Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Thank you.
If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient and flexible. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash AOM today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash A-O-M.
Hi, I'm Ashley Flowers, creator and host of the number one true crime podcast, Crime Junkie. Every Monday, me and my best friend Britt break down a new case, but not in the way you've heard before and not the cases you've heard before. You'll hear stories on Crime Junkie that haven't been told anywhere else. I'll tell you what you can do to help victims and their families get justice. Join me in a moment.
Join us for new episodes of Crime Junkie every Monday, already waiting for you by searching for Crime Junkie wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, where has she been? Today? No, she was right over there.
I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.
I'm Anastasia Nicolazzi, former New York City homicide prosecutor and host of Investigation Discovery's True Conviction. And this is Anatomy of Murder.
Instinct and experience. Human qualities that can seem to be at odds. But in a murder investigation, they can often lead detectives to the same conclusion, that the most obvious suspect is often the right one. But sometimes there's a case that makes us question our assumptions about what makes a quote, good suspect.
A murder so deranged in its motive that the detectives are left to do nothing but to continue to follow the evidence until the strange truth is finally revealed.
In August 2014, 28-year-old Frances Craig, who her friends called Franny, was on top of the world. The young mother was recently engaged, and she and her fiancé Eric had just moved into their dream home, a cozy three-bedroom in Jackson, Michigan, about an hour and a half west of Detroit. ♪
Despite the challenges of working two jobs and raising three kids, Frannie could not contain her joy and excitement about her upcoming wedding, which came as no surprise to her friends since Frannie was always known as such a fun-loving person. Her infectious laughter and a sense of humor that earned her the title of class clown in high school.
And while Franny jokingly referred to herself as a bit of a bridezilla, she still made time for her fiancé and her children, including her soon-to-be stepdaughter, and looked forward to starting their new life together, all now under one roof. A life that would be tragically and brutally cut short.
It was Sunday, August 10th, 2014, around 6.30 a.m., when Franny's fiancé, Eric, returned from his overnight shift to their new home. It was still dark outside, and as Eric walked through the quiet house and checked on their kids, they were still asleep in their beds.
In the master bedroom, Franny also appeared to be asleep. And rather than disturbing her, he had decided to head downstairs and crash on the couch. But not long after, Eric was woken up by his daughter in a panic. Something was terribly wrong with Mom. She wasn't waking up, and her skin felt cold.
When Eric returned to the master bedroom, he discovered Franny on the floor. Her sheets were soaked with blood. And by the time he dialed 911, the clock read 1055 a.m.
Detective Sergeant Brian Huttenlocker of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office was one of several law enforcement that responded to the house on Timbercrest Trail.
At my agency, we have four detectives, so we kind of do a little bit of everything. Not uncommon for us to get called to houses for deceased people. A lot of people die at their houses from natural causes. But upon entering Franny and Eric's bedroom, it became immediately clear that Franny's death was far from natural.
Franny had been bound, gagged with a scarf, and stabbed multiple times in her back and neck.
The medical examiner would later find evidence of over 90 stab wounds, as well as severe defensive injuries indicating that Franny had fought desperately for her life. Which means that someone somehow entered Franny's bedroom, brutally attacked her with a knife, and fled the scene while her children slept soundly just steps away. To the responding officers, it seemed almost inconceivable.
The kids were young. One was two or three. One was five or six. They didn't hear anybody come in. The 11-year-old was sleeping in the living room, which was off the main door. None of them heard or saw anything. As for Franny's fiancé Eric, he explained to police that he had last spoken with Franny by text a little after midnight. But it's his explanation of what he did when he got home that left police scratching their heads.
He had said that he worked the night shift, worked 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. He stopped on his way home, got a cup of coffee. When he got home, he went up to his bedroom at Typical, which he shares with his fiancee, and he found her on the ground, face down, didn't check on her, didn't feel her, just felt that she must have passed out there, and went downstairs.
The following is a recording of a statement Eric made to police just hours after his fiancée Frannie had been murdered.
i came home this morning because i worked 6 p.m to 6 a.m i went upstairs i checked both the girls room before going in our bedroom did you see anything on the mattress when you first came in i guess i might have saw that streak i thought maybe she had been drinking or something because she was in like almost like a funny position on the floor which
So according to Eric, when he looked in on Frannie and found her unmoving on the floor in their bedroom, he failed to notice the blood staining the sheets around her or the zip ties on her wrists or any of the 90 stab wounds in her neck and back.
I'm thinking is this at all conceivable that he could have completely missed some obvious signs of what was really a violent struggle and a homicidal rage. I mean for me,
two things that I would need to help me answer that question. I want to know what was his state of mind. I know he was returning back from work, but perhaps he was exhausted or maybe even stopped for a drink. I mean, we don't know at this moment. And number two, I'd stage the room once the crime scene was released and try to recreate those same conditions. You know, the lighting is an example to see if his story is even conceivable. What about you?
I didn't really jump to it being incredulous. I started to think about, okay, while it might not make sense looking at it in hindsight, it's dark. He's clearly got to be tired, right? He's worked overnight. And again, when he used the word passed out, was it passed out thinking maybe she'd been drinking or was it just as we say in the vernacular, or was it more the colloquial passed out as in asleep?
Again, it's definitely tilting my head, but I didn't jump there, or at least I can think of the alternate explanations as well. But it was not just Eric's behavior that night that police found suspicious. It was also his demeanor. Eric seemed calm, almost aloof in a way, in his reaction to Franny's brutal murder, one that took place just a few feet away from his own sleeping daughter and his stepdaughter's.
And not only was he demonstrating what might be termed some very untypical behavior for a loved one of a murder victim, he also said some things that would also maybe fit into that untypical box as well. Again, here is actual audio from his taped interview with police. Up until just now, maybe since we've been here, I thought that if it wasn't an accident, then it was probably self-induced. You mean suicide? Yeah. Yeah.
And the only reason I say self-induced is just because of how high strung everything is right before this wedding.
His initial reaction after discovering his fiancee dead in a pool of blood was to say something or even think that she may have killed herself. Almost like he was already beginning to cover his tracks, which for me raised a few big red flags. And for me, the thing here where, again, I did start to switch over more was then talking about, well, maybe he had noticed this streak of murder.
Because if you notice a streak of something that looks odd, I don't know, to me, that is the thing that you automatically go in and look. Again, the aloof, it's never one size fits all. And without knowing his personality, we've seen people faced with the worst of the worst that act in ways we just don't, quote unquote, expect.
But yes, admittedly, when you start to piece these things together, our head is turning in Eric's direction. And Anna Siegel, like you, I think investigators were thinking the very same thing. After hearing Eric's version of events, investigators asked him outright if he had anything to do with his fiancée's murder. Did you know? No.
So were Eric's strange admissions the symptoms of his own extreme trauma, or was he hiding something more sinister? Certainly, all of us had our mind made up that Eric was involved in
But would the evidence in this brutal murder tell a very different story? Want to connect with more family and friends and their native language isn't English?
then Rosetta Stone, the most trusted language learning program, is for you. Rosetta Stone teaches through immersion, like matching audio from native speakers to visuals, reading stories, participating in dialogues, and more. The True Accent feature even provides feedback on your pronunciation. Learn on the go with convenient, flexible, and customizable lessons as short as 10 minutes. From my own personal experience,
I could see the benefits of Rosetta Stone becoming more familiar with the local language when I'm traveling. Something as simple as understanding direction from the locals, but it also could help you stay safe, becoming even more aware of your surroundings. On my recent trip to Italy, I found Rosetta Stone so helpful. For a very limited time, our listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off.
That's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. Redeem your 50% off at rosettastone.com slash anatomy. That's rosettastone.com slash N-A-T-O-M-Y.
It feels great to receive a gift from a loved one. It's the thought that counts, and there's of course that element of surprise. But when you're shopping for something as personal as jewelry, it can be really satisfying to buy the exact piece you know you'll love. There's no better place to find that perfect something than BlueNile.com.
Blue Nile offers thousands of independently graded diamonds and fine jewelry at prices significantly below traditional retail. Whether you're looking for a bit of sparkle for yourself or the best gift of all time, Blue Nile offers some of the highest quality standards in the industry. I'm a big fan of shopping from home. Blue Nile's website is easy to navigate and I always get new ideas.
I've been really into layering necklaces this summer, and Blue Nile has a great selection with quality I know I can count on. If you have questions, Blue Nile's jewelry experts are on hand day and night via phone or chat. You can't beat the ease or convenience of shopping at Blue Nile. Go to BlueNile.com to find the perfect piece today. That's BlueNile.com, BlueNile.com.
Friday, August 15, 2014 would have been Frannie Craig's 29th birthday. But instead of a party, her friends and family were gathering for her memorial. The PAC service was a testament to her impact on the community and how loved she was by so many. Her close friends were really devastated over what happened. Her parents obviously were extremely devastated.
As for her fiancé Eric, his suspicious behavior continued to draw attention. He attended her funeral and her friends and family mentioned that he just was stoic. He didn't appear to be emotional. He just appeared to be going through the motions. The investigation into Frannie's murder was still in the very early stages, but everything in their gut and in their experience told detectives that Eric was their prime suspect.
I think most people, once some of the information came out, had assumed just common sense that the boyfriend or fiance was involved just because it didn't make sense. Anybody else could have done it.
After all, according to those who knew her and loved her, Franny had no enemies, held no grudges, and didn't know anyone with a motive to hurt her. But the crime scene seemed to tell another story. The extreme violence of her murder pointed to rage-filled overkill.
And that kind of personal up-close attack usually suggests a killer that knew his victim. And of course, investigators believe at the moment, no one knew Frannie better than her fiancé, Eric.
So the logical next questions would be, did Eric have a history of violence? Did they have a volatile relationship? And while there were no documented instances of violence, some people did have their doubts about the couple's compatibility, including Frannie herself.
She had told a couple of her friends that she was having second thoughts, which I don't think is super unusual in any relationship, but she was having second thoughts. I know her mother and the fiance got in a pretty heated argument. The family didn't think Eric would do something like this, but they weren't super fond of him either.
Another bit of damning information. Investigators learned that immediately after Franny was killed, Eric called their wedding venue seeking a refund on their deposit. Pretty much the entire focus on the investigation at that point was the fiancé. We wanted to get a more in-depth interview with the fiancé, so I did have two detectives take him back to the apartment to do a more thorough interview with him. Did you know?
It is important to note that Eric cooperated with the police from the beginning. And he stuck to his story that he was at work from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. the morning that he discovered her body. And that's an alibi that police could try to verify.
But the facts also point to a possible hole in Eric's alibi.
When we spoke with management, they did state that there's ability to sneak out a door someone would have to cover for you. But you could go out one of the exits. There's not cameras and that's not alarm. So we couldn't completely eliminate that he never left. The time sheet shows he didn't leave. The camera shows he didn't leave. But there is a way he could have snuck out. We couldn't completely rule out that he didn't come home sometime during the night.
And there's still that issue of believability. Whether his alibi held up or not, his demeanor at the crime scene, his 911 call, and his statements to police that he didn't know Frannie was dead when he checked on her, it was a bit far-fetched.
So he can't use a polygraph in a criminal proceeding. So that's just more of an investigative tool. But we did offer him a polygraph examination. Unfortunately for him, he failed the polygraph and what was described as he bombed the polygraph. And to make matters worse, a search of the family's computer revealed that Eric had an online dating profile and had corresponded with at least one woman in the weeks prior to Frannie's murder.
So we're like, with all that, Eric's got to be the one, so we just have to prove it now. Suspicion is one thing, but evidence is another. So police obtained a search warrant to hunt for any clues that might implicate Eric in the crime. First of all, when we did the search warrant, we looked for any type of zip ties at his residence. The ones we found did not match what was on Trani.
Investigators were also able to track the brand of zip ties found at the crime scene to a local hardware store where they were sold. But a check of Eric's credit card showed he had never purchased any. We did go to his work, went to search warrant to obtain samples of every zip tie they have there. None of them matched what was not granted.
Keep in mind that despite the brutality of Franny's murder, there was very little physical evidence left at the scene that could help identify the killer. No murder weapon, no prints, no DNA under Franny's nails. Which meant if Eric was the killer, investigators were running out of ways to prove it.
I would acknowledge that everything we tried to corroborate, we kept striking out. The video at work didn't help us out. It showed that he probably didn't leave. The cell phone records doesn't show him reaching out, contacting somebody within that time period.
There is nothing to give us that little bit extra we wanted. Not enough that we would be confident in taking it to the prosecutor to ask for charges, even if charges were authorized, that we would get a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. Everything circumstantial study was involved, but not that smoking gun.
So then the question becomes, if not Eric, who? Who had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to sneak into Franny's home in the middle of the night, tie her up, and stab her to death? All right, let's take Eric out of the picture. Let's see who else could have done this. Because before we can put all of our efforts in Eric, we've got to eliminate everybody else. Well, there were no signs of forced entry at the crime scene. And the electronics and jewelry left behind in the bedroom would rule out robberies.
But what about other people in Frannie's life? People other than her fiancé Eric? When I spoke with the family and the friends, anybody who could do this, and they did give me some different names. About a year prior, she was working at a store up in Lansing. She was a manager, caught two females cop-listing, and she got in a pretty physical confrontation with them.
As the result of that assault, Frannie suffered both physical injuries and some very real emotional trauma. They were charged with a crime. She had recently settled a lawsuit with them, and they had made some threats to come back and kill her.
But despite their threats, which were made over social media, which were well documented, the two women in Lansing had ceased contact with Franny months before the murder. And after verifying their alibis, police were able to eliminate them as suspects. And then there was the issue of Eric's buddy, a local man named Ryan Marshall, who had been crashing with Eric and Franny after his own house had burned in a fire.
Ryan and Eric were really close friends. Ryan had no place to stay, so they did allow him to stay with them for a couple months. Which was just more proof of Franny's kindness and generosity. But after a couple of months, who knows what kind of tensions may have developed. When they moved in June, Ryan was told that they really didn't have a room for him, so he was going to have to find his own place.
But apparently Ryan did not hold a grudge. Ryan not only had an alibi that checked out, but he was also quick to vouch for his buddy Eric, too. I had actually interviewed him shortly after the homicide occurred. He was asking if he ever saw Eric be violent with her or anything to support my case against Eric. And he spoke highly of Eric. He had no concerns that he was involved in the case.
But with no other potential suspects, investigators were still unconvinced that Eric had nothing to do with Frannie's death. So we eliminated ex-boyfriends of hers, her ex-husband, Eric's ex-wife, who Frannie had a PT a lot against. We eliminated probably six to eight people that could have somewhat of a motive. Once we got everybody eliminated, there was only one person left, and that was Eric.
And you might be asking what was happening with Franny and Eric's kids. Well, because he was still a suspect in an active homicide investigation, Child Protective Services were involved and created what's called a safety plan. So Franny's two children and Eric's own daughter had safe supervision away from Eric.
Eric was neither arrested nor totally cleared of suspicion. And as the weeks passed with no new breaks in the case, Franny's family began to fear that the killer would never face justice.
I spoke with Franey's dad once a week. When I kept him updated, I always think if that was my family member, how would I be? I'd be calling once a week, if not more. What are you doing? What are you doing on this case? What are you doing to try to find out who killed my daughter? So I try to put myself in their shoes and I would want to be notified along the way. And, you know, Scott, if we think about where investigators were in the investigation at that point, we have this
Odd, I guess we'll term it, behavior, things that don't seem to line up when you put them together or at least stack them on top of each other. But at the same time, there is really no tangible evidence at this point that seems like they could lead to any sort of arrest, even if they're looking at Eric as their prime number one.
There's no doubt investigators were facing some real challenges here. You know, you may be asking, is it enough to make an arrest? Or obviously, if it's not enough to make an arrest, you're not going to even be in a courtroom to get a conviction. You know, investigators didn't think so at that very point. And I agree with that. They really need to go back and get some more evidence. And hopefully it could be the forensic kind that could really tie either Eric in or Eric out.
Really, when I look at it, I don't really see any evidence against him at all. I mean, not even circumstantial. You have odd behavior. You have things that make you tilt your head, but nothing that at this point, based on where they were, that I would want to walk into court with, at least not yet. We always say that odd behavior...
is not a crime, right? Odd behavior is just that. And while it may raise a few red flags and it may make you look at somebody with a little bit of a tilted head, it's not evidence. And so ultimately, we know what it takes to put a case together, and that's not part of it. Now, the Michigan State Crime Lab had spent 15 hours processing that crime scene, but they faced a common problem that comes up when a murder suspect is someone who's close to the victim.
Anytime his DNA is going to come up any place, even on her or on her clothing, it's going to be expected. But there was one particular place where recovered DNA would prove more damning. And that was on the zip ties that were found around Frannie's wrists. If DNA could be extracted, it just might help identify her killer.
So at that point, we were kind of hoping the lab would come back with something to help our case point it in the right direction. And eventually, Detective Huttenlocker gets his wish. The Michigan Crime Lab is not only able to recover DNA that does not belong to Franny on the zip ties, they determine that the foreign DNA is already in the system.
So, Detective Sullivan was lead on this case. He got the results back from the crime lab and it said they've extracted DNA from the zip ties and it gave a CODIS number.
CODIS, which as we've talked about before, is the Combined DNA Index System. It's made up of multiple things, including it's a database of DNA profiles from unknown crime scene, missing persons, and amongst other things, also convicted offenders. Which means whoever murdered Franny may have killed before.
Is your child asking questions on their homework you don't feel equipped to answer? Maybe your child is too shy to ask questions in front of the entire class, but they can get extra help and positive feedback with IXL Learning. IXL Learning is an online learning program for kids. It covers math, language arts, science, and social studies. IXL is designed to help them really understand and master topics in a fun way with positive feedback.
This program will improve your kids' grades. Backed by research, kids using IXL are scoring higher on tests. From studies done in almost every state in the country, the kids who had IXL are consistently doing better. And one subscription gets you everything for all the kids in your home, pre-K to 12th grade.
If your child is struggling, this is the smartest investment you can make. And a month of IXL costs less than an hour of tutoring. Additionally, IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S.
Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now. And Anatomy of Murder listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com slash anatomy. Visit ixl.com slash anatomy to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.
Quick math. The less your business spends on operations on multiple systems on delivering your product or service, the more margin you have and the more money you keep.
Reduce costs and headaches? Graduate to NetSuite by Oracle. NetSuite is the number one cloud financial system bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR into one platform and one source of truth. With NetSuite, you reduce IT costs because NetSuite lives in the cloud with no hardware required accessed from anywhere. You cut the cost of maintaining multiple systems
because you've got one unified business management suite. You improve efficiency by bringing all of your major business processes into one platform, slashing manual tasks and errors. Over 37,000 companies have already made the move
So do the math. See how you'll profit with NetSuite. By popular demand, NetSuite has extended its one-of-a-kind flexible finance program for a few more weeks. Head to netsuite.com slash AOM, netsuite.com slash AOM, netsuite.com slash AOM. The Michigan Crime Lab had delivered results that would break Franny's murder case wide open.
The DNA on the zip ties were a match, not for Franny's fiance, Eric Wolf, but for a man named Cortez Antonio Butler, a 42-year-old parolee from Detroit, Michigan. Okay, it's somebody different, but we're like, I'm sure Eric's still connected to this case somehow. We're thinking at some point, maybe he heard somebody do it.
Immediately, investigators pulled the file on Cortez Butler and he began digging into his background because remember, just having his DNA on those zip ties alone was not going to get him charged with murder.
That's right. There's always a slight possibility that Butler could have touched the zip ties working at the hardware store or even at the factory where they were made. It's a common question when you have DNA that comes back to a suspect, which may appear completely random with no rhyme or reason, or even if they had access to your victim. The presence of his touch DNA is not a guarantee that he is a killer. But in this case, he actually is.
First thing we find out that Cortez Butler is on parole for homicide. It was murder second degree, pretty heinous attack. He had just been out on parole maybe six months, if that. Not only that, but Butler's previous conviction was a result of a murder-for-hire scheme. Cortez Butler was a hitman. And that fact puts Franny's murder in a whole new light.
Our theory at that point was Eric hired Cortez to kill Franny. But to prove that, they would have to establish some connection between Eric Wolfe and Cortez Butler, which seemed unlikely considering that Eric didn't have a criminal record. But guess what? Eric did have a family member who did.
We did know he had a family member that is serving prison for murder. One thing we wanted to know is, did the family member of Eric's ever what they call lock with Cortez Butler? So we got all the prison records to see if they were in the same facility at some point, to see if maybe Eric had reached out to this family member to get a hold of Cortez to commit the murder. And we found out they never were in the same facility.
So police aren't able to connect Butler to Eric, but given Butler's violent history and the fact that his DNA was found at the crime scene, he is now the top suspect in Franny's murder. But even with that evidence now in hand, investigators knew they needed to be patient while they built their case against him.
But wait, there's more. A break. A call comes from Detroit.
And it was one late night in December. I think about 11 o'clock at night, I get a phone call that they had a homicide and Cortez Butler is the suspect. So we all hopped in the car and went to Detroit.
As you might expect, Butler completely denied any involvement in Franny's murder. But with him in custody on other murder charges, detectives were able to obtain Butler's cell phone records, which placed Butler in the Jackson area on August 6th, 8th, and 10th, the day of Franny's murder.
The first time he didn't give them a whole lot, didn't really want to talk. He did throw out there if they were leaving, I'd be interested in talking if I could get this charge federally to spend my time there instead of in the state system.
Butler had just finished a 20-year stretch in the state penitentiary. Facing a second and maybe even a third murder charge, he was ready to make a deal to avoid going back. And, you know, I don't blame him. Pasta in the federal lockup beats bologna sandwiches at Joliet, or so I've been told. But there was a catch. Butler only wanted to give a statement if it wasn't recorded. And as a prosecutor, and even as most of you out there can imagine, that comes with some risks.
So they had to make a split-second decision because potentially the interview could get kicked out by the judge securing the case. I think they felt there's nothing to lose here. He's not going to talk if we don't, if we walk away and come back next week. So let's see what he had to say. And one of the things I think they wanted to focus on, they wanted to know if Eric was involved in this or not.
So detectives invite Butler to start talking, and what follows is a confession that is neither recorded nor guaranteed to be admissible at trial. But it does answer critical questions about the murder of Frannie Craig. The first revelation? That Frannie's fiancé, Eric Wolfe, had nothing to do with her murder. Not in the planning and not in the execution.
Frannie Craig's death was a result of a twisted scheme that was plotted months before. But as it turns out, she wasn't the intended target. It was their house guest, Ryan Marshall. Make today the day you kickstart a new healthy routine. Fuel up with factors.
It's a great way to meet your wellness goals this summer thanks to the menu of chef-crafted meals with options like Calorie Smart, Protein Plus, and Keto. And with Factor's no-prep, no-mess meals, you'll give yourself more time to enjoy your summer too.
Factors fresh, never frozen meals are dietitian approved and ready to eat in just two minutes. So no matter how busy you are, you'll always have time to enjoy nutritious, great tasting meals. I'm always looking for new ways to eat smart and save on time. And when I saw Factors meal variety and the quality of their food choices, I knew this would be my new summer try. I've ordered a week's worth of meals and I'm excited for them to arrive.
Make your day delicious from breakfast to dessert. Stay fueled with easy, nutritious options. Head to factormeals.com slash anatomy50 and use code anatomy50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month. That's code anatomy50 at factormeals.com slash anatomy50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month while your subscription is active.
Remember, Ryan was the friend of Eric's whose house had burned down and was invited then to stay with Eric and Franny. It was a visit that had stretched for months until the couple moved into their new home. As it turns out, investigators were well aware of Marshall and how he allegedly made his money and who he worked for. It was a man named Rodney McKee.
We were familiar with Rodney. He dealt drugs in Jackson. We recently arrested him on a gun charge. And so we believe the nexus at that point was Rodney Mussie. Well, at some point, Ryan and Rodney had gotten into a dispute. And in retaliation, Rodney had then set fire to Ryan's house. The only problem, Ryan Marshall was a witness.
So Ryan was going to testify against Rodney in the arson trial. Rodney was assuming he was going to get in prison, so he wanted Ryan killed so he could not testify against Rodney. Which leads us now to a third person, a man named Clifford McKee.
When Rodney wanted Ryan killed, he had reached out to Clifford because he knew Clifford had been in prison for a long time and knew people. He contacted Clifford, who he called Uncle, and said, can you find somebody to kill Ryan for me?
Clifford said he knew just the man, Cortez Butler. There's the connection. And just to quickly recap, since we have a lot of names floating around here, you have obviously Eric, who's Franny's fiance. You have Ryan, who was the roommate after his home burned down, who we now know had gone into a prior dispute with Rodney, which we're now told is the reason for the arson to Ryan's home, who now is introduced to a man named Clifford, who then knows Cortez Butler.
He knew of Cortez, knew Cortez was what we would call a hitman. So he reached out to Cortez to see if he was interested. So Rodney, Cortez and Clifford met on two different occasions and there was going to be money exchanged. Rodney was going to pay Cortez to kill Ryan.
The price? $10,000. Half up front, half when the deed was done. Assuming that Ryan Marshall was still living with Frannie and Eric in their new home, a murder plot was set in motion. Butler disclosed that he and Clifford McKee traveled from Detroit to Jackson County on August 9th, and that Butler had entered Frannie and Eric's home through an unlocked garage door.
He acknowledges going to the living room, seeing a child in the living room, which ended up being Eric's daughter, walked past her, saw the dogs. They didn't bark at him for whatever reason. He goes by both bedrooms of the two kids, describes them, describes going into Franny's bedroom. So he didn't find his intended target, Ryan Marshall, but he did find a sleeping Franny Craig.
Butler demanded information about Ryan Marshall's whereabouts. She looked at him.
And for a man who placed no value on human life and who would gladly kill for money, that was enough to unleash his rage. Rodney assumed that Ryan was going to be at the house on Timbercrest. He never lived there, so it was just bad information. And so Franny essentially was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Butler's confession cleared Franny's fiancé, Eric, of any involvement in her murder. And in short order, Rodney and Clifford McKee were both under arrest. Detective Huttenlocker made sure that Franny's father was the very first to know.
First guy I called was right after we make the arrest, I call him and let him know. I think his take on until we get a conviction doesn't mean anything to me. He was happy with all the work we did, but until we get the conviction, anything can happen at that point.
Cortez Butler, Rodney McKee, and Clifford McKee were all charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. And contrary to what he may have hoped for, Butler was not granted his wish to be tried in federal court. We never promised him that. We kind of, when you waited, we'll bring the ATF guy along. We'll see if we can get you something, but no guarantees. I guess he broke the dice.
Instead, all three were arrested and set to face a single jury trial in Michigan, during which Butler's statement to police was admitted into evidence. He didn't have much of a defense. There was not really any defense at all. As prosecutors laid out their case against Butler, his confession, the cell phone records that placed him near the scene, and the DNA on the zip ties, Butler laughed and smiled at the cameras and even bragged about the murder on the stand.
I just think he's an emotionalist person. I don't think he ever had any emotions. I just think that's who he is. He's cold-hearted.
And after all the evidence had been presented and the jury went back to deliberate, they came back with their verdict. 27-year-old Rodney McKee, 49-year-old Clifford McKee, and 43-year-old Cortez Butler were all found guilty of murder in the first degree, the conspiracy to commit murder, and first-degree home invasion. The McKees were also found guilty of soliciting the homicide. The prosecutor summed up her assessment of the men in her closing statement. This...
unholy trinity is as evil a group of individuals as I have seen. All three men were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Clifford McKee refused to attend the sentencing, but Frannie's mother Robin addressed all three of her daughter's killers in a gut-wrenching statement. Here is a portion of what she said. You took from our family the most precious, beautiful person in the world.
Frances was our everything. We had to wake up every morning knowing that there would never be another phone call, another conversation. We will never hear her laugh again or see her beautiful smile.
Every holiday there will always be an empty chair. You left our only child on the floor to let her innocent little babies find her the next day. You left us with the task of explaining to them why they no longer have a mother and how there's bad people in the world and they hurt their mommy. You know, Anastiga, listening back to her statement, the first word that came to my mind was powerful.
The one thing that she said to really get me was, Franny was our everything. And hearing that, I thought about the emptiness that the family felt, something that will likely never go away. And it really put together for me three emotions that we hear about so often in these cases, and they are the anger, the dismay, and that just raw pain. You can hear all three in her voice as she speaks. ♪
It gives the family closure. It gives the case closure. But most importantly, it gives closure for the victim who's not there to tell her side of the story. All three men eventually challenged their convictions. The McKee's case is currently in the hands of the Michigan Supreme Court, and Cortez Butler's appeal was denied.
Certainly, all of us had our mind made up that Eric was involved. And I think the important part is we let the investigation decide it. We didn't put our emotions into it or our perceptions into it. We just let the investigation decide itself. And I think it ultimately did exactly what it's meant to do.
Every time I tried to build the case against Eric, nothing supported it. And I think that's the one thing I took from it is always keep an open mind and everything's not black and white and let the investigation tell the story. Don't try to tell the story yourself.
I wanted to dive back into the DNA from my final thoughts as it played such a crucial role in the case IDing the killer, but clearing the name of a man who spent the entire investigation at the top of everyone's suspects list. Frannie's fiance, Eric Wolf, who even though gave conflicting statements,
acting in a behavior that concerns Franny's friends and investigators, his innocence is undeniable and was trying to grieve throughout this entire process. Forensic science is the unbiased blade of truth. It cuts swiftly to vindicate the innocent as undeniably as it catches the guilty.
Three men conspired to kill a witness to an arson. As they tried to carry out that crime, they instead brutally took the life of a 28-year-old mother, daughter, and friend, Frances Craig. Her fiancé was suspected, yet he was truly innocent of any crime. Then adding to his grief in losing his love was now the pain of being suspected of being her killer too.
I applaud Brian's openness in talking about their incorrect initial focus on Eric. His transparency speaks to the humanness in all professions, including law enforcement.
As a society, we need to keep that type of openness and transparency acknowledged to try to understand mistakes, misdirections, and that hopefully can help us to instill trust in our system overall. But fortunately, in this case, law enforcement did not ultimately let their suspicions rule the day. Brian and his colleagues did pivot and followed the actual evidence as it slowly came to light.
Frances Craig's family lost her many, many years before her time. The light of her life will continue to shine through them all. And that cannot be taken, ever, even by death. Our hope for her loved ones, her children in particular, is for healing, support, and lots of love around them all. Tune in next week for another new episode of Anatomy of Murder.
Anatomy of Murder is an AudioChuck original. Produced and created by Weinberger Media and Frasetti Media. Ashley Flowers is executive producer. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?
Hi, I'm Ashley Flowers, creator and host of the number one true crime podcast, Crime Junkie. Every Monday, me and my best friend Britt break down a new case, but not in the way you've heard before, and not the cases you've heard before. You'll hear stories on Crime Junkie that haven't been told anywhere else. I'll tell you what you can do to help victims and their families get justice.
Join us for new episodes of Crime Junkie every Monday. Already waiting for you by searching for Crime Junkie wherever you listen to podcasts.