DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Mechanicsville, VA 23111
Vol. 26, No. 46 | Richmond Suburban Newspapers | March 17, 2010
STOPS AT EVERY HOME IN TOWN
‘Suspect pool was immense’
WHO KILLED RUSSELL?
By Melody Kinser mkinser@mechlocal.com Life in Mechanicsville for Russell D. Franklin seemed full and productive: He was father to a 2-year-old son and had a good job and lots of friends. That is, until Aug, 14, 2004, when that life was cut short by a gunshot. Shortly after 3 a.m., the 27-year-old’s body was found in his Cadillac on Old Hickory Drive, near the entrance to Sherwood Crossing Apartments. The vehicle had crashed into a dumpster. Drew Darby, the initial investigator for the Hanover County Sheriff ’s Office, pursued reports of Franklin having had a “history of gang affiliations” in Maryland, according to an article that appeared in the Sept. 4, 2004, edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. In an affidavit used to search Franklin’s home, Darby said the victim had complained to his wife Kerry in a phone conversation before he died that he had been making the “same kinds of friends in Virginia that he used to have in Maryland.” He reportedly also told her that “things were getting crazy” and “his friends were
all shooting each other.” The Times-Dispatch article also said 15 guns – pistols and rifles – along with extra gun clips, weapon-repair parts and gun-part “shopping lists” were found in Franklin’s apartment. While that article said investigators learned through interviews with Martha Franklin, the victim’s mother, and his wife “that Mr. Franklin has a history of gang affiliations in Maryland,” his mother disputed that on a phone interview on Friday. “He was never in a gang,” she said from her home in Bryans Road, Md. She did say “There have been all sorts of rumors going around,” but she didn’t “put any credence in any of them. I don’t know of anybody that didn’t like him.” Ashland Police Chief Doug Goodman was a lieutenant in the Sheriff ’s Office at the time. Whether reports of Franklin’s alleged gang connections played any part in his death was “obviously something that we’re not going to ignore,” he said in the September 2004 article. Goodman also referred to Franklin’s other acquaintances as well in the Richmond area, saying investigators “don’t want to turn a blind eye to any avenue.”
PRSRT. STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Mechanicsville, VA Permit No.141
RUSSELL D. FRANKLIN Anyone with information on the Aug. 14, 2004 shooting can call 780-1000 or visit www. hanoversheriff.com
Chance Franklin is shown with the marker his mother Kerry erected at the site where his father was found shot in August 2004. Photo courtesy of
see RUSSELL, pg. 4 ` Martha Franklin
Family ties lead to Haiti relief aid By Melody Kinser mkinser@mechlocal.com Helping the people of Haiti is a family tradition for Nancy Krafft Moyer. When the country, one of the poorest, was rocked by a major earthquake on Jan. 12, the Mechanicsville woman knew exactly where to direct support: Our Little Brothers and Sisters. OLBS is a U.S. charity her parents, Frank J. and Polly Krafft, created in 1969 to support the orphanages and outreach programs of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH), which means Our Little Brothers and Sisters in Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia and Peru. “This is all I want to do,” Nancy said, “is to help other people. When we are blessed with good fortune, we can look out for those who are less fortunate than ourselves.” The year was 1968 when her
Submitted photo
The family of Nancy Krafft Moyer, left, has been involved in efforts in Haiti for 40 years. She is shown with her fiance, Doug Murray.
parents first met Father William Wasson and the children of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos. The 14-yearold orphanage housed 600 children then. With an annual budget of $250,000, Nancy said the older children were living in Cuernavaca see HAITI, pg. 14 `
Shuknpul celebrates 30 years Ruritans will sponsor their 30th annual event, which features oysters and tractor pulls. The Mechanicsville Ruritan Gates open at 11 a.m. and food Club will be celebrating 30 years of is served at noon. The tractor pull one of Hanover County’s favorite also gets under way around noon. springtime events: the Shuknpul. see SHUKNPUL, pg. 22 ` On Saturday, March 27, the
By Melody Kinser mkinser@mechlocal.com