
Description
Joseph Paul Franklin: A Chronology of Hate
1950:
- Joseph Paul Franklin is born as James Clayton Vaughn Jr.
1976:
- Franklin commits his first known act of racial violence: he sprays an interracial couple with mace in Atlanta.
1977:
- Late 1977 (exact date unspecified): Franklin bombs a synagogue in Tennessee.
- August 7, 1977: Franklin shoots and kills Alphonse Manning Jr. and Toni Schwenn, an interracial couple, in a parking lot at East Towne Mall in Madison, Wisconsin.
- 1977 (exact date unspecified, likely after bombing and prior to Gordon’s murder): Franklin confronts and kills a black man and a white man in a parking lot in Wisconsin. (Note: This might be the same event as the Manning and Schwenn murders, but the source lists it separately without naming the victims).
- 1977 (exact date unspecified): Gerald Gordon is shot and killed by Franklin while standing in front of a synagogue in St. Louis after attending a bar mitzvah.
1977 – End of 1980:
- Franklin goes on a “killing spree,” murdering at least 15 people and seriously injuring at least six across 11 states. During this time, he roams the country, robbing banks and using a sniper rifle to target victims, primarily black men and boys, interracial couples, and Jews.
1978:
- Franklin shoots Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt. Franklin is never charged for this shooting.
1980:
- August 20, 1980: Franklin kills Ted Fields (20) and David Martin (18), two black men, near Liberty Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. Franklin had previously seen them as part of an interracial jogging group. These are the last murders in his spree for which he was convicted.
- 1980 (exact date unspecified): Vernon Jordan Jr., attorney, business executive, and civil rights activist, is shot in the parking lot of the Marriott Inn in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
- December 9, 1980: The House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary holds a hearing titled “Increasing violence against minorities,” which includes content covering Franklin.
1980 – 1996:
- FBI files are generated covering Joseph Paul Franklin’s entire crime spree, including a psychological personality assessment, interview transcripts, and material from local police agencies (particularly Wisconsin law enforcement).
1982:
- Franklin is acquitted of the attempted murder of Vernon Jordan Jr.
1983 – 2012:
- Court documents related to Franklin, primarily opinions from appellate cases where he is a party, are generated.
2013:
- November 11, 2013: Joseph Paul Franklin is executed in Missouri for the 1977 murder of Gerald Gordon.
2015:
- The U.S. Department of Justice publishes the report “Lone Wolf Terrorism in America – Using Knowledge of Radicalization Pathways to Forge Prevention Strategies,” which mentions Franklin.
Cast of Characters
- Joseph Paul Franklin (born James Clayton Vaughn Jr.): A white supremacist serial killer active from 1976 to 1980. He was convicted of eight murders and suspected of up to twenty, with the FBI counting at least 15. He admired Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Goebbels, leading him to change his name. He primarily targeted black men and boys, interracial couples, and Jews. He was executed in 2013.
- Larry Flynt: Publisher of Hustler magazine who was shot by Joseph Paul Franklin in 1978. Franklin was never charged for this shooting.
- Vernon Jordan Jr.: An attorney, business executive, and civil rights activist who was shot by Joseph Paul Franklin in 1980. Franklin was charged with attempted murder but acquitted in 1982. Franklin later confessed to shooting him.
- Gerald Gordon: A man murdered by Joseph Paul Franklin in 1977. He was shot while standing in front of a synagogue in St. Louis after attending a bar mitzvah. Franklin was executed for Gordon’s murder in 2013.
- Alphonse Manning Jr.: A young black man shot and killed by Joseph Paul Franklin on August 7, 1977, in Madison, Wisconsin. He was part of an interracial couple with Toni Schwenn.
- Toni Schwenn: A young white woman shot and killed by Joseph Paul Franklin on August 7, 1977, in Madison, Wisconsin. She was part of an interracial couple with Alphonse Manning Jr.
- Theodore “Ted” Tracy Fields: A 20-year-old black man killed by Joseph Paul Franklin on August 20, 1980, near Liberty Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was jogging with an interracial group of friends.
- David Loren Martin: An 18-year-old black man killed by Joseph Paul Franklin on August 20, 1980, near Liberty Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was jogging with an interracial group of friends.
Joseph Paul Franklin White Supremacist Serial Killer FBI Files
This collection contains a total of 705 pages.
Joseph Paul Franklin was convicted of committing eight murders and is suspected to have murdered as many as twenty. The official FBI count is at least 15 murders. His most well-known act of violence was the 1978 shooting of Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt. Franklin was never charged for shooting Flynt. In 1980 attorney, business executive and civil rights activist Vernon Jordan Jr. was shot in the parking lot of the Marriott Inn in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Franklin was charged with attempted murder for shooting Jordan. However, he was acquitted in 1982. Franklin later confessed to both shootings.
He was born James Clayton Vaughn Jr. in 1950. He later changed his name to reflect his admiration of Benjamin Franklin and Nazi Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. He was attracted to white supremacist ideologies at an early age. However, he found supremacist groups to be lacking in actions.
His first known act of racial violence was in 1976 when he sprayed an interracial couple in Atlanta with mace. He bombed a synagogue in Tennessee in 1977. Soon after the bombing he confronted a black man and a white man in a parking lot in Wisconsin and killed them.
He went on a killing spree from 1977 to the end of 1980, killing at least 15 men, women, and children across 11 states. During this time, he roamed across the country, robbing banks and using a sniper rifle to target his victims. Killing as many as 20 people and seriously injuring at least six. Franklin mostly targeted black men and boys, interracial couples, and Jews.
On November 11, 2013, he was executed in Missouri for the 1977 murder of a man, Gerald Gordon, who was shot while he was standing in front of a synagogue in St. Louis after attending a bar mitzvah.
FBI Files
513 pages of FBI files dating from 1980 to 1996 covering Joseph Paul Franklin. The files cover his entire crime spree and contains material from local police agencies, particularly Wisconsin law enforcement.
Key documents amongst the files include: A psychological personality assessment of Franklin produced by the FBI Academy’s Behavioral Science Unit. Transcript of an interview of Franklin by the Madison Police Department taken at the Federal Penitentiary near Marion, Illinois. Copies of transcripts of interviews of witnesses taken by the Madison Police Department.
The crimes most covered are the two cases of the murders of Alphonse Manning and Toni Schwenn on August 7, 1977, in Madison, Wisconsin and the murders of Theodore Tracy Fields and David Loren Martin on August 20, 1980, in Salt Lake City.
On August 7, 1977, Alphonse Manning Jr. and Toni Schwenn, a young interracial couple, were shot and killed by Franklin in a parking lot at East Towne Mall in Madison, Wisconsin.
On August 20, 1980, Franklin killed two black men, 20-year-old Ted Fields and 18-year-old David Martin, near Liberty Park located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Franklin had earlier seen them as part of an interracial group of friends jogging together at the park. They were the last murders in the spree to take place in which Franklin was convicted.
Other material in the collection includes:
Court Documents
125 pages of text transcripts of court documents from five cases, documents are mostly opinions from appellate cases in which Joseph Paul Franklin is a party. Documents date from 1983 to 2012. Documents often contain detailed narratives.
Congressional Documents
36 pages of excerpts from a Congressional report and hearing transcripts of sections containing content covering Franklin. The hearing was titled, “Increasing violence against minorities: hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, second session, on increasing violence against minorities, December 9, 1980.”
Lone Wolf Terrorism in America – Using Knowledge of Radicalization Pathways to Forge Prevention Strategies (2015)
A 28-page report published by the U.S. Department of Justice, mentioning Franklin.
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