MS MS - RICKY LEVERT FRANKLIN, suspected SK, 1999-2009

mysteriew

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Six years ago, in the St. Thomas area of Bolton, four women were found brutally murdered in a remote wooded area. Investigators say the first victim, found in July of ‘99, was a black female. She had been shot in the abdomen with a high-caliber weapon. Three more victims were found deep in the woods the same year on Halloween.

"Kind of erie. I think you can really feel the presence of that when you're out here," says Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin.

Some of those working the case describe it as the killing fields. The location is far from homes, a great distance from the nearest road. A cry for help from here will likely to go unheard. Only two of the victims were ever identified.

The only known local victim, 41-year-old Mabel Conic, was last seen alive on Mill Street with two black males, getting into a red sports car with a black top. A task force of county, state, and federal investigators has now joined forces to solve the four murders. The crime scene was searched for clues, but none were found. Now the public is being asked to help catch the person or persons who committed the murders.
http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4015608
 
mysteriew said:
Bolton, Ms.
Thank you, Mysteriew. I thought at first this was in the Caribbean, there are these murders in Antigua I've been watching to see more news on...
 
Bolton is indeed in Mississippi. It's right on the edge of Hinds County (where Jackson is located) but it's a good distance from Jackson, pretty much a small community where (ordinarily) things like this were (up until 1999, at least) not known to be common at all. This case really died on the vine, very sad.
 
From 2009:

http://www.msnewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11481540

In a strange turn of events, Franklin surrendered Monday following the alleged attack of a 21- year-old female he picked up in Jackson. We are told by sources that a relative walked in on the assault at Franklin's trailer. Franklin allegedly ran. The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment Saturday night. She claims Franklin was at UMC while she was being discharged and he tried to get himself admitted.

This alleged assault on the young Jackson woman he picked up comes several months after he beat a murder rap in Mabel Conic's death. Last March 2008 Franklin was released on his own recognizance and the case turned over the a grand jury. Officials said there was no indictment for lack of new evidence in the Conic murder. Now, this quiet unassuming man faces charges of kidnapping, savagely beating, and raping yet another victim.

Franklin was convicted of kidnapping and aggravated assault in that case:

http://courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO90101.pdf

No date on this one:

http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/8013...investigates-cold-case-mystery-of-mabel-conic

It was July of 1999 when the body of a young black female was found shot to death near an oil well near the St. Thomas community of Bolton. Her remains were never identified. She's known as Jane Doe #1. On Halloween 1999, squirrel hunters walked up on the remains of second body at a separate location on St. Thomas Road. Investigators identified 23-year-old Shanon McKinney, stabbed 48 times in the head with a screwdriver. In the same area they found Jane Doe #2... Mabel Conic, a known prostitute, age 41. Her cause of death was listed as possible gunshot trauma...

Pittman said co-defendant Buster Davis admitted to the FBI and other investigators that he anonymously telephoned Conic's brother and told them Franklin killed Conic. She testified that Conic's boyfriend saw her get into a red sports car with two black males matching Franklin and Davis' descriptions on Mill Street near Monument Street.

She also stated that in 2000, a witness reported to the FBI that in 1999 Davis told him that after the two picked her up they drove to a convenience store. Conic, she said, begged Davis for help, telling him Franklin was going to kill her. Davis saw Conic's hands were tied together. Pittman also stated that Davis revealed that Franklin shot Conic with some type of hunting firearm at close range in his red Camaro... Franklin "loves to beat up prostitutes" and this was not the first time Franklin has killed a woman."
 
Some information on the 2 Jane Doe's, not in Namus

Jane Doe 1

Located July 19-1999
Est age: 18-22
Race and gender: Black Female
Age:15-25 Yrs.
Height: 5'
Wgt: 110-120 LBS
EST. date of death: 10 days
Her decomposed remains were found at an oil well in the St. Thomas area of Bolton, MS
She'd died one or two weeks earlier, shot in the abdomen
had given birth or had an abortion in the past
She was naked, lying on top of bottoms to a yellow rain slicker
Other items found with victim: Black piece of cloth, piece of equipment chain
Fingerprints available
HCSO case # 99-2271
Contact:
Det. Rebecca Pittman at Hinds County SO.
601-397-1027


Jane Doe 2

Located Halloween 1999
Evidence leads to believe she died before 1995
Her remains were so old, her sex cannot be determined for sure.
Est. Age: 18-25 ( but less than 35 yrs old)
Height: 5'3"-5'9"
Race: indeterminant
Clothing located nearby: Grey pullover shirt, Fashion Park brand
Jordache blue jean shorts, size 7/8
"gold chain with gold cross pendant"
The clothes were shared by prostitutes who lived together. The shorts had been mark "BS," for Brownwyn Strickland, who is now deceased.
Skeletal remains found deep in the woods a quarter of a mile from the oil well in the St. Thomas area of Bolton
She was found near the skeletal remains of two murdered Jackson prostitutes who lived in the Mill St. area.
DNA Availiable
HCSO case # 99-3554
Contact:
Det.Rebecca Pittman, Hinds County SO.
601-397-1027

http://z13.invisionfree.com/Ms_Missing_and_UID/index.php?showtopic=58
http://z13.invisionfree.com/Ms_Missing_and_UID/index.php?showtopic=59
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss...9354954808?sk=photos_stream&tab=photos_albums
 
Here's a rough timeline. Please feel free to correct me on any errors. I'm having a hard time piecing it together from the available articles.

July 1999 - The body of Jane Doe #1 is found near an oil well in the St. Thomas area of Bolton, MS. She had suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen. LINK

October 31, 1999 - The bodies of three more women are found in a nearby area off of St. Thomas Road, 4.7 miles from Ricky Franklin's residence. One victim is ID'd as Shanon McKinney, 23, who'd been stabbed in the head 48 times with a screwdriver. The second victim was Mabel Conic, 41, dead of gunshot trauma. The identity of the third woman, referred to as Jane Doe #2, remains unknown. LINK

2000 - Ricky Franklin is convicted of piercing a man's skull with a brass object, leaving him permanently disabled. LINK

2008-2009 - Ricky Levert Franklin is charged with the kidnapping and murder of Mabel Conic. LE says (according to reports) that he is a suspect in the murders/disappearances of at least ten women.

A Hinds County judge drops the kidnapping charges. The murder case is bound over to a grand jury, and eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence. LINK

November 7, 2009 - Franklin picks up a woman at her home in Jackson. Later that night he takes the victim to his trailer, where brutally rapes and beats her. LINK

March 2012 - Franklin is convicted of aggravated assault and kidnapping in the 2009 crime, and receives 30-year and 20-year sentences, respectively. He is not convicted on charges of sexual battery and forcible rape. LINK LINK LINK

February 2014 - The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the kidnapping conviction, but reversed and remanded for new trial the count of aggravated assault.
70. This court reverses Franklin's conviction of aggravated assault because the lesser-inlcuded-offense instruction of simple assault should have been submitted to the jury, and remands this case to the Hinds County Circuit Court for a new trial on aggravated assault consistent with this opinion. This Court affirms Franklin's conviction of kidnapping because we find no error based on the admission of Randolph White's statements or the denial of Franklin's motion to dismiss for violation of his right to a speedy trial, and Franklin's right to a fair trial was not violated by the prosecution's closing argument.

71. COUNT III: CONVICTION OF KIDNAPPING AND SENTENCE OF THIRTY (30) YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, AFFIRMED. COUNT IV: CONVICTION OF AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, REVERSED AND REMANDED. APPELLANT IS TO BE GIVEN CREDIT FOR TIME SERVED. LINK
 
A few more tidbits

Cold Case Suspect Turns Himself In
Posted: Nov 10, 2009 4:10 AM CDT
By Mkozar

[...]
According to a witness statement, "Ricky Franklin held me against my will, threatened my will, threatened my life, beat me severely with a bottle and his fist, choked me by grabbing my windpipe, tried to bite off my ear, put his penis in my mouth, and raped me. I lost consciousness during this attack....When I was being discharged, I saw Ricky Franklin sitting on a bed talking to a black women. I pointed him out to UMC employees and the person who was picking me up. I also reported seeing Ricky Franklin to UMC Police. I later learned he was trying to get admitted to UMC."

[...]
In 2000, Franklin was convicted of aggravated assault for piercing a man's skull with a brass object. The man was permanently disabled.

Jury Reaches Verdict In Kidnapping, Rape Trial
Ricky Franklin Found Guilty On 2 Of 4 Counts In 2009 Attack
UPDATED 11:45 AM CST Jan 13, 2012

[...]
"Reportedly, (Franklin) has tendencies to doing some very, very strange things to women, one being that he sucked the blood from her nose," said Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith. "There are some other things (that) probably did not come out at trial that he has done."

[...]
Smith said in 2009 that Franklin was suspected in at least 10 slayings or disappearances. Franklin was not charged in those cases because of a lack of evidence, prosecutors said.
Former prostitute describes attack by suspected killer
Posted: Nov 10, 2009 7:07 PM CDT - Updated: Dec 23, 2012 8:39 PM CDT
By Marsha Thompson

[...]
In an exclusive interview the former prostitute and drug user describes a near death encounter with Franklin.

"He pulled a 9 millimeter gun on me. Held it to my face and forced me to get in. Somehow, thanks to God... that I got the door open and I jumped," she said. "I was able to identify him... Through a photo lineup in a book and I identified the car I was in."
Tragically this woman's case was never investigated. Franklin was never arrested.

"Whoever the detective was he never followed up on the case. They told me the car was registered back to Edwards or Bolton, Mississippi. They never did anything about it. I guess because it was a woman on the street, prostitute, and was using drugs," she said.
Bolton suspect once eyed as serial killer back in jail
Posted: Nov 09, 2009 5:20 PM CDT - Updated: May 22, 2010 12:48 PM CST
By Marsha Thompson

[...]
According to the victim on or about November 7, 2009, she was approached in the Virden Addition area of Jackson by Franklin. He was driving a brown Ford pickup. He wanted her to go to a club in Bolton. He then took her to his trailer on White Singleton Road in Bolton. Franklin she says, held her against her will, "threatened my life, beat me severely with a bottle and his fist, chocked me by grabbing my windpipe, tried to bite off my ear, and raped me."
The District Attorney tells WLBT News, someone entered the room when the attack was underway and managed to stop the attack.



MAP
shows the general location of St. Thomas Road between Jackson and Vicksburg.
 
I'm always humbled by the work you do on some of these cases bessie, we definitely need to see about getting you a raise :) I didn't delve into this case to the extent you did but the timeline looks about right to me.

Although he was never convicted for the murders they felt like he was responsible for quite a few and in a way some justice was being served by the 50 year sentence for kidnapping/aggravated assault convictions. I missed the reversal on the agg assault, so now until that is retried he's only on the hook for about 25 years or less. (did I get that right?) I didn't catch his age, couldn't find it in the articles I read but he didn't look much older than early 30's? The 2 JD's are what got to me, they didn't seem too worried about trying to find out who these women were. I had never even heard of this case until Ms. Okie bumped it up.
 
I'm always humbled by the work you do on some of these cases bessie, we definitely need to see about getting you a raise :) I didn't delve into this case to the extent you did but the timeline looks about right to me.

Although he was never convicted for the murders they felt like he was responsible for quite a few and in a way some justice was being served by the 50 year sentence for kidnapping/aggravated assault convictions. I missed the reversal on the agg assault, so now until that is retried he's only on the hook for about 25 years or less. (did I get that right?) I didn't catch his age, couldn't find it in the articles I read but he didn't look much older than early 30's? The 2 JD's are what got to me, they didn't seem too worried about trying to find out who these women were. I had never even heard of this case until Ms. Okie bumped it up.
Yep, 25 years or so, give or take. I didn't see his age in any of the articles, either, and finally I found it in the last article I read. He was 37 in 2009. http://www.wjtv.com/story/21272972/cold-case-suspect-turns-himself-in

And I agree about the JD's. Heck, I don't think they put a lot of effort into nabbing him on the victims they did ID. With four bodies, three practically in the same location, you'd think there would have been enough evidence to make the charges stick on at least one of the murders. Then when he gave himself up for the kidnap and beating, and there was a live victim to testify, plus an eyewitness, the prosecutors screwed up on the jury instructions. I hate to knock LE and prosecutors, but criminy...this was a guy the authorities told the media was a suspected SK in at least 10 murders/disappearances. You just have to wonder how they let that happen.
 
Hi,

I have been looking at the cases above via web search. One of the ladies found with these two unidentified persons was Shannon McKinney, I posted a link below to show the red tape put on these cases. They also didn't run records given delaying Shannon being ID by like 2 years. I also learned from that story that some of the info may have been incorrectly entered into the systems they do use. So I dug a bit and I found that there was a 25 year old from Leake County Mississippi (Micky Colman) NAMUS(MP#408) last seen in Jackson Mississippi in Jan. 7, 1999. I wonder if its possible she is the Jane Doe HCSO case # 99-2271 listed above. The investigator listed above is deceased now.

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2006/feb/01/missing-shannon-family-wants-closure/
 
Hi,

I have been looking at the cases above via web search. One of the ladies found with these two unidentified persons was Shannon McKinney, I posted a link below to show the red tape put on these cases. They also didn't run records given delaying Shannon being ID by like 2 years. I also learned from that story that some of the info may have been incorrectly entered into the systems they do use. So I dug a bit and I found that there was a 25 year old from Leake County Mississippi (Micky Colman) NAMUS(MP#408) last seen in Jackson Mississippi in Jan. 7, 1999. I wonder if its possible she is the Jane Doe HCSO case # 99-2271 listed above. The investigator listed above is deceased now.

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2006/feb/01/missing-shannon-family-wants-closure/

I did see Micky Colman back when I was looking at this case and thought she might be a possibility for that jane doe. It would be disappointing to say the least if they have not looked at her for this JD given her last reported date and location. She had a couple tattoo's which might have ruled her out depending on the condition of the JD remains when found. Micky's Namus page which don't look like its been updated since 2008 lists no dna available but I have seen her name listed on other UID cases as a "rule out" so maybe they have her dna. Thanks for taking the time to look ghodge.
 

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