For whatever reason I followed this (and the Starry Night Club) murder throughout the years. I did not realize that Gable had been released over the summer as a free man. What happens next will be interesting.

For those that didn't follow this or it rings a bell but haven't seen it in a while:

Michael Franke was the new head of prisons in OR, and on the evening of January 17, 1989 he was stabbed to death in the BOP parking lot, in a 'car break in gone bad'. Frank Gable, a small time meth dealer in Salem was convicted of the murder in 1991. In June of 2019, Gable's conviction was overturned. By summer of 2017, even Franke's family was advocating that Gable did not commit the crime.

Circa 2006 I had occassion to make a few visits to the (now gone) OSP sub station on Portland Rd NE - they still had Franke's car in the back lot. It had been in OSP custody since 1989. When I saw it, there was no cover, wind blown whatever all over it. Just sitting there.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Acosta orders the state to retry Gable or release him within 90 days. "Although the evidence presented at trial in 1991 resulted in a guilty verdict," the judge writes, "the court concludes that it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror would find Gable guilty in light of the totality of all of the evidence uncovered since that time, particularly the newly presented evidence of witness recantations."

Here's the dirty.

Kellcy also swears that a few days later, Natividad asked to be taken to receive a payoff. Kellcy says Natividad did not say what the payoff was for, but asked him to bring a gun. Kellcy says he agreed and saw Natividad receive an envelope from men in a car with official Oregon government license plates. In the affidavit, Kellcy says the envelope contained $20,000. Kellcy also says one of the men in the car was Hoyt Cupp, the warden of the Oregon State Penitentiary, who has since died.

According to the appeal, rumors about Natividad's involvement in the killing surfaced before the start of Gable's trial in May 1991. In June 1989, an inmate told state investigators that Natividad attempted to hire him in late 1988 to kill someone in "corrections," but he declined. The story was confirmed by the inmate's wife.

In the fall of 1990, Godlove told Gable's defense attorneys that she believed Natividad was involved in the murder. State investigators confirmed the statement and interviewed Natividad's family, who provided access to his clothing and numerous knives.

A short time later, defense attorneys sought discovery regarding Natividad, citing due process. The trial court denied the request. The state later moved to exclude evidence related to third-party guilt, including evidence related to Natividad. The defense never sought to introduce any evidence regarding Natividad during the trial.

Now... that raises a few questions. Especially when we see things like this:

A judge earlier this month overturned McGuffin’s conviction because the Oregon State Police crime lab failed to disclose that it had found another man’s DNA on the girl’s shoe. Malheur County Circuit Senior Judge Patricia Sullivan concluded that the crucial DNA information could have led the jury to acquit McGuffin

Freeman vanished June 28, 2000, after leaving a friend’s house. One of her shoes was found by a cemetery in town that night; the other about a week later off a rural road. Her body was found five weeks later down a steep embankment. It was so badly decomposed, the medical examiner could not determine how she died.

Her boyfriend at the time was McGuffin. Then 18, McGuffin was investigated for the crime, but the case eventually went cold. No physical evidence linked McGuffin to the crime.

In 2008, local police put together a team of detectives to reinvestigate the case. They identified a dozen suspects, including McGuffin.

Two years later, Frasier took the case to grand jury and sought an indictment against McGuffin.

In 2011, a jury fund him guilty of manslaughter in a 10-2 verdict.

So....now we know or have good reason to suspect that BOP was corrupt at the time of the Franke murder; and we know the OSP crime lab withheld information that may have made a difference in a weak case involving a murder trial.

Now logically, if there was a group that existed 30 yrs ago that was involved in corrupt activities within the prison system and for profit; and it was worth it to kill the incoming director of BOP - what are the odds that system is still in place?

In looking at the chain of events - if evidence of a different meth dealer was suppressed - does that mean that the investigating body OSP? the courts? were influenced by such a profit making corrupt system? If they were - does that increase the odds of the same system of corruption still being in place today?

Will there be any repercussions for individuals at the OSP crime lab? Will there be an investigation of standards and practices? After all, they have a monopoly of several key pieces of evidence in building a criminal case. I would think we as citizens would recognize such power and want to make sure the organization is not biased in any way.

I'm sure Captn Kate will jump right on this....

I remember that case...actually heard a bit about what you posted recently in the news.

The BOP sounds corrupt as hell...

did one of franke's brother marry navidads or someone else that was suspect  girl friend few years after she killed said boyfriend in self defense.