And Never See Her Again (8 page)

Eric Holden, a well-known and highly respected specialist in interrogation, had been called in by Mike Adair to assist in the interview of Ricky Franks.

Holden had begun his career as a psychologist with the Texas Department of Corrections, then with the Texas Rehabilitation Commission, where he was a specialist in making diagnoses and evaluations on the basis of testing and test results. The licensed professional counselor was now in private practice. On thousands of occasions he had interviewed people that were perhaps involved in crimes, for both law enforcement agencies and defense attorneys.

Holden, who resides in Dallas, didn't arrive at the Fort Worth offices of the Special Crimes Unit until about 10:30 P.M. After being briefed about Franks and his possible connection to the Opal Jennings kidnapping, Holden entered the room where Franks was being held at about 11:30.

Holden wasn't in a rush. He took his time to make certain Ricky Franks was not only willing to be interviewed but that he understood what the interview was about. Holden needed to determine if Franks was in good condition both physically and emotionally, especially considering the lateness of the night. The psychologist talked with Franks at some length about the issues that would be brought up during the interview process. He then had Franks sign a release, agreeing to speak with Holden. A Miranda warning was part of Holden's release form, the second one Franks had been read that night.

Prior to meeting Franks, Holden had been told the suspect was a slow learner. However, in their conversations prior to the interview itself, Holden had determined Ricky Franks capable of conversing normally. He talked smartly, and didn't appear to be disadvantaged in his ability to communicate, understand, and deal with Holden on any issue. In fact, Franks had rather impressed Holden.

His preliminary assessment completed, the release signed and dated, Eric Holden was ready to commence with the formal interrogation. His goal was clear. He was to learn what happened to Opal Jennings and what part Richard Franks had played in her disappearance.

Eric Holden emerged from the 5'/2-hour session with Ricky Franks about 5:00 A.M. The expert interrogator looked exhausted. His eyes drooped and dark circles underscored his lower lids. He reeked of the smoke that had flooded the small room where he and Franks had smoked cigarettes and talked into the wee hours of the morning.

Holden held a yellow tablet filled with scrawled notes. Franks had admitted that he had picked up Opal Jennings in front of her house, but he insisted he had let the child go shortly after she had climbed into his car. Wearily Holden handed his notes to Kathy Manning.

Manning's nose crinkled and she squinted her eyes. Holden might be one of the best in his field of interrogation, but his handwriting left Manning distressed. She handed the notes to McCormick with a shrug.

After visiting with Holden for about a half hour, McCormick and Manning entered the room where Ricky Franks had been held all night.

"Because Mr. Holden's handwriting is hard to read, we're going to type it up to make it a little easier," McCormick told Franks. "It'll be just a little longer. Do you mind if we put this on a typed form? We'll be back and read it to you to make certain it's what you wanted to say."

"That's fine," Franks replied. Like Holden, Franks looked extremely tired. He hadn't slept, hadn't eaten, and had been drinking Dr Pepper and smoking cigarettes for more than ten hours.

Charlie Johnson was given the notes and asked to type up the written account. Several times Johnson asked Holden to interpret his handwriting, finally having Holden read the notes as he typed. When completed, the statement was given to McCormick, who read Franks's declaration to him:

I, Richard LeeFranks, prior to making any statement, having been duly warned by Investigator Danny McCormick, the person to whom this statement is made; that I have the right to remain silent and not make any statement at all and that any statement I make may be used in evidence against me in court; that I have the right to have a lawyer present to advise me prior to and during any questioning; that if I am unable to employ a lawyer, I have the right to have a lawyer appointed to advise me prior to and during any questioning; and that I have the right to terminate the interview at any time. Having been informed of these, my rights, and understand same, I hereby freely, intelligently, voluntarily, and knowingly waive these rights and not desiring a lawyer, voluntarily choose to make the following statement:

My name is Richard Lee Franks, my date of birth is 8/4/69. Ilive at [address blacked out] Sheridan in Fort Worth, Texas. I have completed twelve years of school, and I can read and write the English language.

On March 26, 1999, 1 went to Saginaw, Texas, to see my brotherDanny when I saw Opal Jennings and two other kids playing in afield beside a house. This was about 4:00 p. m. in the afternoon or a little later. I was driving a Ford Cougar, and was by myself. I went by Danny's house, saw the girls and a boy outside playing in the field. I stopped to talk to them and Opal said, "Where are you going? "I was in the car and Opal was talking to me through the fence, she asked where I was going, and I told her that I was going to see if my brother was home so I could go visit with him. I told Opal, "If he's not there, I'm going home." She said, "They might be at work," and I then asked her how she was doing and she said she was doing good in school. She said that she was getting good grades. She came up to the car on the driver's side, the driver's door was open, she came up to the door, gave me a hug, and shook my hand. I asked her if she was passing and she said, "I hope so. " I then told her that if she was doing good in school, then she would. I said, "I hope you pass." The other kids wanted her to hurry up so she could play with them. I said, "You need to get back and finish playing what you all are playing." They were playing some kind of ball. She reached in the car, I thought she was going to try and grab me, I didn't know what she was going to try to do, so I pushed her back and said, "What are you trying to do, I'm not the one to be doing it with." I didn't want to do nothing that would get me in trouble, she was just a kid. I don't see myself doing nothing like that. I was afraid she was going to make a pass at me or get me to take her somewhere. She was wanting me to take her to the store, she went around the front of the car to get in the passenger side. I was afraid she wanted me to take her to have sex with her or something. I took her to the store, she got in the passenger side, the other two kids were outside playing. I told her I was going to bring her back so she could finish playing with the other two kids. I took her to the convenience store a block from the house, I sat in the car, and she got something to drink.

She bought a Coke, then she came back to the car, she said, "Thank you for bringing me up here," but I said, "I won't do it again." Opal tried to move over toward me, I didn't know what she tried to do. She tried to grab me between the legs, she grabbed my dick. She wanted me to fuck her, I told her no. She said, "Fuck me." She tried to take her pants off, I told her, "No." She asked me why and I said, "Because I don't do that." She asked me why and I said, "Because you're too young and I could get in trouble for it." She unzipped my pants, took my dick out, she had it in her hand, she went down like she was going to go down on it. I pushed her back, I put my dick back in my pants. She was sitting beside me, when she went to bend over I pushed her back. I said, "I'm not going to have sex with someone younger than I am." I told her that she needed to get out of the car, this happened on the way back from the store. I took her to her house, and left her off the same place where I talked to her at. I don't know if she went in the house or not. I just wanted to get away from her. When I dropped her off, she gave me a hug, and I left, the other two kids were in the field playing.

Everything in this statement is true and correct and I said it in my own words. I stopped the interview at my request, when Igot tired. I was treated good tonight, and everything I said is in my own words.

The document was signed "Richard Franks," dated 08-18-99, at 8:00 A.M., and witnessed by Danny McCormick.

Ricky Franks made one correction to the document. He changed his brother's first name, incorrectly typed as "Donny," to "Danny." He initialed each paragraph "R.L.F."

McCormick stared at Richard Franks, hiding the disdain he felt for the suspected kidnapper. No six-yearold child would make sexual advances to an adult male. It was the typical response of a depraved pedophile. They frequently blamed their victims for their own sick sexual desires, but McCormick was a professional. He made no comment to Franks, he showed no personal feelings.

In addition to the written statement, Franks had also submitted to a polygraph exam. Four questions were asked Franks-all connected to the disappearance of Opal Jennings and the location of her whereabouts. Franks's answers all showed deception. As suspected, Franks had first-hand knowledge of Opal Jennings's kidnapping.

At 11:30 A.M., after Franks had signed his statement and after Eric Holden had returned to his Dallas residence, Danny McCormick and Special Agent Lori Keefer, with the Fort Worth FBI office, conducted an interview with Richard Lee Franks. Keefer and McCormick were about as opposite in status as any two persons could be. McCormick was tall, muscular, and an imposing figure; Keefer was petite, with soft brown hair and delicate features. But the two law enforcement professionals had one thing in common: they wanted to find out what had happened to Opal Jennings.

For the third time in some seventeen hours, Franks was read his Miranda rights. And for the third time in as many hours, he signed them, acknowledging that he understood and waived his right to legal counsel.

McCormick and Keefer had Ricky Franks begin by talking about his family. He had been married to Judy for five years, and although they had no children, Judy had a fifteen-year-old daughter named Kimberly. Ricky's voice softened as he spoke of his father dying four years earlier of a heart attack and of his mother, who lived in Cisco, Texas.

Franks's features hardened when he told of his mother's three marriages and his three stepfathers, and when he spoke of his first stepfather's physical abuse of him. Franks stated he had one blood brother and six half brothers and two half sisters. He had depended on his family most of his life to take care of him.

Franks seemed proud of the fact that he had graduated from Justin Northwest High School, admitting he had been in the special-education program.

It was when Franks began to talk about his past crimes that he exhibited some discomfort at being in the room with Agent Keefer. He fidgeted in his chair and focused his attention on McCormick.

Franks started by telling McCormick and Keefer that there was only one victim in his past, his half brother Dale's eight-year-old stepdaughter. Franks's eyes nervously darted toward Keefer, then back to his hands folded in front of him on the table. It was obvious he was uncomfortable speaking in front of the female FBI agent.

Noticing Franks's reluctance to elaborate on his past crime, McCormick brought Franks's focus back to him and away from Keefer. Franks then began an uncensored, and rather arrogant, account of the molestation of his niece.

"I don't feel like it was my fault," Franks stated. "Dale and his wife had gone out to the bars partying and left me there to babysit. They left some marijuana at the house and I smoked it. I was feeling real strange and couldn't hardly stand up. She wanted to watch some dirty movies and I started watching one with her. She started kissing me and then we went into the bedroom, where I tried to have sex with her, but I couldn't get my dick in her because she was too small."

McCormick stared blankly at the suspect. He talked of having sex with an eight-year-old child as though it were a normal act. Keefer felt distress at hearing the words the convicted pedophile spoke so casually.

"Ricky, you admitted to your probation officer that you were finally able to penetrate her. Right?" McCormick pushed.

"Yes, I did have intercourse with her," Franks admitted.

Franks explained that when his brother had gotten home, the girl had told her father what Ricky had done and he and Dale had had it out in the front yard of Dale's house.

"But that's the only time that it happened. It was because I had smoked marijuana and she told me she wanted me to do it," Franks insisted.

Franks announced that he had spent eight years on probation for the sexual assault and had made his final probation payment of $400 on April 1, 1999. His final payment had enabled him to get off probation.

"Didn't you tell your probation officer and sex counselor about other victims?" McCormick prodded.

Franks took a long breath, his eyes avoiding both McCormick and Keefer. He admitted to other victims and said that there were two named Amber and one named Lori. He wasn't sure of the last names of the girls but stated they were both relatives.

"I was set up by Lori," Franks contended. "She was ten years old and I was fourteen or fifteen at the time. Lori lived in Newark, Texas."

Just as he blamed marijuana for his violation of Dale's daughter, Franks blamed alcohol for the other incidents. He added that he and Lori were both young and she had initiated the contact.

Attempting to avoid any further discussion of his sex crimes, Franks changed the subject to his martial arts training.

"I began karate at age fifteen and took karate until I was twenty-eight," Franks boasted.

He bragged of having a black belt in karate, advising that his hands were lethal weapons.

"But I don't like to fight," he stated. "And with all my brothers taking up for me, I don't have to fight."

Franks explained that his real brother Rodney often took up for him, and if he had trouble with anyone, he would simply tell Rodney and he would fight his fights for him.

"Do you and Judy have fights or arguments?" Keefer asked.

'We argue, but I don't hit her," Franks said quickly without looking at Keefer. "I'll just leave or go out in the backyard and stay until I calm down."