1
00:00:17,910 --> 00:00:19,380
At that point
in time, I realized

2
00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:21,450
this was a very
serious situation.

3
00:00:23,250 --> 00:00:24,650
There's a child
in that house.

4
00:00:27,860 --> 00:00:31,990
I was devastated,
because now Jeffrey was never

5
00:00:32,090 --> 00:00:34,160
going to have
what he should have.

6
00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,870
Did he snap? Did something
happen either accidentally

7
00:00:44,970 --> 00:00:46,470
or on purpose?

8
00:00:50,650 --> 00:00:51,980
We had to dig deeper.

9
00:00:55,420 --> 00:00:57,450
My goodness,
what did we just see?

10
00:01:12,370 --> 00:01:22,280


11
00:01:22,380 --> 00:01:32,250


12
00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,440
Within seconds,
deputy Dustin smietana,

13
00:02:22,540 --> 00:02:26,770
already on patrol nearby,
rushes to the scene,

14
00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,280
a small house in
a remote part of the county.

15
00:02:30,380 --> 00:02:32,910
Once we arrived on the scene,
no lights on the roads

16
00:02:33,020 --> 00:02:36,020
or anything, and to see the big
bright orange light in the sky,

17
00:02:36,150 --> 00:02:37,780
it definitely
got my attention.

18
00:02:37,890 --> 00:02:39,020
It woke me up fast.

19
00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:43,290
I ran up
the driveway as fast

20
00:02:43,390 --> 00:02:45,530
as I possibly could, but I was
basically up to my shins,

21
00:02:45,630 --> 00:02:47,360
if not more,
in muck and mud.

22
00:02:47,460 --> 00:02:49,000
And it is very hard
to traverse in.

23
00:02:49,100 --> 00:02:51,370
I turned on my body camera,
because we record these events.

24
00:02:51,470 --> 00:02:53,670
And this is a serious event
that's unfolding in front of US.

25
00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:03,980
As I was running up,
I just -- I caught out of

26
00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:05,810
the corner of my eye
as I was running by,

27
00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:08,380
I saw the silhouette
of a person off to my right

28
00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,050
as I was running up.

29
00:03:10,150 --> 00:03:12,350
He said that
his boy was in the house.

30
00:03:12,490 --> 00:03:13,590
At that point in time,

31
00:03:13,690 --> 00:03:16,790
I realized this was
a very serious situation.

32
00:03:16,890 --> 00:03:18,530
You know, there's
a child in that house.

33
00:03:54,300 --> 00:03:55,360
We're hearing popping sounds,

34
00:03:55,460 --> 00:03:58,000
crackling of the fire,
I mean, this is the biggest

35
00:03:58,100 --> 00:03:59,870
fire I've seen
in my career.

36
00:04:01,700 --> 00:04:04,400
It was engulfing
the house slowly,

37
00:04:04,510 --> 00:04:06,840
and just the ashes
were raining down on me.

38
00:04:09,710 --> 00:04:11,140
We could hear sirens
in the distance,

39
00:04:11,250 --> 00:04:12,880
and quite honest,

40
00:04:12,980 --> 00:04:15,380
I can't imagine
a heavy apparatus, you know,

41
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,390
40, 50, 60,000 pounds try and
traverse this type of terrain.

42
00:04:31,570 --> 00:04:33,830
After me and my partner realized
going around the back of

43
00:04:33,940 --> 00:04:36,440
the house was not an option
that we were able to do,

44
00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:38,940
we went back down the driveway,
and we make contact with

45
00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:40,610
the guy that
said he was the homeowner.

46
00:04:57,630 --> 00:04:59,990
The homeowner,
Ernest Franklin,

47
00:05:00,100 --> 00:05:02,030
points to where
his adopted son,

48
00:05:02,130 --> 00:05:03,830
Jeffrey, or Jr,

49
00:05:03,930 --> 00:05:06,370
is trapped inside the house.

50
00:05:31,390 --> 00:05:33,930
Knowing that there was
a victim inside that house,

51
00:05:34,030 --> 00:05:36,400
I felt helpless,
my partner felt helpless, too.

52
00:05:36,500 --> 00:05:40,270
We stood by, and watched
the house burn more and more

53
00:05:40,370 --> 00:05:42,300
and realizing that
there's nothing we could do.

54
00:05:57,720 --> 00:05:58,890
Minutes later,

55
00:05:58,990 --> 00:06:02,160
local fire departments
arrive on the scene.

56
00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:25,580
They had to start running
a line all the way

57
00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:27,880
up this driving, which is --
it's a long way away.

58
00:06:27,980 --> 00:06:31,750
Seconds seemed like minutes --
in my mind, it took forever.

59
00:06:42,530 --> 00:06:44,030
There's firefighters scrambling
all over place,

60
00:06:44,130 --> 00:06:45,970
and they're just
trying to establish

61
00:06:46,070 --> 00:06:47,700
a foothold on anything
they possibly can

62
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,070
to fight this fire.

63
00:07:09,530 --> 00:07:11,730
Once they got their water lines
established, they're starting

64
00:07:11,830 --> 00:07:13,030
to fight it back,
it's like, wow,

65
00:07:13,130 --> 00:07:15,230
the hard part's over now,
that they all came together,

66
00:07:15,330 --> 00:07:17,230
did everything they possibly
could in this situation.

67
00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,040
It wasn't
safe enough for US to

68
00:07:24,140 --> 00:07:27,510
put our firefighters
inside the building.

69
00:07:27,610 --> 00:07:32,310
So once we determined exactly
where Jeffrey was last seen,

70
00:07:32,410 --> 00:07:35,650
we decided
to focus our attack

71
00:07:35,750 --> 00:07:38,820
onto the fire by standing from
the outside of the building,

72
00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:40,820
and trying to extinguish that
as quickly as we could.

73
00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:47,960


74
00:07:48,060 --> 00:07:49,300
Jeffrey --

75
00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:53,270
he never had
parents of his own.

76
00:07:53,370 --> 00:07:57,170
He comes to our house, and it
was a complete change for him.

77
00:07:57,270 --> 00:07:59,910
Everybody loved him,
so it was worth it to everybody.

78
00:08:02,140 --> 00:08:04,410
He was a kid
that just would make you smile,

79
00:08:04,510 --> 00:08:06,210
and he loved everything.

80
00:08:08,450 --> 00:08:09,820
Jeffrey was deaf.

81
00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:11,790
He also had
learning disabilities.

82
00:08:11,890 --> 00:08:15,420
He had trouble learning
and mastering his own language.

83
00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,260
Behavior-wise, really,

84
00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,990
he did things a typical
3-, 4-year-old would do,

85
00:08:21,100 --> 00:08:23,230
it's just he was
older doing them.

86
00:08:23,330 --> 00:08:25,430
But he was a happy kid

87
00:08:25,530 --> 00:08:29,040
even with all
the challenges he had.

88
00:08:30,610 --> 00:08:33,670
There was an opportunity
for Jeffrey

89
00:08:33,780 --> 00:08:36,880
to have his own parents.

90
00:08:36,980 --> 00:08:38,880
And we asked him, you know,

91
00:08:38,980 --> 00:08:42,020
do you want to stay here with
uncle Ted and aunt Jen?

92
00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,580
Or do you want a mommy
and daddy all of your own?

93
00:08:46,190 --> 00:08:48,590
And he said he wanted a mom
and dad all of his own.

94
00:08:49,990 --> 00:08:52,390
It was difficult, um,

95
00:08:52,490 --> 00:08:54,130
not wanting to let him go.

96
00:08:54,230 --> 00:08:56,400
We loved him, but we also
were taking comfort

97
00:08:56,530 --> 00:08:58,870
in he's gonna get
his own parents.

98
00:08:58,970 --> 00:09:00,570
He deserves
his own parents.

99
00:09:00,700 --> 00:09:05,370


100
00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:09,340
Back at the house,
firefighters continue

101
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:11,110
to attack the Blaze,

102
00:09:11,210 --> 00:09:13,780
knowing Jeffrey is inside.

103
00:09:22,930 --> 00:09:26,090
Ernest Franklin
is pulled aside for questioning.

104
00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:33,970
The owner of the home
was the only one there

105
00:09:34,070 --> 00:09:36,670
at the scene,
so he would probably have

106
00:09:36,770 --> 00:09:38,870
the most knowledge
of what took place,

107
00:09:38,970 --> 00:09:43,580
so it was important to speak
to him a soon as possible

108
00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:46,110
and get the accounts of
what took place that evening.

109
00:10:43,110 --> 00:10:46,310
What's concerning about it
is that you start to wonder,

110
00:10:46,410 --> 00:10:48,680
you know, why isn't this guy,

111
00:10:48,780 --> 00:10:51,580
injured,
partially burned?

112
00:10:53,620 --> 00:10:57,050
Usually, people go back
into the house,

113
00:10:57,150 --> 00:10:59,750
they're injured, they're burned
or sometimes even

114
00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:02,220
they die themselves
trying to recover children.

115
00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,500
Once the fire is out,

116
00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,000
the firemen make
a heart-wrenching discovery.

117
00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:14,570
We started what we call
de-layering the room.

118
00:11:14,670 --> 00:11:17,170
So a lot of the debris
and everything that fell off

119
00:11:17,270 --> 00:11:20,170
from the ceiling or from
the walls or anything.

120
00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,480
We started removing some of
those items piece by piece,

121
00:11:23,580 --> 00:11:26,750
going through and looking for
any type of remnants of Jeffrey

122
00:11:26,850 --> 00:11:28,280
that may remain.

123
00:11:28,380 --> 00:11:29,850
One of the first things
we found was actually

124
00:11:29,950 --> 00:11:31,080
the bedsprings.

125
00:11:31,190 --> 00:11:34,450
And then we eventually end up
finding Jeffrey's body.

126
00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:38,060
We found him laying on
the mattress as though

127
00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:39,860
he was sleeping.

128
00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:41,960
It's something
you never forget,

129
00:11:42,060 --> 00:11:45,070
and it takes a toll
on everybody that's there.

130
00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:49,300
All those things are adding up

131
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:51,940
that something's not right here.

132
00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:53,210
There's something
that was missing,

133
00:11:53,310 --> 00:11:54,240
and we needed to find that.

134
00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,550


135
00:12:05,650 --> 00:12:09,660
Fire investigators in
chenango county, New York,

136
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:14,460
have just discovered 16-year-old
Jeffrey "Jr" Franklin,

137
00:12:16,670 --> 00:12:19,270
dead inside
his destroyed home.

138
00:12:22,300 --> 00:12:24,640
After the firefighters
found Jeffrey in his bedroom,

139
00:12:24,740 --> 00:12:26,110
they carefully lifted him up,

140
00:12:26,210 --> 00:12:28,410
and we carefully
brought him down.

141
00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,010
We carefully placed him
into a body bag

142
00:12:31,110 --> 00:12:33,750
that the funeral home
brought out.

143
00:12:33,850 --> 00:12:36,480
That's when it became real,
it became very real,

144
00:12:36,620 --> 00:12:39,790
and we carefully walked him
down the drive, again,

145
00:12:39,890 --> 00:12:41,650
through the mud,
through the terrain.

146
00:12:45,030 --> 00:12:46,790
We placed him
inside of a hearse,

147
00:12:46,900 --> 00:12:49,330
and it was my job just
to follow that hearse

148
00:12:49,430 --> 00:12:52,300
all the way down
to the morgue.

149
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,600
I don't know -- I really --
I can't describe the feeling.

150
00:12:54,700 --> 00:12:56,540
It was just...

151
00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:58,000
People pass away every day,

152
00:12:58,110 --> 00:13:02,940
but this kid suffered so much
how he passed away.

153
00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:10,880


154
00:13:10,990 --> 00:13:14,720


155
00:13:14,820 --> 00:13:18,460
Now, the investigation
into the fire begins.

156
00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:21,190
Detectives start by speaking
with Jeffrey's

157
00:13:21,300 --> 00:13:24,000
adopted mother, Heather.

158
00:13:24,100 --> 00:13:27,530
I learned that Heather was
down at the neighbor's house,

159
00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,640
and obviously we needed to get
a statement from her.

160
00:13:30,740 --> 00:13:33,940
So I made my way down there,
made contact with her.

161
00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,180
Heather describes
her evening in

162
00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:38,340
the hours leading up
to the fire.

163
00:13:51,230 --> 00:13:52,390
Okay.

164
00:15:02,900 --> 00:15:06,070
Heather was visibly upset,
you know,

165
00:15:06,170 --> 00:15:08,700
she was crying.
She was emotional.

166
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,140
She was pregnant
with her child,

167
00:15:12,270 --> 00:15:13,240
you know,
that brings a whole

168
00:15:13,340 --> 00:15:17,240
nother level of
emotions into play.

169
00:15:17,350 --> 00:15:18,880
It could be very devastating.

170
00:15:18,980 --> 00:15:21,010
So we had to sympathize
with her.

171
00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:23,850
She just lost a house
and lost a child.

172
00:15:27,220 --> 00:15:30,590
While Heather and
Ernest grapple with their loss,

173
00:15:30,690 --> 00:15:34,560
fire investigators turn to
the remains of the home,

174
00:15:34,660 --> 00:15:37,860
hoping to uncover just
what started the fire.

175
00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:42,500
We started
our investigation

176
00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,810
by taking pictures -- we judged
that against the story,

177
00:15:45,910 --> 00:15:47,940
the information from
the interviews that we were

178
00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,010
receiving and trying to put
everything back together.

179
00:15:52,650 --> 00:15:55,720
And did notice that the stove
door in the living room

180
00:15:55,820 --> 00:15:58,720
was open,
so we questioned that.

181
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,260
Also, the homeowner, who was
home at the point in time,

182
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,490
tells US that he comes back
out of the woods from looking

183
00:16:06,590 --> 00:16:10,430
for his dogs, and the timeframe
that he starts talking about

184
00:16:10,530 --> 00:16:12,400
that he's gone,

185
00:16:12,500 --> 00:16:15,340
and when he comes back,
we really start questioning

186
00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:16,570
the progression of the fire,

187
00:16:16,670 --> 00:16:20,370
because using scientific
methods, we can figure out,

188
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,280
you know, what the burn rate
is in the building, based off

189
00:16:23,380 --> 00:16:26,450
from the combustibles and the
type of building construction.

190
00:16:26,550 --> 00:16:29,220
So then we started piecing
everything together and realize

191
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,590
that there was something
that was not right here.

192
00:16:34,260 --> 00:16:36,720
Detectives need
to know more about what

193
00:16:36,830 --> 00:16:39,160
happened on the night of
the fire.

194
00:16:39,260 --> 00:16:41,590
They start by speaking
with Ernest's

195
00:16:41,700 --> 00:16:44,060
neighbor,
Dominick gildersleeve.

196
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,640
We needed to continue
to gather information

197
00:16:51,740 --> 00:16:54,070
and provide that information
to assist

198
00:16:54,180 --> 00:16:55,840
the fire investigators.

199
00:16:55,940 --> 00:16:59,080
Dominick was there
at the fire,

200
00:16:59,180 --> 00:17:02,120
and he witnessed Ernest
and his actions.

201
00:17:02,220 --> 00:17:05,080
Dominick would help take care
of the animals,

202
00:17:05,190 --> 00:17:07,650
the outside animals
and the, you know,

203
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,960
inside dogs and cats
when the Franklins went away.

204
00:17:12,060 --> 00:17:13,930
So it was important
for US to talk to him

205
00:17:14,030 --> 00:17:16,630
and see if there was something
out of the ordinary.

206
00:17:16,730 --> 00:17:19,600
And we wanted to see
what kind of picture

207
00:17:19,700 --> 00:17:22,200
he could paint for US of what
type of person Ernest was.

208
00:18:08,380 --> 00:18:11,520
But then Dominick
mentions something else

209
00:18:11,620 --> 00:18:14,920
that could explain
Ernest's odd behavior.

210
00:18:49,060 --> 00:18:51,520
Dominick was putting
his own pieces together to

211
00:18:51,630 --> 00:18:54,260
his puzzle that things
weren't adding up to him,

212
00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:58,100
and he was concerned that
something triggered Ernest,

213
00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:00,700
something happened,
and, you know,

214
00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,240
Ernest was doing something
to try to cover something up.

215
00:19:06,010 --> 00:19:09,410
Then, two days after the fire,

216
00:19:09,510 --> 00:19:14,010
investigators receive a call
from the medical examiner.

217
00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:16,450
I was told
there were some concerns.

218
00:19:16,550 --> 00:19:21,090
For one, there was a lack
of soot in the trachea

219
00:19:21,190 --> 00:19:25,630
and the bronchi of Jeffrey
in the mouth and the tongue.

220
00:19:25,730 --> 00:19:29,900
It didn't match up with
that he died in the fire.

221
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,770
Also, the lack of
carboxyhemoglobin

222
00:19:33,870 --> 00:19:36,740
in Jeffrey's body
told US that he wasn't

223
00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,270
breathing when
the fire took place.

224
00:19:39,370 --> 00:19:42,180
Given the information
from the autopsy,

225
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:44,980
we knew that Jeffrey
was dead before the fire.

226
00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,920
So my conversation
with the pathologist

227
00:19:49,020 --> 00:19:53,090
resulted in it going
from a fire investigation

228
00:19:53,190 --> 00:19:55,150
to a homicide investigation.

229
00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,160
And we had to determine
who did it.

230
00:20:03,230 --> 00:20:05,830
So the person
we would look at first,

231
00:20:05,930 --> 00:20:08,770
and who we'd be leaning
towards the most,

232
00:20:11,570 --> 00:20:13,070
would be Ernest.

233
00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,040
We wanted to find out
why he didn't try to get into

234
00:20:17,150 --> 00:20:18,540
the house.

235
00:20:18,650 --> 00:20:21,910
What did he do to try
to help save Jeffrey?

236
00:20:23,250 --> 00:20:25,020
We had to dig deeper.

237
00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:27,820
We had to find out
what was he trying to hide?

238
00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:33,190


239
00:20:39,230 --> 00:20:40,600
Sheriff's detectives

240
00:20:40,700 --> 00:20:42,970
in chenango county, New York,

241
00:20:43,070 --> 00:20:47,310
have just discovered that
16-year-old Jeffrey Franklin

242
00:20:47,410 --> 00:20:50,740
was dead before
the fire claimed his body.

243
00:20:52,150 --> 00:20:56,050
Now, investigators are
looking at a likely suspect.

244
00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:00,520
It was looking
more and more like

245
00:21:00,620 --> 00:21:03,420
Ernest was the person
who did it.

246
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,230
You know, it was intentional
and not accidental,

247
00:21:07,330 --> 00:21:11,830
and so we had to continue
our investigation

248
00:21:11,930 --> 00:21:13,400
and try to figure out,
you know,

249
00:21:13,500 --> 00:21:15,900
why he was trying
to cover something up.

250
00:21:19,670 --> 00:21:23,440
Investigators start by
speaking with Ernest's parents.

251
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:39,390
So we wanted to just see what
Ernest was like as a child,

252
00:21:39,490 --> 00:21:41,760
what has he been like
the last couple years?

253
00:21:41,860 --> 00:21:45,230
What's his interaction
between Heather and Jeffrey?

254
00:21:45,330 --> 00:21:48,030
We wanted to see the household
as a whole

255
00:21:48,140 --> 00:21:49,770
and Ernest as a person.

256
00:22:34,420 --> 00:22:36,250
Ernest's parents
had said that he had

257
00:22:36,350 --> 00:22:38,950
told them that
he was over in Iraq.

258
00:22:39,050 --> 00:22:41,320
They didn't really know
the specifics,

259
00:22:41,420 --> 00:22:43,520
but the only thing they did
mention is that he definitely

260
00:22:43,620 --> 00:22:45,160
came back different.

261
00:22:45,260 --> 00:22:48,330
That's obviously something
concerning for US.

262
00:22:48,430 --> 00:22:51,300
Was he still having issues?
Did he snap?

263
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:52,600
Did something happen,

264
00:22:52,700 --> 00:22:55,030
you know, either
accidentally or on purpose?

265
00:22:56,370 --> 00:22:59,840
Is it the fact that Heather's
pregnant now,

266
00:22:59,940 --> 00:23:01,840
that they've been trying for
years to have their own kid,

267
00:23:01,980 --> 00:23:04,040
and now this new baby
comes along,

268
00:23:04,150 --> 00:23:07,780
and the old kid's kind of out,
and the new kid's in.

269
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,080
So we just don't know
for sure,

270
00:23:10,220 --> 00:23:13,290
but we're starting to kind of
see a picture at this point.

271
00:23:17,230 --> 00:23:20,030
While detectives
search for the truth,

272
00:23:20,130 --> 00:23:24,730
those who knew Jeffrey mourn
for a child taken too soon.

273
00:23:26,970 --> 00:23:28,670
He had so much potential,

274
00:23:31,140 --> 00:23:32,510
even with...

275
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,610
All the challenges he had.

276
00:23:38,780 --> 00:23:42,350
But he was never
gonna be like everyday kids,

277
00:23:45,020 --> 00:23:47,320
but he still had...

278
00:23:47,420 --> 00:23:49,420
He still had a potential
to have a really, really

279
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,460
good life.

280
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:52,990
I'm sorry.

281
00:23:53,090 --> 00:24:02,130


282
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:03,970
As detectives are seriously

283
00:24:04,070 --> 00:24:06,570
considering Ernest's
motives for murder,

284
00:24:10,010 --> 00:24:12,340
his sister arrives
at the station with

285
00:24:12,450 --> 00:24:15,980
information that may be
pertinent to the investigation.

286
00:24:59,090 --> 00:25:02,060
Well, I remember the entire
time interviewing her that

287
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,600
she was very reluctant
to give up some information,

288
00:25:05,700 --> 00:25:08,030
but my gut was
telling me that she wanted

289
00:25:08,140 --> 00:25:09,840
to get more
off of her chest.

290
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,680
To say,
"there goes $2,000 a month,"

291
00:25:51,780 --> 00:25:55,580
and not mention any sympathy
towards losing your child,

292
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,650
it was a red flag to her,
but it was also a red flag

293
00:25:58,750 --> 00:25:59,890
to US.

294
00:27:06,090 --> 00:27:10,090


295
00:27:13,230 --> 00:27:17,400


296
00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:19,160
Detectives investigating

297
00:27:19,270 --> 00:27:22,070
Jeffrey Franklin's death
are no closer

298
00:27:22,170 --> 00:27:24,300
to uncovering
exactly what happened,

299
00:27:25,670 --> 00:27:27,810
but they believe
there is still more to

300
00:27:27,910 --> 00:27:31,780
his adoptive father's story
than meets the eye.

301
00:27:43,990 --> 00:27:48,230
It was starting to look like
Jeffrey was becoming a burden.

302
00:27:48,330 --> 00:27:52,770
Heather was unable
to conceive for many years,

303
00:27:52,870 --> 00:27:55,630
so they adopted a child.

304
00:27:55,740 --> 00:27:59,300
And now that they were able to
conceive their own child,

305
00:27:59,410 --> 00:28:01,140
did they need Jeffrey anymore?

306
00:28:03,940 --> 00:28:06,450
There's obviously
more behind that,

307
00:28:06,550 --> 00:28:11,120
and Ernest was the key
to finding out more.

308
00:28:14,460 --> 00:28:19,490
So detectives begin
taking apart Ernest's story.

309
00:28:19,590 --> 00:28:22,090
So during
the investigation, we're trying

310
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,160
to figure out
these alibis and try to

311
00:28:24,270 --> 00:28:26,930
be able to prove one way or
another if they're true or not.

312
00:28:27,030 --> 00:28:29,100
Ernest's was probably
the most difficult, obviously,

313
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,670
because he's at home,
and he's up in the woods,

314
00:28:31,770 --> 00:28:33,870
and his story chasing dogs,

315
00:28:33,970 --> 00:28:37,710
there's not really a easy way to
be able to prove that happened,

316
00:28:37,810 --> 00:28:41,450
so that was, you know,
kind of the hard thing for US.

317
00:28:43,420 --> 00:28:46,290
On the other hand,
Heather was much easier

318
00:28:46,390 --> 00:28:48,550
to get her alibis.

319
00:28:48,660 --> 00:28:51,060
She stated she went to
several different stores.

320
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,030
Obviously, we had
investigators go pull

321
00:28:53,130 --> 00:28:55,030
surveillance video,

322
00:28:55,130 --> 00:28:57,600
and, in fact, we did find her
on many store

323
00:28:57,700 --> 00:28:59,000
surveillance cameras

324
00:28:59,100 --> 00:29:01,570
at basically the times that
she said she was there.

325
00:29:01,670 --> 00:29:03,400
On the video,
you do see

326
00:29:03,500 --> 00:29:07,110
the truck pull up,
you see her exit the vehicle,

327
00:29:07,210 --> 00:29:11,580
you see her walk into
the store, you can see Heather

328
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,350
grab a cart,
go through the aisles.

329
00:29:15,750 --> 00:29:18,880
The next thing we saw was
her checking out.

330
00:29:18,990 --> 00:29:22,590
It's an overhead view of her
just having a couple items,

331
00:29:22,690 --> 00:29:24,620
and then she walks
out of the store.

332
00:29:30,770 --> 00:29:31,900
And then she gets
into her car.

333
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,400
She sits there for maybe
a minute or two.

334
00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:37,400
Not sure what she's doing,
but a minute or two,

335
00:29:37,510 --> 00:29:39,270
nothing too out of
the ordinary.

336
00:29:39,370 --> 00:29:40,740
And then she pulls out of
the parking lot.

337
00:29:44,210 --> 00:29:48,150
So after leaving the first
store, she did go to

338
00:29:48,250 --> 00:29:50,680
at least one other store,

339
00:29:50,790 --> 00:29:52,480
so at this point,
her story makes sense.

340
00:29:52,590 --> 00:29:54,720
So obviously, you know,
Ernest, again,

341
00:29:54,790 --> 00:29:55,850
is the only one
at the house,

342
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,490
and he's obviously
the prime suspect.

343
00:30:01,460 --> 00:30:05,000
Growing increasingly
suspicious of Ernest,

344
00:30:05,100 --> 00:30:08,230
detectives invite him down
to the station

345
00:30:08,340 --> 00:30:09,970
for further questioning.

346
00:30:24,750 --> 00:30:27,620
We wanted Ernest to know that
we knew Jeffrey was dead

347
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:28,720
before the fire,

348
00:30:28,820 --> 00:30:30,990
and we wanted to provide
that information to him

349
00:30:31,090 --> 00:30:32,860
to see how he was gonna react.

350
00:31:23,610 --> 00:31:26,350
We were hoping that he would
then break down,

351
00:31:26,450 --> 00:31:27,550
maybe give US confession,

352
00:31:27,650 --> 00:31:30,180
tell US exactly
what happened that night.

353
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:31,320
He reacted in more of

354
00:31:31,420 --> 00:31:33,990
a stubborn way throughout
the interview process.

355
00:31:34,090 --> 00:31:37,260
He was cold.
He was unsympathetic.

356
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,460
Never apologized for what
happened to Jeffrey.

357
00:32:17,970 --> 00:32:20,100
We had already obtained
his military records,

358
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,400
and we knew what he was
stating wasn't the truth.

359
00:32:23,500 --> 00:32:25,840
He'd never had any combat time
in Afghanistan.

360
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:29,140
While he's saying this,

361
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,680
it's making me further believe
that he's lying and he could be

362
00:32:31,780 --> 00:32:34,250
lying about other things
throughout the investigation.

363
00:32:58,710 --> 00:33:00,810
At that point in time,
we have to stop talking

364
00:33:00,910 --> 00:33:04,110
to him and get him the lawyer
that he requested,

365
00:33:04,210 --> 00:33:06,450
but it left a lot of
unanswered questions.

366
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,480
Since Ernest isn't talking,

367
00:33:10,580 --> 00:33:13,420
investigators need to build
their case against him

368
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:14,720
a different way.

369
00:33:14,820 --> 00:33:18,020
So they turn
to his wife, Heather.

370
00:33:26,700 --> 00:33:29,470
During the interview with
Heather, we told her that

371
00:33:29,570 --> 00:33:31,970
Ernest was going
to be charged with murder,

372
00:33:32,070 --> 00:33:35,810
murdering Jeffrey, and we told
her that she needed to put

373
00:33:35,940 --> 00:33:39,480
herself and her unborn
child first.

374
00:33:39,580 --> 00:33:42,410
And if she knew anything,
she had to tell US.

375
00:34:56,590 --> 00:34:59,220
She knew a lot more
than what she was telling US,

376
00:34:59,330 --> 00:35:02,060
and it was frustrating.

377
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,760
She just was trying
to sidestep questions.

378
00:35:04,870 --> 00:35:07,000
She was trying
to avoid answering

379
00:35:07,100 --> 00:35:09,400
questions by asking
for bathroom breaks.

380
00:35:09,500 --> 00:35:11,300
So we had to
take it to the next step,

381
00:35:11,410 --> 00:35:13,970
figure out
what truly took place.

382
00:35:14,070 --> 00:35:16,370
So the next step in
the investigation was to obtain

383
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:17,980
a search warrant for the truck,

384
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,250
which would disclose
a lot of information

385
00:35:20,350 --> 00:35:21,810
about what
took place that night.

386
00:35:54,450 --> 00:35:57,820
So we executed
the search warrant on the truck.

387
00:35:57,950 --> 00:36:02,090
We found some extremely
valuable evidence.

388
00:36:02,190 --> 00:36:04,990
We did not expect to find
a portable GPS unit

389
00:36:05,090 --> 00:36:08,830
in the truck that would
basically just discredit

390
00:36:08,930 --> 00:36:10,060
her entire story.

391
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:14,800


392
00:36:18,910 --> 00:36:21,640


393
00:36:21,740 --> 00:36:24,980
Sheriff's detectives
in chenango county, New York,

394
00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,150
have questioned Ernest
Franklin about the death

395
00:36:28,250 --> 00:36:31,980
of his adopted son, Jeffrey,
but have gotten nowhere.

396
00:36:33,390 --> 00:36:36,820
And after speaking
with Ernest's wife, Heather,

397
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:41,060
they have uncovered a GPS
in the couple's truck.

398
00:36:42,460 --> 00:36:45,430
After taking the GPS unit
that was in the vehicle,

399
00:36:45,530 --> 00:36:47,200
once you started looking at it,

400
00:36:47,300 --> 00:36:50,900
and once you started
seeing it timestamped

401
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,470
and gave a location
of everywhere

402
00:36:52,570 --> 00:36:54,340
that that vehicle
went that night,

403
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,280
there was some shocking
revelations that we were all

404
00:36:57,380 --> 00:37:00,810
like, my goodness,
what did we just see?

405
00:37:00,910 --> 00:37:02,310
So it did start by showing

406
00:37:02,420 --> 00:37:04,750
her leaving the residence
that night,

407
00:37:04,850 --> 00:37:07,020
about the time that she said,
it does show her

408
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:09,250
showing up to Walmart
at the time she said.

409
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:13,020
But then the real bombshell
for US and the one that we were

410
00:37:13,130 --> 00:37:15,290
kind of taken back by was

411
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,160
the fact that after
leaving Walmart,

412
00:37:17,260 --> 00:37:20,500
she goes back to the residence
and sits there for

413
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,870
approximately five or six
minutes at the residence.

414
00:37:23,970 --> 00:37:25,540
So then the vehicle
starts back up.

415
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,410
She goes to another store
after that.

416
00:37:28,510 --> 00:37:30,640
And that totally
disproved her stories

417
00:37:30,740 --> 00:37:32,810
previously -- she said
she never went by the house,

418
00:37:32,910 --> 00:37:35,350
never was around
the house -- that, to US,

419
00:37:35,450 --> 00:37:37,280
said that she has
some involvement in this.

420
00:37:37,380 --> 00:37:41,350
She either knew implicitly
what he was gonna do or had

421
00:37:41,460 --> 00:37:43,560
a pretty good idea of what he
was gonna do while

422
00:37:43,660 --> 00:37:45,360
she was gone.

423
00:37:45,460 --> 00:37:48,660
So at this point,
she was a solid suspect.

424
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:50,930
Investigators confront Heather

425
00:37:51,030 --> 00:37:52,760
about this new information.

426
00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:01,100
Detectives also arrest
Ernest and charge both parents

427
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:03,030
with second-degree murder

428
00:39:03,140 --> 00:39:06,300
in the death of
their adopted son, Jeffrey.

429
00:39:06,410 --> 00:39:09,110
After arresting Heather
and Ernest that day,

430
00:39:09,210 --> 00:39:12,880
there was no doubt in our mind
they were both equally involved

431
00:39:12,980 --> 00:39:14,780
in committing this crime.

432
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:18,350
There are people out there
that do things that

433
00:39:18,450 --> 00:39:21,120
other people wouldn't
even fathom of doing,

434
00:39:21,220 --> 00:39:23,190
and why they did that,

435
00:39:23,290 --> 00:39:25,920
we may not ever completely
know the truth.

436
00:39:28,930 --> 00:39:30,660
Why would somebody
do that to Jeff?

437
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:32,200
They took away someone that...

438
00:39:33,770 --> 00:39:35,270
Was one of
our most vulnerable,

439
00:39:37,370 --> 00:39:38,670
one of the sweetest,

440
00:39:38,770 --> 00:39:42,370
most compassionate people
who needed protected.

441
00:39:45,150 --> 00:39:46,610
And he's not here anymore

442
00:39:48,150 --> 00:39:50,920
due to other people's
behavior and choices.

443
00:39:51,020 --> 00:39:52,180
They just wiped
the slate clean.

444
00:39:54,090 --> 00:39:55,890
He should not have been
taken away.

445
00:39:55,990 --> 00:39:56,960
This is not fair.

446
00:39:57,060 --> 00:40:02,060


447
00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:06,430
In march 2019,
news cameras photograph Ernest

448
00:40:06,530 --> 00:40:10,440
in court as the guilty verdict
is read aloud.

449
00:40:10,540 --> 00:40:14,370
He is sentenced to 21 years
to life in prison.

450
00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:19,840
Almost one month later,
on the day before her trial,

451
00:40:19,950 --> 00:40:23,210
Heather pleads guilty
to the lesser charge of

452
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:25,820
manslaughter and arson.

453
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:27,550
We'll never quite know
for sure

454
00:40:27,650 --> 00:40:28,890
exactly what happened
that night.

455
00:40:28,990 --> 00:40:30,860
Obviously, there's some
working theories

456
00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:32,460
and things
that make sense to US.

457
00:40:34,590 --> 00:40:36,960
We obviously know Jeffrey
was dead prior to the fire.

458
00:40:37,060 --> 00:40:38,860
That's a fact
that we always will know.

459
00:40:38,970 --> 00:40:40,430
We know that the fire was set

460
00:40:40,530 --> 00:40:42,300
to cover up the fact
that Jeffrey was dead

461
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:44,200
prior to the fire.

462
00:40:44,300 --> 00:40:47,240
As far as the fine details,
we'll never know for sure,

463
00:40:47,340 --> 00:40:49,210
because they're the only ones
that could tell US that.

464
00:40:53,610 --> 00:40:58,280
Jeffrey was a child
that couldn't speak anymore,

465
00:40:58,420 --> 00:41:04,320
but using the evidence, we
were able to give him a voice.

466
00:41:04,420 --> 00:41:07,630
We had the GPS
and the forensics.

467
00:41:07,730 --> 00:41:11,000
So Jeffrey was able to say
that, "hey, someone

468
00:41:11,130 --> 00:41:12,800
did something to me."

469
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:19,200
I don't know the circumstances,
I don't know

470
00:41:19,340 --> 00:41:23,040
exactly what happened
or what they did or whatever.

471
00:41:27,450 --> 00:41:30,050
I can't even --
I can't imagine...

472
00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:34,550
The fear that was going
through his mind and...

473
00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:38,520
That really bothers me.

474
00:41:38,630 --> 00:41:44,130


475
00:41:44,230 --> 00:41:47,200
All I can hope is...

476
00:41:47,300 --> 00:41:50,100
It was over quick
and he didn't suffer.

477
00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:51,700
Sorry.

478
00:41:51,810 --> 00:41:57,440


479
00:41:57,540 --> 00:41:59,140
We remember his laughs.

480
00:41:59,250 --> 00:42:01,180
His favorite signs, you know,

481
00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:02,680
things that he would do,
his quirky little things

482
00:42:02,780 --> 00:42:04,620
that he would do.

483
00:42:04,720 --> 00:42:08,050
We remember those things,
and we remember him often.

484
00:42:10,060 --> 00:42:12,020
He deserved a lot more.

485
00:42:12,130 --> 00:42:14,330
He should be living
his best life.

486
00:42:14,430 --> 00:42:16,690
Best life doesn't mean
a career or a doctor,

487
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:19,600
just living your best life,
being happy with who you are.

488
00:42:21,370 --> 00:42:22,530
I miss him.

489
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:25,470
We all do.

490
00:42:25,570 --> 00:42:26,640
I think...

491
00:42:26,740 --> 00:42:29,340
He just should have had
so much more.

492
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:30,910
He really should have.

493
00:42:31,010 --> 00:42:37,280