Joseph Paul Franklin

Joseph Paul Franklin
MODOC mugshot
Born
James Clayton Vaughn Jr.

(1950-04-13)April 13, 1950
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
DiedNovember 20, 2013(2013-11-20) (aged 63)
Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, Missouri, U.S.
Criminal statusExecuted by lethal injection
MotiveDesire to incite a race war
ConvictionMultiple murder convictions across different jurisdictions
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment x4 (March 23, 1981 & September 1986)
Death (February 27, 1997)
Details
Victims8 convicted
22 total suspected
6+ wounded[1]
Span of crimes
August 7, 1977  –  August 20, 1980
CountryUnited States
StatesMissouri, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Utah
Date apprehended
October 28, 1980

Joseph Paul Franklin (born James Clayton Vaughn Jr.; April 13, 1950 – November 20, 2013) was an American serial killer, white supremacist, and alleged bank robber who murdered sixteen people between 1978 and 1980.

In his youth, Franklin became attached to white supremacism, which he later claimed was due to suffering child abuse. He joined the National Socialist White People's Party and the Ku Klux Klan, and became acquainted with famous white supremacist David Duke.

Franklin either admitted to, or was convicted of, shooting 22 people across ten states, which he drifted between while likely supporting himself with money from bank robberies. He also firebombed a synagogue in Tennessee, which did not cause any injuries. Franklin's victims were generally black men, their white girlfriends, and Jews. In 1978, he shot a white man, Larry Flynt, permanently paralyzing his lower body; Flynt was the head of pornographic magazine Hustler, which angered Franklin by having recently depicted interracial sex. In 1980, Franklin shot black civil rights activist Vernon Jordan, who also survived.

Franklin was arrested in October 1980. He was convicted of several murders, receiving seven life sentences and one death sentence. He admitted to many other murders while in prison, but was not convicted for all of them. In 1997, Franklin admitted to two murders that a man named Jacob Beard had been imprisoned for since 1993; Beard was released in 1999. Franklin was on death row in Missouri for 15 years over the 1977 murder of Gerald Gordon. In November 2013, Franklin renounced his former racism. He was executed by lethal injection later that month.

Early life

Joseph Paul Franklin was born as James Clayton Vaughn Jr. in Mobile, Alabama, on April 13, 1950, the elder son of James Clayton Vaughn Sr. and Helen Rau Vaughn. Franklin had two sisters and a brother.[2] His father was a World War II veteran and butcher who left the family when Franklin was 8 years old. Helen had Vaughn Sr. jailed twice for public drunkenness.[3] Franklin later stated that as a child, he was rarely given enough to eat, suffered severe physical abuse,[4] and that his mother "didn't care about [him and his siblings]". He claimed that these factors stunted his emotional development, and that he had "always been [at] least ten years or more behind other people in their maturity."[5] His sister Carolyn recalled, "Whenever [Vaughn Sr.] came to visit, he'd beat us". A family friend said Helen was a "a real strict, perfectionist lady", whose children said she had beaten them.[3]

As early as high school, Franklin developed an interest in evangelical Christianity, then in Nazism. He later held memberships in white supremacist groups: the National Socialist White People's Party (NSWPP) and the Ku Klux Klan. He eventually changed his name to "Joseph Paul Franklin", in honor of two white men: Benjamin Franklin and Nazi Party official Paul Joseph Goebbels.[6] Franklin was inspired to start a race war after reading Adolf Hitler's autobiography, Mein Kampf. Franklin later recalled: "I've never felt that way about any other book that I read [...] it was something weird about that book."[7] In the early 1970s, he took a road trip to an NSWPP conference in Virginia with white supremacists David Duke and Don Black.[8]

Crimes

For much of his life, Franklin was a vagrant, roaming the East Coast seeking chances to "cleanse the world" of people he considered inferior, especially black and Jewish people.[4] His primary source of financial support was likely bank robberies. Franklin supplemented his income from criminal acts with paid blood bank donations, which eventually led to his capture by the FBI.[9]

1977

On July 29, 1977, Franklin firebombed Beth Shalom Synagogue in Chattanooga, Tennessee, destroying it. No one was injured, as some of the worshippers left early that evening.[10][11]

On August 7, he shot and killed an interracial couple, Alphorance Manning and Toni Schwenn, both aged 23, at the parking lot of East Towne Mall in Madison, Wisconsin. He was later convicted of both murders and was sentenced to life in prison.[12]

On October 8, in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, Franklin hid in the bushes near Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel synagogue and fired on a group attending services.[4] He killed Gerald Gordon (age 42),[4] and wounded Steven Goldman and William Ash.[13]

1978

Larry Flynt, after he was shot by Franklin in Lawrenceville, Georgia
Franklin shot from 113 Perry Street, at the door behind the central pillar

On March 6, 1978, Franklin used a Ruger Model 44 semi-automatic rifle to shoot Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and his lawyer Gene Reeves in Lawrenceville, Georgia.[4][14] Franklin said this was in retaliation for Hustler publishing a picture of interracial sex.[4] Flynt's spinal cord was damaged, causing his lower body to be permanently paralyzed. Neither Franklin nor anyone else was ever charged for the shooting.[15]

On July 29, Franklin hid near a Pizza Hut in Chattanooga, and fatally shot William Tatum (20), a black man, with a 12-gauge shotgun. He also shot Tatum's white girlfriend, Nancy Hilton, and she survived. Franklin later confessed and pleaded guilty. He was given a life sentence, as well as a sentence for an unrelated armed robbery in 1977.[4]

1979

On July 12, 1979, Harold McIver (29), a black man and a manager of a Taco Bell location, was fatally shot through a window from 150 yards (140 m) away in Doraville, Georgia. Franklin confessed to the crime, but was not tried or sentenced for it. He said that he murdered McIver for being in close contact to a white women.[4]

On August 18, Raymond Taylor, a black man in Falls Church, Virginia was fatally shot through the window of a Burger King he managed there. Franklin later confessed to killing him.[16][17]

On October 21, Franklin killed Jesse Taylor (42), a black man, and his white girlfriend, Marion Bresette (31), in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.[16]

Vernon Jordan

1980

On May 29, 1980, Franklin shot civil rights activist and Urban League president Vernon Jordan after seeing him with a white woman in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Jordan was seriously wounded, but ultimately survived. Franklin initially denied any part in the shooting, and was acquitted of it, but later confessed to it.[4][a]

On June 8, Franklin killed cousins Darrell Lane (14) and Dante Brown (13) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Waiting on an overpass to shoot a racially mixed couple, he shot the boys instead, a crime to which he later confessed. He was convicted in 1998 and received two life sentences for these murders.[19][20]

On June 15, Franklin shot and killed Arthur Smothers (22), a black man, and Kathleen Mikula (16), a white woman, with a high-powered rifle as they walked across the Washington Street Bridge in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Franklin had taken a concealed position on a wooded hillside overlooking downtown Johnstown, and waited for potential targets to enter his line of sight. He was never arrested for these murders, but confessed to them in jail.[21]

On June 25, Franklin used a .44 Ruger pistol to kill two white women and hitchhikers, Nancy Santomero (19) and Victoria Durian (26), in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. He confessed to the crime in 1997 to an Ohio assistant prosecutor investigating another case. Franklin said he picked up the women and decided to kill them after one said she had a black boyfriend. A Florida man named Jacob Beard had been convicted and imprisoned in 1993 for the murders; he was freed in 1999, and a new trial was ordered based on Franklin's confession.[19] On May 31, 2000, a jury found Beard not guilty, and he later filed a lawsuit, wanting compensation for wrongful conviction, which led to a $2 million settlement.[22]

On August 20, Franklin killed two black men, Theodore Fields (20) and David Martin III (18) near Liberty Park located in Salt Lake City, Utah.[4] He was tried on federal civil rights charges as well as state first-degree murder charges.[23] He was convicted of both murders and was sentenced to life in prison.[24]

Apprehension, conviction, and imprisonment

Following the two murders in Utah, Franklin returned to the Midwest. Traveling through Kentucky, he was detained and questioned regarding a firearm that was in his car. Franklin fled from the interrogators. Authorities then recovered sufficient evidence from his vehicle to potentially link him to the sniper killings.[9] His conspicuous racist tattoos, coupled with his habit of visiting blood banks, led investigators to issue a nationwide alert to blood banks. In October 1980, the tattoos drew the attention of a Florida blood bank worker, who contacted the FBI. Franklin was arrested in Lakeland, Florida, on October 28.[9]

Franklin faced legal action across the U.S. for the next two decades, eventually being convicted of multiple murders, attacks, and other crimes at both the state and federal levels. He was sentenced to life in prison and received the death penalty in Missouri for murdering Gerald Gordon.[25]

Franklin tried unsuccessfully to escape during the judgment phase of his 1997 Missouri trial on charges of murdering Gordon but was ultimately convicted. Psychiatrist Dorothy Otnow Lewis, who had interviewed him at length, testified for the defense that she believed that Franklin was a paranoid schizophrenic and unfit to stand trial, noting Franklin's delusional thinking and a childhood history of severe abuse.[4]

Potosi Correctional Center

Franklin was held on death row at the Potosi Correctional Center near Mineral Point, Missouri.[26] In August 2013, the Missouri Supreme Court announced that Franklin would be executed on November 20.[27] Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said in a statement that by setting execution dates, the state high court "has taken an important step to see that justice is finally done for the victims and their families."[28] In October, Larry Flynt called for clemency for Franklin, asserting "that a government that forbids killing among its citizens should not be in the business of killing people itself."[29]

Execution

Franklin's execution was affected by the European Union export ban when the German drug manufacturer Fresenius Kabi was obliged to refuse having their drugs used for lethal injections.[30] In response, Missouri announced that it would use for Franklin's execution a new method of lethal injection, which used a single drug provided by an unnamed compounding pharmacy.[31]

In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper published on November 17, 2013, Franklin said he had renounced his racist views. He said his motivation had been "illogical" and was partly a consequence of an abusive upbringing. He said he had interacted with black people in prison, adding: "I saw they were people just like us."[7][32]

On November 19, a U.S. District Judge in Jefferson City, Missouri, Nanette Laughrey, granted a stay of execution over concerns raised about the new method of execution.[33] A second stay was granted that evening by a U.S. District Judge in St. Louis, Carol E. Jackson, based on Franklin's claim that he was too mentally incompetent to be executed. An appeals court quickly overturned both stays,[34] and the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently rejected his final appeals.[35][36]

Franklin was executed at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri, on November 20. The execution began at 6:07 a.m. CST and he was pronounced dead at 6:17.[34] His execution was the first lethal injection in Missouri to use pentobarbital alone instead of the conventional use of three drugs.[35] 5 grams (0.18 oz) of pentobarbital was administered.[37] He did not make any final written statement and did not speak a word in the death chamber. Three witnesses said Franklin did not seem to show pain; after the injection, he had blinked a few times, breathed and swallowed hard, then stopped moving.[38]

Media depictions

William Luther Pierce, founder of the white supremacist group National Alliance, dedicated his 1989 novel Hunter to Franklin.[39] It revolves around a serial killer who murders interracial couples.[40] He once said that Franklin "saw his duty as a white man and did what a responsible son of his race must do."[41][42]

In the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt, Franklin was portrayed by actor Jan Tříska.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Then-U.S. president Jimmy Carter's visit to Jordan in the hospital was the first story ever covered by CNN.[18]

References

  1. ^ Perry, Kimball (November 30, 2018). "Mo. executes white supremacist serial killer Franklin". USA Today. The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  2. ^ "Life of hate and killing began in '50". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret News Publishing Company. June 19, 1995. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Gaines, James R. (November 24, 1980). "On the trail of a murderous sniper suspect: The tangled life of Joseph Paul Franklin". People. New York, NY: Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gladwell, Malcolm (February 24, 1997). "Damaged". The New Yorker. New York, NY: Condé Nast. pp. 132–47. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  5. ^ "Serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin prepares to die". CNN. November 18, 2013. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  6. ^ "Racist rifleman". Time. New York, NY: Meredith Corporation. November 10, 1980. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Joseph Franklin, white supremacist serial killer, executed". British Broadcasting Corporation. November 20, 2013. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  8. ^ Josh Levin (June 10, 2020). "Robe and ritual". Slow Burn (Podcast). Season 4 Episode 2. Slate. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020. As a student at LSU, [David] Duke wrote letters to the National Socialist White People's Party, the group formerly known as the American Nazi Party. These Nazis invited Duke to their annual conference in Virginia and suggested that he carpool with two other white supremacists. Here's the author, Eli Saslow. One of them was about his age. A guy named Joseph Paul Franklin. The other was about two or three years younger. A guy named Don Black. And they piled into this car and started driving, you know, at 800 miles up the highway. And over the course of those hours, these three kids became really close.{{cite podcast}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ a b c "FBI - Serial Killers, Part 4: Joseph Paul Franklin". Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 7, 2017. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  10. ^ "Explosion Demolishes Synagogue in Tennessee; Wires Found Leading from Synagogue to Motel 100 Yards a". August 2, 1977. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  11. ^ Severo, Richard (March 8, 1984). "Former Klansman Indicted in Bombing of a Synagogue". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  12. ^ "Man Is Convicted of Killing Interracial Couple in Wisconsin in 1977". The New York Times. New York City. The Associated Press. February 14, 1986. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  13. ^ Hollington, Kris (2008). Wolves, Jackals, and Foxes: The Assassins Who Changed History. London, England: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4299-8680-9.
  14. ^ Ayton, Mel (2011). Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin. Lincoln, Nebraska: Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 1745–. ISBN 978-1-59797-574-2.
  15. ^ "Larry Flynt: Don't execute man who shot me". BBC News. October 18, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2026.
  16. ^ a b Brooke Adams (November 20, 2013). "Joseph Paul Franklin Timeline". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  17. ^ Benton, Nicolas (March 6, 1997). "City Police Plan Interview With Man Confessing Murder in '79". Falls Church News-Press. p. 1.
  18. ^ "CNN First Hour: June 1, 1980". June 11, 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ a b Dan Horn, "Franklin's confession frees man: Judge grants new trial in W.Va. slayings[dead link], Cincinnati Enquirer, January 30, 1999. Retrieved May 7, 2012
  20. ^ "Ohio v. Joseph Paul Franklin Updates". Court TV Online. Archived from the original on October 23, 2003. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  21. ^ Sutor, Dave (November 18, 2013). "Death nears for couple's killer". The Tribune-Democrat. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  22. ^ Ponti, Crystal (February 28, 2020). "The Unsolved Rainbow Murders: What Happened to Vicki Durian and Nancy Santomero?". A&E. Archived from the original on June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  23. ^ "AROUND THE NATION; Judge Denies Trial Request For Suspect in Iowa Deaths". The New York Times. New York City. January 6, 1981. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  24. ^ "State v. Franklin". Justia. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  25. ^ "Serial Killers, Part 4: White Supremacist Joseph Franklin".
  26. ^ "White supremacist who says he shot Larry Flynt executed today". The Denver Post. November 20, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  27. ^ "Execution Date Set for Infamous Racist Serial Killer". Splcenter.org. August 15, 2013. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  28. ^ Salter, Jim (August 16, 2013). "Concern over pending Mo. executions". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  29. ^ "Larry Flynt: Don't execute man who shot me". BBC News. October 18, 2013. Archived from the original on September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  30. ^ "Cruel and unusable". The Economist. November 1, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  31. ^ "Missouri executes prisoner using single drug from secret pharmacy". The Guardian. November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
  32. ^ Kohler, Jeremy (November 19, 2013). "Condemned serial killer on Missouri death row says he has remorse, is no longer a racist". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  33. ^ "US serial killer Joseph Franklin granted stay of execution". BBC News. November 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  34. ^ a b Kohler, Joseph (November 20, 2013). "Missouri executes white supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  35. ^ a b "Missouri executes serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin". Los Angeles Times. November 20, 2013. Archived from the original on November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  36. ^ Mungin, Lateef (November 20, 2013). "Serial killer Joseph Franklin executed after hours of delay". CNN. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  37. ^ "Joseph Franklin, white supremacist serial killer, executed". BBC News. November 20, 2013. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  38. ^ Kohler, Jeremy (November 20, 2013). "Missouri executes white supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  39. ^ "William Pierce, 69, Neo-Nazi Leader, Dies". The New York Times. July 24, 2002.
  40. ^ Mills, David (May 16, 1993). "Don't Think Twice, It's All White". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  41. ^ Perry, Don (February 25, 2014). "MURDER'S PRICE". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on August 22, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  42. ^ Jenkins, Philip (2003). Images of Terror: What We Can and Can't Know About Terrorism. Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. p. 76. ISBN 0-202-30679-8.

Further reading

  • Mel Ayton, Dark Soul of the South: The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin, Potomac Press, Inc., 2011
  • Ralph Kennedy Echols, Life Without Mercy: Jake Beard, Joseph Paul Franklin and the Rainbow Murders, Kennedy Books, Scottsdale, AZ, 2014
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Paul_Franklin