Following on from my previous post. Gary Northington's conviction (in 1991) came from his arrest in 1987 for conspiracy to murder and soliciting someone to murder. This related to the disappearance of his wife Gail. He got life and is still imprisoned (although 2018 posts - see
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/1b78ee53-7364-4ad6-b8ee-e44aebe25b2d/downloads/1ce4p3a3m_197938.pdf ) suggest he may be due for release, possibly related to ill health. I presume he was convicted of conspiracy and soliciting murder as it was easier to prove these charges in the absence of a body. Oddly, he was also convicted of perjury in 1988, although that seems to stem from the same arrest.
Northington has made allegations about the behaviour of various parties, including his father in law and senior LE figures in Michigan, in respect of framing him. He seems to relate this conspiracy to his activities in alleging the existence of a child abuse ring, based in Nebraska and involving prominent people. This seems to be a reference to what became known as the Franklin affair, as it centred around allegations against Lawrence E King Jr, who ran the Franklin Community Federal Credit Union in Omaha, Nebraska. This burst into the open in 1988 and was the subject of extensive investigation which found it to be a hoax. The only odd thing about this is that Northington seems to have been making these allegations some years before it hit the headlines. I also wonder if his perjury conviction may relate to this (although it may be to do with the murder trial). I ask this as at least two others were indicted for perjury in the Franklin affair.
My feel for this is that Northington is a fantasist and that Gail is his victim. However, the stench around the Franklin affair is enough to Make anyone wonder. Whilst the sexual abuse allegations are (probably) garbage, there is no doubt Lawrence King was a major crook and that he was tied in with some very big political operators. Why did Northington go down this route? He must have known that if he was lying it would make things worse, and if he was telling (what he believed) to be the truth - things would be even worse. Silence would have been his best strategy. This seems the biggest remaining question.
Walter Verdun, Gail's father, died in 2005 (see his obituary at
Walter E Verdun (1931-2005) - Find A Grave... ). Gail is listed as predeceasing him and it also shows her large surviving family. I can find no evidence of the accusations against him made by Northington.
So the remaining mystery is what happened to Gail's body, and what is Northington trying to achieve?
