grand jury was convinced of, he said, was that Gable stabbed Francke, 42, on Jan. 17, 1989. But Patrick Francke and his brother Kevin of Port Charlotte, remain convinced that Michael Francke's death is connected to a telephone conversation shortly before the killing. In that conver who last week Schwartz identified as a corrections official from photographs and a tape recording.

A person who acknowledged being Pat called the Statesman Journal and refused to comment other than to say that any information would be passed through state Sen. Jim Hill, a Salem Democrat who has been working on the case with Schwartz. Pat reportedly told Schwartz that one of the former officials was seen carrying a club or large flashlight and walking down the stairs from the porch where Francke's body was found. The autopsy report, released Monday, indicated that Francke was struck above the left eye, causing a Va-inch depression in his skull. The second former official was standing by Francke's car, according to Pat.

The car door was later found open by other corrections employees, who closed WhaleCouple find whale FutureGoldschmidt: Things could get worse "Every employee in state government will get flex-time to be with children." Neil Goldschmidt About addressing needs of children Continued from Page 1A. replace the lost timber from national forests, Goldschmidt said. He also recommended that once a plan is determined on the spotted owl and old-growth logging, it should be put into law for a decade to avert legal challenges. "We need out of the courts; we need out of Congress," he said. Goldschmidt also called on his eventual successor to carry on his Children's Agenda, which includes early education and child abuse prevention.

Although Goldschmidt is not running for a second term, he said the budget he would deliver to his successor would include money for others. Another new project aimed at children and parents is Gold-schmidt's proposal to allow state employees to schedule work around their children's needs. "Every employee in state government will get flex-time to be with children," Goldschmidt said. Bentley Gilbert, a spokesman for the Oregon Public Employees Union, said he was excited about the governor's support for something the union has been working on for several years. "The agencies have been fighting it tooth and nail," he said.

"We're delighted the governor is coming on the scene." done quickly," he said. The job will require a backhoe and a bulldozer. He plans to bury the whale high on the beach at Fo-garty Creek State Park. Stephenson said, "I hope they don't try to blow it up like they did one in Florence about 20 years ago." Lorena Ray of Florence remembered what happened with a large sperm whale in 1970. The city tried to get rid of the whale by dynamiting it.

"It was a real mess," she said. "About 20 minutes after the explosion, a horrible smell drifted through town." Stephenson said pieces of whale fell on cars and broke windows and windshields. In June 1979, 41 sperm whales swam onto the shore near Florence and died. Those whales were buried in long trenches on the beach. Continued from Page 1A.

analyzed. Samples of baleen, which are flexible bony strips like a sieve in the whale's mouth, also will be taken. The minke whale is a subspecies of baleen whales. Unlike the gray whale, the minke has long grooves on its throat and chest. The grooves enable its mouth to open wide and gulp enormous quantities of food.

When the minke closes its mouth, its tongue forces water through the baleen. Food mostly small fish is trapped in the baleen and then swallowed. Minkes grow to 30 feet long. Their bodies are bluish gray on top and white underneath. Roger Holstien, an area manager for Oregon state parks, has the job of getting rid of the dead whale.

He said the whale could be buried as early as today. "If I can get the equipment and a crew together, we could get it a statewide program modeled on a private non-profit group in Eugene, the Lane County Relief Nursery. Relief Nursery, for parents and children, enrolls 88 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years, who have been or are likely to be abused. The children receive early education, and the parents get parental training in a program much like the national Head Start. The program is an alternative to foster care for as many as 80 percent of the children, Goldschmidt said.

For older youths, state officials are working on a tuition credit program for high school students to earn money for state colleges and universities by tutoring As Easter approaches, we are reminded of the legend of the flowering dogwood tree, fc and of the special llTTim sinnificancB it holds. i II' Mi I Thert Is a legend that, at the time of the Come Qtii ESeautiSul Mt. Bachelor i I 20 discount per 2 night stay at the Crucifixion, the dogwood had been the size of the oak and other forest trees. So firm and strong was the tree that It was chosen as the timber for the cross of the crucifixion. To be used for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the tree, and Jesus, nailed upon It, sensed this, and In His gentle pity for all sorrow and suffering said to It: "Because of your regret and pity for My suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a cross.

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