Update: Frank Gable’s Conviction Vacated

Three years ago the Murder in Oregon podcast posed the question ‘Who Killed Micheal Francke?’ and on September 29th, 2022 a court answered: NOT the man who was convicted of his murder and spent nearly 30 years in prison. Reactions from journalist Phil Stanford and Michael Francke's brothers.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Three years ago, the Murder in Oregon podcast posed the
question who killed Michael Frankie, and on September a court
answered not the man who was convicted of his murder
and spent nearly thirty years in prison. Here's journalist Phil Stanford.
It's a great day. It's a great day for Frank.
It's a great victory. But if there were any justice

(00:25):
in the world, this would have happened long ago, and
in fact, he never would have been convicted. Anyone who
looked at the evidence at the time could see there
was no case against Frank Gable. I'm Lauren Bright Pacheco
and this is an update to Murder and Oregon. Frank

(00:58):
Gable was convicted of killing the director of the Oregon
Department of Corrections in that is always maintained as in
a sense. For more than three decades, Michael Frankie's brothers
Pat and Kevin, along with Bill Stanford, have bought for
Gable's release. Now, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has
affirmed a lower court's decision to vacate Frank Gable's murder conviction.

(01:21):
Here's Michael Frankie's older brother Pat. I'm excited and happy
for Frank Gable and his wife, Randy and his family.
This is a big load off everybody's mind. It's been
hanging and it's long overdue. Listeners of the podcast are

(01:42):
familiar with the multiple glaring issues surrounding the state's case
against Frank Gabele, many of which were successfully argued by
Gable's formidable public defender, Nell Brown. The state's case rested
exclusively on witness testimony, as no physical evidence linky Gable
to the murder was ever found. Here's an excerpt from

(02:04):
the Circuit Court judge's opinion. Quote. Since trial, nearly all
of the witnesses who directly implicated Gable have recanted. Many
explain they intended to frame Gable after hearing he was
a police informant. They attribute their false testimony to significant
investigative misconduct, which the state remarkably does not dispute. Unquote,

(02:29):
here's Kevin Frankie's reaction. But yeah, we had it, had
it nailed from the get go, and there was never
ever a doubt my mind that Frank Gable was innocent.
They were calling me and saying that now the worm
has turned Gable, who has been out of custody pending appeal,
is now a freeman and will remain so unless the

(02:52):
State of Oregon appeals the decision to the Supreme Court.
Here's Phil Stamford. They've taken thirty years of this guy's life.
He's on through all these appeals. And as great as
this news is, we still have to worry right now
about the Attorney General in Oregon who filed this appeal
of the Judge of Costa's decision a couple of years ago.

(03:14):
Free and Frank whether she will appeal it again and
prolong this injustice. Kevin Frankie has long questioned Oregon Attorney
General Ellen Rosenblum's motivation. She's spending millions of dollars of
Oregon's money that they don't have to spend on this.
He's innocent. Why are they doing it? And as it's

(03:38):
blatantly obvious to me that she doesn't want to open
up the case, she doesn't want a new investigation, she
doesn't want uncorrupted eyes. Look at that. For now, Frank
Gable remains a freeman, but the question remains who killed
Michael Frankie. The