Luke Speranza
Joseph Paul Franklin
White supremacy is a form of vile racism where white people are perceived as superior to all other races in every physical, mental, social, economic, and political aspect. This repugnant mindset dates back in United States’ History to centuries ago, but unfortunately still exists in the minds of people today. White supremacy is clearly very wrong, however it is important to be aware that it can be very dangerous when it is implemented by the mentally ill. John Paul Franklin used white supremacy as a stimulus for unethical, malicious and remorseless actions that lead to the death of at least 15 people in 11 different states. (FBI, 2014) Franklin’s three-year killing rampage was motivated by his “pathological hatred of African Americans and Jews”. (Montaldo, n.d.) Joseph Paul Franklin was a perfect example of how abusive households can lead to serious psychological issues such as mental illness, which in turn can lead to extreme violence.
James Clayton Vaughan was his birth name. Born into a poor family in Alabama, Franklin was physically abused by both of his parents throughout his entire childhood. He once told investigators, “My momma didn’t care about us” and stated that he and his three siblings were not fed properly or “allowed to play with other children”. (Nye, 2013) While in high school in the 1960’s, Franklin became interested in southern white supremacist groups and went on to becoming an active member of The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), The American Nazi Party, The National States Rights Party, and The National Socialists White People’s Party. His interest in these groups started when his obsession with evangelical Christianity and Nazism took off in his early high school years. Franklin changed his name in 1976 when he wanted to join the Rhodesian Army but couldn’t due to his criminal record. Franklin proceeded to choose “Joseph Paul” in honor of Joseph Paul Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s minister of propaganda. He then chose “Franklin” in honor of the US founding father, Benjamin Franklin. He never ended up joining the army, and instead started a battle between him and every minority that he could get his hands on. (Montaldo, n.d.)
Franklin became more and more aggressive towards minorities as he got older, to the point where he “rejected the most radical hate groups because he didn’t think they took their hatred far enough”. (FBI, 2014) He felt that sitting around and complaining about the supposed “inferior” races wouldn’t do any good- he thought it was more effective to actually go out and kill them. He was constantly looking for opportunities to “cleanse the world” of races that he felt were inferior. Blacks and Jews were the primary races that Franklin went after, and he considered interracial couples to be even worse. (FBI, 2014)
Franklin was born on April 13, 1950. He was a high school dropout, and had a daughter after getting married in 1969 at the age of 19. (FamPeople, 2012) He became an abusive husband and got a divorce not long after. (FBI, 2014) The abuse he had towards his family is a direct result of the physical abuse he faced as a child. Child abuse has a direct relationship with mental health, and can be the cause of any kind of mental illness. (Szalavitz, 2012) Franklin’s actions were inexcusable but can definitely be linked to the abuse he endured as a child. Franklin was treated as inferior throughout his entire upbringing, and he transferred this energy from pain into hate. He used white supremacy as an outlet for his hatred. His obsession with hate allowed him to feel superior to other races, however this was probably the one thing that ever allowed Franklin to feel superior to other people.
Since Franklin was a high school dropout, he couldn’t carry a stable job. To keep himself afloat, Franklin robbed multiple banks up and down the East Coast. In between robberies, Franklin sold his blood and sold/traded guns. (FamPeople, 2012) He spent most of his time plotting to kill minorities as well as interracial couples. His killing rampage began in 1977 at the age of 27, and ended in 1980 when he was arrested at the age of 30. (FBI, 2014) He has been linked to or associated with many murders, some of which he was not arrested for or convicted of. He confessed to the murders of 20 people, some of which are believed to be untrue. (Montaldo, n.d.) This is one of the many reasons that defense lawyers claimed Franklin to be a “paranoid schizophrenic” that was not fit to stand on trial. (BBC News, 2013)
Franklin was officially convicted of nine murders, however was a suspect in another twelve. Eight of these convictions resulted in a life sentence. However, Franklin was sentenced to death by lethal injection by the state of Missouri for the murder of Gerald Gordon in 1997.
(Vitello, 2013) Gordon’s murder was just one of Franklin’s attacks on a synagogue. He chose Synagogues as his primary target for the single purpose of killing Jews. Gordon’s death occurred on October 8th, 1977 in Potosi, Missouri. Franklin took five shots at both Gerald Gordon as well as a man named William Ash while they were walking through the synagogue parking lot. He killed Gordon and injured Ash using a Remington 700 Hunting Rifle. He was then sentenced to death the following February. (Montaldo, n.d.) Franklin told investigators that he selected this synagogue at random. (Vitello, 2013) He also said that his primary goal in the event was to “find a Jew and kill him” (Nye, 2013) Franklin bombed another synagogue in July 1977 that was located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Unlike the Missouri attack, nobody was injured that day. (BBC News, 2013)
Franklin did not confess to Gordon’s murder until 17 years after the incident while in a prison cell talking to an investigator. (Vitello, 2013) This is just one of many instances where Franklin’s story has changed, and that is the primary reason why the court has been unable to convict him of some of the other crimes he has supposedly committed. Some of the 22 murders that he has confessed to haven’t even been brought to court because of lack of evidence. (Montaldo,1) Franklin has also robbed about 16 banks in order to “fund his activities” (BBC, 2013)
Franklin was a drifter and often “floated up and down the east coast” planning his next attack. He carried a sniper rifle and his main target was “MRC’s”, or mix-raced couples.
(FamPeople, 2012) His most well-known crime involving interracial couples was the attempted Murder of Larry Flynt, a publisher for the Hustler magazine. (Vitello, 2013) Franklin went after Flynt because of the cover of the December 1975 issue of Hustler showing an interracial couple having sex. Franklin stated to CNN, “I saw that interracial couple he had, photographed there, having sex”. He then proceeded to say, “It just made me sick. I think whites marry with whites, blacks with blacks, Indians with Indians. Orientals with Orientals. I threw the magazine down and thought, ‘I’m going to kill that guy’”. (Nye, 2013) This quote shows Franklin’s extreme, obsessive hate towards interracial couples and how it correlates with his mental instability. Anyone that feels the need to murder someone because of their skin color, or because of the skin color of their significant other, clearly isn’t mentally stable enough, or safe enough, to be roaming the world by his or herself. Franklin’s freedom was a threat to lives of every nonwhite person in the country.
Franklin’s psychiatrist, Dorothy Otnow Lewis, was one of a few people who testified that he was unfit to stand on trial. Lewis stated that he was a delusional thinker due to the abusive childhood that he endured. One example of this irrational thinking was when he claimed that God wanted him to “start a race war”. (FamPeople, 2012) However, the court still convicted him for his crimes and sentenced him to death. Franklin was held on death row in Missouri. Clearly Franklin was thinking straight enough to plan his attacks as well as his escapes ahead of time, and he was able to avoid law enforcement for years. Many of Frankin’s escape methods included dying his hair, changing clothes, and changing vehicles. He would plan his escape paths ahead of time and make sure that he left no evidence. (FamPeople, 2012) However, the FBI was becoming closer and closer to catching Franklin by 1980. In September of that year, a Kentucky police officer noticed a car in the back of Franklin’s car. An outstanding warrant appeared during a records check, and he was then brought in for questioning and detained. He was able to escape detainment but was recaptured again not long after. Franklin was finally caught for good in 1980 when a nurse, who was drawing his blood, recognized an eagle tattoo on his arm and called the Police. (FamPeople, 2012)
Another one of Franklin’s attacks on an interracial couple occurred in Madison, Wisconsin. Alphonse Manning and Toni Schwenn were pulling out of a parking lot of a shopping mall. Franklin crashed into their car from behind, got out, and shot both 23 year olds to death. (Montaldo, n.d.) Another instance occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 6th, 1980. Franklin was standing on an overpass waiting for an interracial couple to pass by. Franklin had planned this attack, so he knew that the couple should eventually be there. While he was waiting, Franklin became impatient and shot his cousins Darren Lane, age 14, and Dante Brown, age 13, while they were walking into a convenience store. Both children died and Franklin was charged with two life sentences. (Montaldo, n.d.) This instance shows Franklin’s short temper and yearning for violence. Franklin shot two innocent children of his own blood because he was getting impatient. That alone shows true mental illness, because anyone in their right mind wouldn’t be waiting on an overpass to commit those murders to begin with. His lack of patience and reliance on violence shows mental instability by itself, and his extreme racism and obsession with white supremacy infinitely multiplies the level of danger that he creates for those around him.
Larry Flynt was paralyzed from the hips down after Franklin attacked him. However, Flynt didn’t believe in the death penalty and actually fought against Franklin being put to death. Flynt stated, “The government has no business at all being in the business of killing people” he then told investigators that he believes, “It’s much more punishment to put somebody in prison for the rest of their lives than it is to snip their life out in a few seconds with a lethal injection”. (Nye, 2013) Oblivious to the fact that Flynt was not trying to help him, Franklin referred to Flynt as “old pal” in regards to his opposition to his death sentence. Franklin’s mental instability is evident in this instance; Franklin seems to have thought that Flynt’s opposition to the death sentence was not because of Flynt’s conservative political views, but because somehow, Flynt was now on his side.
On May 29th 1980, Franklin was charged with the attempted murder of African American civil rights leader, Vernon Jordan. (BBC News, 2013) He committed this crime after seeing Jordan, who was black, with a white woman in Fort Wayne, Indiana. (FamPeople, 2012) He previously had threatened to kill President Jimmy Carter for his pro-civil rights views, along with Jesse Jackson. He realized that the security that protected these two men was too tight, and so he went on to murder Vernon Jordan instead. (FamPeople, 2012) Franklin was clearly an impatient, impulsive character that acted strictly on random, unethical reasoning. Franklin’s sister informed investigators that he was the target of the majority of the abuse in their dysfunctional household. She also added that Franklin used to read fairytales in order to escape the domestic abuse that he endured on a daily basis. (Montaldo, n.d.) This was definitely one of the main reasons for Franklin’s evident mental illness; Franklin used white supremacy as an outlet for his prolonged childhood anger and frustration.
On July 29th, 1978, Franklin shot Bryant Tatum and his girlfriend, Nancy Hilton with a 12-gauge shotgun simply because they were an interracial couple. The attack happened at a Pizza Hut in Chattanooga, Tennessee and unfortunately resulted in the death of Tatum. Hilton was able to survive but was injured, and Franklin was given a life sentence. (FamPeople, 2012) On July 12th, 1979, Franklin shot Harold McIver through a window. McIver was a 27 year old black man that unfortunately was killed in the incident. McIver was a manager at Taco Bell in Doraville, Georgia and according to Franklin, McIver came in close contact with white women. Franklin, as a result, felt it was his responsibility to murder the innocent man. (FamPeople, 2012)
One of the most outrageous parts of Franklin’s criminal history is that he was committing these horrible crimes because he thought he was doing his job. He once told CNN Investigators, “I consider it my mission, my three-year mission. Same length of time Jesus was on his mission, from the time he was 30 to 33.” (Lah, 2013) When CNN investigators asked him to clarify what his mission was exactly, he replied, “To get a race war started”. (Lah, 2013) Franklin thought it was his responsibility to brutally murder every person that was black, Jewish, or in an interracial relationship. On June 25th 1980, Franklin killed Nancy Santomero, age 19, and Vicki Durian, age 26 using a .44 Ruger Pistol. Both women were hitchhikers in Pocahontas County, West Virginia at the time. Franklin confessed to the crime in 1997 but felt that he did what was necessary. (FamPeople, 2012) Both girls were white, however he decided to murder them both once he heard one of the girls say that she had a black boyfriend. Jacob Beard, a Florida resident, had been incorrectly convicted and imprisoned for these murders. In the year 1999, Jacob Beard was freed and a new trial was to be created on Franklin’s behalf. Franklin was then correctly convicted of the crime, and was given a life sentence as a result. (FamPeople, 2012)
Franklin confessed to almost all of the murders that he committed because he felt he was doing right by his people. After he abandoned the most extreme white supremacist groups because he felt that they were not radical enough, he went on to commit these crimes because he thought that other white supremacists would follow him. He stated to reporters, “I figured once I started doing it and showed them how, other white supremacists would do the same thing”. (Nye, 2013) He claimed that after his attacks, he now has members that love him. He said to investigators, “When you commit a crime against a certain group of people, a bonding takes place. It seems like you belong to them.” (Nye, 2013) This sick feeling of family that Franklin received from his white supremacist groups was probably more of a closely-knit environment than the blood-related family that he had at home. This is most likely what drew Franklin so far deep into the racist cult.
Franklin shot and killed 15-year old prostitute Mercedes Lynn Masters on December 5th, 1979. He had been living with her in Dekalb County, Georgia, but decided to hill her when she told him that she previously had black customers. Two more murders were committed by Franklin on August 20th, 1980. Franklin killed two black men in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was near Liberty Park when he took the lives of Ted Fields and David Martin. He was charged with first-degree murder, convicted, and was given two life sentences. He was also tried on federal civil rights charges. These instances, along with multiple others, are just examples of the sick, twisted things that went on in Franklin’s head. Mental illness was evident, and his merciless actions are what made him so dangerous.
It was also evident that Franklin was completely self-centered and delusional. His reference to Flynt being an “old pal” and his comparison between Jesus and himself are just two examples of how deranged and neurotic that the high school dropout was. Franklin even said that he hoped his killings would act as an example. (Nye, 2013) The three-year mission that Franklin referred to took place when he was age 27 up until he was arrested at age 30. He told authorities that he has no regrets, and that the only regret he has is that killing Jews isn’t legal. He later told investigators that the only regret he has is that some of his victims managed to survive. (Montaldo, n.d.) Franklin had been in prison for over 30 years before he was finally executed. Not long before his execution, Franklin claimed that he was no longer a white supremacist and had “renounced his racist views”. (BBC News, 2013) Franklin claimed he had “interacted with black people in prison” and stated, “I saw they were people just like us”. He also added that he knew his actions were illogical and were a result of “an abusive upbringing”. (BBC News, 2013) Joseph Paul Franklin was sentenced to death on February 27th, 1997. He was on Missouri Death Row until August 20th, 2013, when the State of Missouri set the date for his execution. Franklin was executed by lethal injection on November 20th, 2013 at 6:08 AM. (Missouri Death Row, 2008) It took 10 minutes for Franklin to be officially pronounced dead. (BBC News, 2013) According to the jury, Franklin’s actions were a result of “depravity of mind”, better known as mental illness. (Missouri Death Row, 2008) Mental illness can be a direct result of child abuse. The life, the actions, and the attitude of Joseph Paul Franklin are a perfect example of that.
Works Cited
BBC News. (2013, November 20). BBC News US & Canada. Retrieved from Joseph Franklin, white supremacist serial killer, executed: http://www.fampeople.com/cat-joseph-paul-franklin
FamPeople. (2012). Joseph Paul Franklin: Biography. Retrieved from FamPeople: http://www.fampeople.com/cat-joseph-paul-franklin
FBI. (2014, January 14). Serial Killers Part 4: White Supremacist Joseph Franklin. Retrieved from fbi.gov: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/january/serial-killers-part-4-joseph-paul-franklin/
Lah, K. (2013, November 19). Serial Killer Joseph Paul Franklin Prepares to Die. Retrieved from CNN News: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/18/justice/death-row-interview-joseph-paul-franklin/index.html
Missouri Death Row. (2008, December 9). State of Missouri vs. Joseph P. Franklin. Retrieved from Missouri Death Row: http://missourideathrow.com/2008/12/Franklin-Joseph/
Montaldo, C. (n.d.). Profile of Serial Killer Joseph Paul Franklin. Retrieved from About News: http://crime.about.com/od/hatecrimecriminalcases/a/josephfranklin.htm
Nye, J. (2013, November 19). Racist Serial Killer Shows No Remorse In Final Interview On Eve Of His Execution- Even Joking Larry Flynt, Who He Paralyzed, is "'Old Pal" For Campaign Against Death Penalty. Retrieved from Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509759/Joseph-Paul-Franklin-shows-remorse-ahead-death-penalty.html
Szalavitz, M. (2012, February 15). How Child Abuse Primes The Brain For Future Mental Illness. Retrieved from Time: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/15/how-child-abuse-primes-the-brain-for-future-mental-illness/
Vitello, P. (2013, November 13). White Supremacist Convicted of Several Murders Is Put To Death In Missouri. Retrieved from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/21/us/joseph-paul-franklin-executed-in-missouri.html?_r=0