NORWICH – The prosecution put its final witness on the stand, displayed a portion of the movie "Manchester by the Sea," and showed a two-hour long interrogation video to the jury in the Franklin murder trial Wednesday.
Ernest Franklin II, 36, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree arson, and tampering with physical evidence.
Prosecutors say at around midnight on March 1, 2017 Ernest Franklin and Heather Franklin worked together to kill their 16-year-old disabled son, Jeffrey Franklin, and burned the evidence at their home at 457 State Route 8 in the Town of Guilford.
Chenango County Sheriff's Office Detective Sergeant Gary A. Miller testified Wednesday and told jurors about his two-hour long interrogation of Franklin.
"After I was made aware of the results from Jeffrey's autopsy, the investigation turned from a tragic death investigation to a murder investigation," said Miller. "At that time we did another interview with the defendant."
He said during that interview Franklin gave a timeline that was at least an hour off, and he couldn't explain why his wife was out shopping for three hours and returned home around 2 a.m. He added that Franklin showed very little emotion or compassion towards the death of his adopted son.
"He was very cold and unsympathetic," said Miller. "Whenever a person loses a 16-year-old child I'd expect that they'd be at least somewhat emotional."
According to Defense Attorney Veronica Gorman, Franklin did show signs of remorse for not saving his adopted son from the fire, and the interrogation of Franklin yielded nothing because he's an innocent man.
"In that interview you can hear Ernest say, 'He should be here,' right?" asked Gorman. "You also hear him say, '(Expletive) sucks,' when he tells fire fighters that J.R is in the fire, correct?"
She said that multiple times law enforcement asked if Franklin started the fire to cover up for Heather Franklin committing the murder, or if they did it together, and he has consistently maintained their innocence.
She added while Franklin's emotional state may not have met the standards of what Miller thought they should be, Franklin wished he could have saved Jeffrey or brought him back, and was an advocate for adopting him since the beginning.
