The Axe Murder of the Franklin Family
It wasn't so long ago that another murder shocked our little city. This murder was too close to home. A young man who went to our church, who my parents taught in catechism, whose family my family knew well, decided to kill his family with the blunt end of an axe. Everyone knew Jeffrey Franklin was troubled. He'd been going to counseling and had ADD. He'd been on Ritalin. A friend of mine's younger brother was best friends with Jeffrey and he said that Jeffrey was an angsty young fellow, but what teenager isn't? He did use drugs but most of those of us who didn't know him personally didn't see what was coming. He wore all black and spoke out against authority, but he didn't horde guns or speak of murder. He didn't torture puppies. He was just another teen that was uncomfortable in his skin and a bit lost.
The night Jeffrey Franklin took the blunt end of an axe and hacked his parents to death, he also did serious damage to his two younger siblings. They had severe trauma and brain damage. One of his sisters was at dance and escaped the attacks, but no one else in the family was shown any mercy. Jeffrey had spoken out many times against his parents but he had always loved his siblings. So when he attacked his three baby siblings and bashed their skulls in with all the strength in his body it seemed like something monstrous must have taken control of him. The attacks were so brutal that the first responders at the seen of the crime had to leave the house to vomit. Many had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for years to come just from seeing the atrocities that had been committed by one young man. That night I watched Jeffrey on the news. He taunted the news cameras and stuck his tongue out at those who were watching him. He had taken the police on a high speed pursuit that had ended in kicking and profanity. Jeffrey laughed, dripping with blood, as he cursed and fought and spit at those who watched.
Three nights later Jeffrey was on the news again. This time he was quiet, penitent. He was remorseful, almost teary. He wasn't the same boy who had mocked his parents as they lay drowning in their own blood or who had brutally attempted to hack his five year old sister and bay brother to death.
I have always had a theory about Jeffrey Franklin and his complete transformation. The lawyers say it was the Ritalin, but I've seen too many people on Ritalin to believe that is possible. The one thing Jeffrey had been getting into prior to his parents death was the dark arts. According to friends, he had been attempting to summon demons and use magic to improve his life. I believe he became too successful and whatever it was that he summoned took hold of him and wouldn't let him go. Jeffrey claimed he couldn't remember what happened that horrible night. I'm one of the few people that actually believed him.
Update 2017: This story was written many years ago and there is a lot of new information available on this case that wasn't available when this was written. Please read the comments below to get a more complete story from those who knew Jeffrey. His drug abuse and mental illness are told best by those who have known him. I appreciate everyone's comments and feedback. I have written an updated story that is more accurate. Please follow the link to read it. http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-franklin-murders-follow-up-and.html
Comments
What date did this happen on? And was this in or near the town of Braintree by any chance? I've heard from other sources that that place is a town that's more than a little off, especially for its population density. I've been following the story of the university professor shooting closely and there seems to be some serious violence and altogether weirdness linked to the town. Tell me if you've heard anything similar. How did you find out about his interest in the dark arts? Do you have any further links to this story?
We were friends before he started doing hard drugs.
Just wanted to clarify that bit.
Also, I heard from my classmates @ Grissom that after this event took place the girls moved out of state to live with family.
I remember this was pretty horrifying for the community and a lot of stories went around but this post makes it sound slightly exaggerated. I could be wrong - I certainly wasn't there and don't know any details you can't find online.
I thought it was especially sad, that after the house sat for a while then sold - the new owners would have random, "concerned" neighbors ask if they knew what had happened there.
I do feel like the entire vibe around the house changed after the murders. I would always walk past it on my walks up to Hobbs Cemetery & after all that it just looked like time stopped and the sun stopped shining.
He did attack his brothers and sister but none of them died. the youngest sustain the most brain injuries.
i grew up not far from them and his sister was in my 2nd grade class and had just returned to our middle school. i'll never, ever, forget. i'm amazed to see how well the kids are all doing, it's terrible they had to witness and be subjected to any of the horrors.
Sources: I live in Huntsville
Camelot was a great neighborhood, it still is today.
Kid just went overboard period. This story will never go away. At the time, there wasn't really any crime what so ever on the south end of town. We went to school together ect, but everyone that lived in the neighborhood either hung out together, hung out at R&L bridge, or Camelot Pool or the Creek. When this event happened people were just looking around at each other like WTF.
We knew the family through the Church and school. The Franklins were nice people all the way around. I felt horrible for them. I do remember a week or two prior going to mass and seeing Jeff there. He had this blank, distant stare and just gave you the creeps. I had wondered then, being a nurse, if he was psychotic or high. I think back now and figure probably both. I do not know how true it is, but we did hear that some time prior to the murders the parents petitioned a judge for committed inpatient treatment for him and was denied.
He did dabble with Dark Arts, but I doubt that really was the cause of him snapping. Knowing how much he did drugs, I can say as a nurse, the drugs are enough to make a person snap like that. I've seen cocaine-fueled rages where people are totally out of their minds and seem to have superhuman strength. So little wonder he was a "changed" person when he detoxed.
At last knowledge, he was due for parole on June 1st of this year, but I can find no evidence of the outcome or if he had the hearing yet. I hope for the sake of all that he is denied. The siblings were taken out of Huntsville and moved with family up North is what I had heard. I can't blame the family for getting them out of that town. There was nothing left for them there. I will never forget this case as long as I live - terribly sad and tragic.