THE DARK SIDE OF NEBRASKA
Frances Thompson
#93341
photo courtesy NDCS
Full Name: Frances L. Thompson
DOB: January 4, 1950
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Knox
City: Verdigre
Current Status: Administration
Date of Crime: August 18, 1991
Victim: Dena Frank
DOB: January 4, 1950
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Knox
City: Verdigre
Current Status: Administration
Date of Crime: August 18, 1991
Victim: Dena Frank
Frances L. Thompson was charged with first degree murder in the August 18, 1991, killing of Dean Frank. Frances admits she shot and killed Dean, but she claims the killing was done in self-defense.
At the time Frances killed Dean, she was a 41-year old widow. She had just completed her third year of full-time study at the University of Nebraska Lincoln where she had been an almost straight-A student. Frances hoped eventually to attend law school and pursue a career in environmental law.
During her attendance at the university, Frances maintained an apartment in Lincoln. When not at the university, she resided in rural Knox County on an 850-acre farm near Verdigre. The farm was owned by Frances's mother and she hoped to inherit the farm one day. At the time Dean was killed, Frances's 22-year old son, Steven was stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois with the US Navy.
Frances met Dean shortly after moving onto the Knox County farm in 1985. Dean did odd jobs around the farm and was paid by Frances's mother. Dean also helped Frances with various tasks such as moving heavy objects and helping to care for her pet pig. In exchange, Frances did mending and typing for Dean.
Dean lived in Atkinson, Nebraska, and early in their relationship, Frances and Dean saw each other infrequently. Frances described her relationship with Dean as one of friendship. She testified that Dean was a "perfect gentleman" to her during the six years preceding the killing. She had rebuffed his one "pass" at her soon after they became acquainted. Dean sometimes spent the night at Frances's house when he did jobs for her that required more than one day to complete. He slept in a spare upstairs bedroom.
The nature of the relationship between Dean and Frances changed dramatically during the summer of 1991. On June 16, 1991, Frances spent the night at Dean's trailer. According to Frances's testimony, Dean suggested that night in a "business like way" that the two marry and that he take over the running of Frances's farm so they could pursue organic farming. Frances was interest in working her mother's farm rather than leasing it out, but had no farming skills, and Dean was a farmer without a farm.
Frances denied that she was interested in marriage or sex with Dean. Nonetheless, Frances and Dean apparently contemplated a sexual relationship of some sort. On Tuesday, June 25, Frances wrote Dean informing him that the cost of a Certificate of Sexual Health from the University Health Center would be about $103.28 and that "this project" could cost him over $200. In that letter, Frances stated: "Whew! I was hopin' to do this all w/blood outta my arm, but they INSIST they have to make ya take yer clothes off & spread yer legs. AAUUGGGHH!!! Makes me SICK! I'm tellin' ya, if I do this YOU'RE gonna do it, TOO. Ick, ick, ICK!! (I know, that was the idea, to make you do it, too. But I mean YOU hafta take all the same tests I do!!) (Emphasis supplied)"
Frances questioned whether Dean might rather keep his freedom after having some time to reconsider. Continuing the letter the following day, she stated: "I just reread what I wrote yesterday, and I bet I know how you're reacting to it. Betcha you're thinking something paranoid like, "Gee, sounds like she wants to back out." Uh-uh, dammit. I am quite nicely giving you every opportunity to back out... [Y]ou don't have to look for double meanings in what I write. (Second emphasis supplied)." Nonetheless, Frances explained at trial what she was really trying to tell Dean: "I was trying to give him a chance to back out, hoping he would take it, because I didn't want to get married. I didn't want to get involved in any sexual relationship... I didn't want him to think, and figure out what I was really thinking. I didn't want him to know, and I had never told him, that I wasn't interested in him sexually. I did come out and tell him that I was giving him an opportunity to back out, but I didn't tell him why I wanted him to take it. (Emphasis supplied)"
Frances informed Dean in the letter that she had changed her mind about going to summer school all summer and had dropped two classes so that she would be at home from mid-July to late August. She invited him to join her in Lincoln for the Fourth of July. On July 3 or 4, 1991, Dean went to Lincoln and stayed with Frances at her duplex until July 9, when both Dean and Frances left Lincoln and went to Verdigre. That same day, the two went to a physician in Verdigre and had blood tests done for acquired immune deficiency syndrome and syphilis. At trial, Frances described this as a "first step" in considering a serious relationship with Dean. Frances was concerned about sexually transmitted disease because she knew that Dean had engaged in sexual activity with other women.
Frances called the physician's office for the results of the tests, which were negative, and drove to Atkinson to give Dean the results. Frances testified that she was in Atkinson from July 12 through July 15 and that she stayed at Dean's trailer while she was there. On Tuesday, July 16, Frances started a letter to Dean inviting him to accompany her to Chicago for her son's graduation from basic training. She wrote, "I KNOW you don't particularly want to see Kid graduate. But, think about it! YES, you do! If he DOES graduate, he'll LEAVE ME ALONE for 4 WHOLE YEARS. You'll be so HAPPY FOR ME!!" She also wrote, "I put WAY too much energy into agonizing over letting sex back into my life. Guess it ain't for you but for ME it was the biggest change in lifestyle imaginable." Frances told Dean she had "something a little more fun" to write about, but that it was "too personal to put in a letter." She informed Dean that she had learned about something that "could be called Selfish Sex" at a California sex clinic and that she thought it was "neat." She promised to tell Dean all about it on Saturday, presumably July 20. Thompson signed the letter "Huggs & ...stuff."
Frances was in Atkinson again on July 22. Around this time, Frances told Dean she wanted to meet his ex-wife and children. According to Frances, Dean became "very angry and upset" at this request and said he did not want Frances meeting them, which made her suspicious. Frances also testified that Dean began throwing out strange comments about other women. She believed he was trying to bait her into being jealous because she was not reacting to him sexually as he wanted her to. Frances responded by writing two versions of a letter to Dean, apparently on July 22. She left one version of the letter at Dean's trailer, where it was found after Dean's death. The other version was found at Frances's farmhouse.
In the version left at Dean's trailer, Frances accused Dean of "jacking w/[her]," bringing up issues that raised questions in her mind, and refusing to answer her questions in regard to other women. In the letter, Frances referred several times to her "jealousy" and informed Dean that his behavior hurt her and "goad[ed her] into more jealousy." Nonetheless, Frances testified that she was not at all jealous of Dean because she did not want him and did not care who did. She claimed that she was "guilty of playing a game" with Dean when she said she was jealous, in hopes that by "feeding his ego," "head-patting," and "suck[ing]-up," he would be "complimented" and would "straighten up and be more honest" with her.
Frances further testified that she "was using the word jealousy for the word disgust. But telling somebody you're disgusted with them really doesn't get you anywhere, and [she] was hoping the word jealousy would." Frances wrote Dean that he had "slapped [her] up side the head w/ another woman" and then refused to answer her questions about the other woman and that "nothing could be more viciously calculated" to make her worry. Later in the letter, Frances alluded to yet another woman Dean had apparently mentioned: "And that remark last night about some woman's "stuff all over." That was doing it again, too. Why do you want to do that to me? Now I have to wonder, what woman? what stuff? where? here? He told me he had a live-in here. What did she look like? Was she prettier than I? Was she younger? What kind of competition is she? When you make me wonder, I wonder. BIG-time... I told asked you not to talk about other women to me. But there is something more cruel than that, even. It is bringing them up, & making me wonder. And worry...I love you. I want to keep you." In the other version of the letter, Frances also accused Dean of lying to her and of being sly and evasive.
Dean's telephone records show that on Tuesday, July 23, he made two long-distance calls to Frances's number and talked for 38 minutes one time and 37 minutes the other time. Frances testified that Dean had told her he did not think about the letter she had left in his trailer the previous day and that he had just thrown it in a drawer. A letter which Frances testified that she wrote on July 23 was found in Dean's trailer after his death. It contained four paragraphs which, according to the letter, were added after Frances talked to Dean on that night: "So I tried to communicate with you & you "threw it in a drawer." That's what I'm worth to you. Guess I was ready for that; I had this written yesterday. Like I said, minimum of hard feelings. I don't need you for an enemy. Sure sorry I ... ruined our friendship ... You left shit here. I don't think you'll worry too much about it. Seems you told me you left stuff at bitch's [sic] places ALL OVER the country, I'm just another one now."
The following day, July 24, Frances began a letter to her son, informing him that she had a "Fatal Fight" with Dean. Discussing this "Fatal Fight," Frances stated: "What was our Fatal Fight, do you wonder? Oh, it's a LONG story, Kid, I mean things have been HAPPENING since you left. Mommy was naughty, & Mommy is payin' now. Come to find out that not only VERY RICH OLD LADIES like Grandma ... need to worry about men romancing them for their money. Dean was trying to romance ME for the money & farm he THOUGHT I'd have soon. (Emphasis supplied)." In the letter, Frances speculated at length that Dean was going to give her trouble and that he might harm her pet pig, break in, or suggest to others that she should be robbed. She commented numerous times about how worried and scared she was, although she admitted that she often got "overexcited about everything & often overreact[ed]." Frances also referred in the letter to a previous relationship: "I remember Ron. I remember lots of violence & threats & evil behavior, and how ...STUPID I can be, & I DO expect real problems now from Dean, too." Frances stated that she was a fool and that her ego was crushed flat. However, she concluded by reassuring her son, "[D]on't worry about me, now... Remember, I may whine & cry, but I is a TOUGH old lady, and a damn good shot, too."
On July 25, Frances was in Jedlicka's Hardware Hank store in Verdigre. At that time she purchased .357 shells and inquired about the type of hardware needed to hold a 2- by 4- inch board against a door to secure it. The owner of the hardware store testified that he did not have the type of brace requested and he referred her to a welder. Frances testified that she had brackets made for an entry doorway sometime in July or August. Those brackets and a 2- by 4- inch board were found in place of one of Frances's doors the day Dean was killed.
On Sunday, July 28, Frances went with Dean to a state park. A state conservation officer visited briefly with them as they were leaving, and he testified that Frances was sitting in the middle of the front seat of the car next to Dean. That same day, Dean gave Frances $300 for her upcoming trip to Chicago. Frances testified that Dean was being pushy that day on the issue of marriage and that she told him she would not marry him. Frances claimed that she could not remember Dean's words in response to her rejection of him, but that his statement reminded her of an old saying of her mother's to the effect that "if I can't have you, nobody else will. Meaning if you don't marry me, I will kill you."
On August 1, Frances flew to Chicago to see her son graduate from Navy boot camp. Phone records indicate that Frances called Dean collect five times during her four-day stay in the Chicago area, the conversations each lasting between 9 and 26 minutes.
Frances returned from Chicago on August 4. On the way home, Frances stopped and phoned Dean's ex-wife, Betty Frank. Betty testified that Frances informed her that she and Dean were planning on getting married and that Frances said she wanted to get better acquainted and to discuss with her visitation rights with the children. However, Frances testified that she no longer wanted to discuss visitation rights at the time she called and that the real purpose of the call was to gather information to find out if Dean meant his threat to kill her made the previous week. Betty refused to meet with Frances and hung up. When she returned to her farm, Frances called Dean and talked to him for over a half hour.
The following day, August 5, Frances contacted Delores Fischer, a former girl friend of Dean's who lived in Atkinson, and arranged to meet her that day. Frances testified that Delores told her that once when he was drunk, Dean had threatened to slit Delores's throat. Frances testified that after her conversation with Delores, she decided that Dean was dangerous and that there was no longer a possibility of a relationship with him. When Dean called Frances that night, she called him a dirty name and hung up on him.
The evening of August 5, Frances wrote to her son explaining that she had not been "flirting" with Dean when she had called him from Chicago, but that she was merely "postponing," because if she could keep Dean hoping, he would not harm her home or her pet pig. Frances stated that she would not allow Dean to come over and fix her pig's irrigation pipe, even though he was willing to do so. She wrote to her son that she might have "blown [her] front" by refusing to see Dean that evening, but that she could not bear to have Dean drooling and weeping on her. Moreover, she wrote, Dean had "a face like a drowning rat...who could stand it w/o vomiting?" Frances admitted to her son that she did "kiss [Dean] & stuff." She reiterated her belief that Dean was interested in the money she might inherit from her mother, rather than "want[ing her] body" as she had originally thought. Frances was pleased that she, "the Honor Student," had figured this out before Dean "took" her for anything, even though it had taken her a month to do so. To the contrary, Frances wrote in reference to Dean "I took HIM! He's been spending a lot of money on me this last month. Serves him right. My single BIGGEST take was the $300 he gave me to fly to Chicago. Sucker!" Frances told her son that the reason she was afraid of Dean was because Dean would be "pissed" when he figured out that he was getting nothing from her. She thought he might be able to figure things out "w/ his half a brain." However, she concluded, "He's a liar, a user, AND a fool, and I ain't THAT scared of him. I'll just sleep w/ my .357 tonight... (grin)."
On August 6, Frances returned to Jelicka's Hardware Hank store and exchanged a box of ".357 Max" shells suitable for a rifle, for a box of .357 Magnum cartridges for use in a revolver. Also on August 6, Frances wrote a letter to a friend in Omaha discussing Delores. She wrote that she had concluded, after meeting and talked to Delores, that Delores still cared about Dean and still wanted "to do him." This made her "dislike" Delores, she wrote to her friend, but she could see Delores's weakness and loneliness and have pity. In the same letter, Frances referred to Dean as "a classic sociopath." She wrote that "[Frank's] MISTAKE was in being a FALSE FRIEND to an INTELLIGENT & non-desperate lady."
On August 7, Dean wrote Frances a letter which stated in part: "You went downtown got in a good argument with people and got Slapped around [sic]! to [sic] Bad you got beat up! ...I TOLD YOU MY PAST IS DEAD! NOW IT IS GONE TOO! YOU ARE REALLY INTO THE WRONG WORLD IF YOU BELIEVE OTHERS! I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH! LOVE!/s/Dean"
On August 8, Frances wrote Delores a letter in which she admitted spending the night with Dean on Sunday, June 16, but denied that she "took any of [her] clothes off." Frances was aware that Delores had spent the night with Dean in his trailer on a Saturday night in June, perhaps the night previous to Frances's visit. She made the following comments about her relationship with Dean: "You see, what happened, Dean started telling me after that he loved me so much that he hadn't been screwing anyone else at all for months. And I was stupid enough to believe that! So I didn't know he was seeing you then or I sure wouldn't have let him waste my time, and back stab you, by putting that snow job on me... When I want a Houseboy I'll hire one, I won't have someone pretending to be my friend come sucking up to me and lying to me to get my money."
Dean's phone bill indicates that on August 10, he called Frances at 6:40 PM and talked for 213 minutes. Frances testified that she did not remember the conversation very well, but that she simply gave Dean the opportunity to talk. On August 11, Dean was at Frances's farm, where he fixed the pig's irrigation pipe and moved a refrigerator. Frances testified that she told Dean on that day never to come back to her farm and that Dean wrote out a piece of paper giving Frances all his property which he had stored on her farm, including a 1973 Ford pickup. That document and the title to the pickup were found in Frances's kitchen after Dean was killed. On Monday, August 12, Frances wrote to her son that she "took a chance" by letting Dean come over to help her. She was willing to take such a chance because she "[knew] male psychology. Men are too STUPID to ever GIVE UP."
Having been rebuffed by Betty when she attempted to talk to her on August 4, Frances wrote her a later dated August 13. In that letter, Frances again said that her original purpose in contacting Betty had been to meet her because Frances and Dean had planned to be married. However, Frances stated, "Amazing how quickly things can change! The engagement is off." Frances informed Betty that Dean had been lying to her a lot, and she questioned about what might happen next. "How violent is he? He threatened to kill me if I wouldn't marry him, but I think that's a standard threat. Please tell me if I should, and how much, worry about retaliation from him? No-one would know about that better than you, I think. At least you are still alive, and that's encouraging."
On Saturday, August 17, the day before she shot Dean, Frances wrote a final letter to her son, in which she stated that Dean had been calling her all week but that she had not told him what she really thought of him. Frances stated: "This girlfriend of his that I met in Atkinson told me that he got all drunk before and threatened to slit her throat, and Mrs. Boham told me a few days ago...that he used to beat his wife all the time when they lived out there. I don't want that psycho AROUND. I bought a new box of .357 shells & I'm gonna load up and PRACTICE some this afternoon! I bought a new box of .25 shells awhile back, and if I can't find it I'll give the little guy some exercise, too."
A resident of a farm about one-quarter mile from Frances's testified that he heard shots which sounded like someone target practicing in Frances's yard area on Saturday afternoon, August 17. It sounded to him as if two different calibers of guns were being used because one group of shots was louder than another group of shots.
That evening, Dean called Frances at 7:06 PM and talked to her for 51 minutes. He called again at 10:12 PM and talked for 16 minutes. At 10:43 PM, Frances called the Knox County sheriff's office and reported to Don Henery, the chief investigator for the sheriff's office, a threatening phone call that she had received. Henery testified that Frances reported that she and Dean had argued earlier in the week and that Dean had just called and threatened to send the "Gatz boys" out to her place. Frances also told Henery that Dean was angry because she refused to marry him and that Dean had previously threatened her. Henery testified that Frances was very calm and matter-of-fact on the phone, that she did not request that he come out, and that he advised her to tape-record future threatening conversations.
Dean's phone records show that he called Frances at 1:05 AM on August 18 and talked for 13 minutes. Frances testified that Dean screamed things at her, threatening to slit her throat for checking up on him, shoot her truck full of holes with her in it, burn her house, and butcher her pig. However, Frances testified that she did not believe Dean was an immediate threat, because he sounded "drunk out of his mind," and she believed he was in Atkinson, at least two hours away.
Dean called Frances again at 7:08 AM. Frances claims he repeated his threats, this time in a calm and quiet voice. Dean's phone records indicate that this call lasted two minutes, although Frances testified that it seemed like he had said nasty things to her for a long time.
The sheriff's log shows that more than five hours later, at 12:26 PM, Frances called the sheriff's office and reported Dean's threatening phone calls to Deputy Lee Waterman. Frances kept notes about Dean and the events of August 17 and 18 on her computer. The computer disk containing those notes, as well as disks containing Frances's correspondence with Steven and with other people, was seized by the sheriff, printed out, and entered into evidence. The file name for Frances's notes of August 17 and 18 was "Assault Report."
On August 18, Frances wrote, "I called Deputy Waterman at 12:22 (noon)... I called Dean a 'dangerous psycho' and told Deputy Waterman how scared I am of him." Waterman instructed Frances on how to obtain a restraining order and advised her to do so on Monday, the following day. At 3:12 PM, Dean again called Frances, and they talked for 32 minutes. Frances testified that Dean did not threaten her at this time. She wrote in her computer notes that Dean "sounded calmer, but like he were going to burst into tears any second." She testified that Dean "sounded like his normal self and he talked about normal stuff." Before he hung up, Dean told Frances he was going to put clothes into the dryer and go grocery shopping. Frances testified that she did not invite Dean to her house, nor did he give her any indication that he was coming over.
A few minutes later, Delores called and told Frances that Dean had been at her place from 12:30 to 2 PM and he had seemed all right. Delores testified that Dean had watched TV, napped, and had two cans of beer during that time. She also informed Frances that she had talked to Bea Gatz, the mother of the Gatz boys, and that Bea had reassured her that the boys were harmless.
Frances testified, later, as she was sitting in the dining room at her computer writing about Dean's threats to her, she heard a car door slam. Frances claims she went into the adjacent storage room, saw Dean's car from the window, and became frightened because she had not thought he would actually come to her house and attack her. She testified that she thought she should get back to where her gun was, on a chair next to where she had been sitting working on the computer, and quickly went back to the computer. As she returned to her chair, she saw Dean in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. Dean told Frances he had brought groceries, and she instructed him to put them in the refrigerator. Frances testified that Dean walked toward the refrigerator then suddenly whirled around toward her, screaming, "I'm [unintelligible two-syllable word] kill you." Although she did not actually hear the words, Frances was sure that he had said, "I'm going to kill you," because it fit the situation.
Knox County Sheriff Wes Eisenbeiss testified that in his conversations with Frances after the shooting, she did not mention anything Dean had said to her before she shot him. She only told him that Dean had "made a noise." Frances testified that Dean then "lunged" toward her and that she grabbed her .357 Magnum from the chair, pointed it at Dean with both hands, and said "[H]uh-uh." She said that when Dean did not stop moving toward her, she rapid-fired all six rounds in her handgun. She testified that although the shots stopped Dean, she "couldn't stop pulling the trigger," so she aimed the last shots down and away from him.
The sheriff's log indicates that Frances called at 5:35 PM to report the shooting. Deputies arrived at Frances's farm at 6:25 PM and were admitted to the house by Frances. The deputies found Dean lying on the floor of the computer room and a pool of blood on the floor. To the left of Dean's head were words written in blood on the floor which appeared to say "self defense," although the second word was difficult to make out. There was testimony that Dean was right handed. No blood was found on Deans' right hand, but there was blood noted on his left hand. Deputies also found a note in an open suitcase nearby with the words "I love Fran," "self defense" and "Dean" each written twice and the words "Fran I love you" written once. When a deputy asked Frances what Dean had been shot with, she handed him a loaded Colt Python .357 Magnum gun. She testified that she reloaded the weapon while calling the sheriff's office to report the shooting.
After determining that Dean was still alive, the deputies requested assistance from the rescue squad. When squad members entered the house, Frances was sitting on the arm of a chair beside Dean, smoking a cigarette. In response to questioning, Frances stated that she did not know where she had shot Dean or how many times. Rescue squad members testified that Dean was lying on the floor on his left side in a fetal position, his knees drawn up to his chest. He was biting on a pillow and moaning. A bag containing a package of lunch meat was found underneath his side. In response to questioning, Dean replied, "Just leave me alone and let me die." Dean's condition deteriorated rapidly and he was unable to verbally respond thereafter.
A preliminary examination by squad members revealed two abdominal wounds and a back wound. One of the abdominal wounds was bleeding profusely. By 6:30 PM, Dean had no discernible blood pressure, pulse, or respirations and was totally unresponsive. Efforts at resuscitation proved unsuccessful and Dean was pronounced dead by a local physician at 7 PM, four minutes after the rescue squad arrived in Verdigre.
Frances was taken into custody that evening as a material witness. She commented several times to a deputy that "it did not turn out like TV." Sheriff Eisenbeiss testified that when he inquired how Frances was standing up under the events of the day, she responded that it was self defense, that Dean was going to kill her, that Dean had made threats to her, and that he was going to get the Gatz boys after her. Frances also told Sheriff Eisenbeiss, "Maybe he wouldn't have done anything to me, but I have read where women waited too long to defend or protect themselves." She expressed hope that the sheriff could test her hands for the presence of blood "so they don't think I wrote the note in blood." She informed the sheriff that Dean had written the note in blood. Eisenbeiss testified that he did not observe blood on Frances's hands at the time.
An autopsy performed on Dean's body revealed a wound from a bullet which entered his left abdomen and exited his back. Two other bullets entered from the back. One entered Dean's right hip, shattering his hip bone and lodging in the bone. The other entered his right back, passed through his liver and right lung, and exited through his lower chest, striking his right elbow area.
During the course of their investigation, deputies found three bullet holes in Frances's dining room floor next to where Dean had been lying. The path of the bullets was reconstructed by placing rods through the dining room floor in order to determine the angle from which the bullets were fired. Those three bullets appeared to have been fired from an area in the dining room in front of the doors leading to Frances's storage room. Frances claimed that she was standing next to her computer when she shot Dean. No blood was found anywhere in the house except in the immediate area where Dean was lying when law enforcement officials arrived, even though Frances testified that Dean had moved around quite a bit after being shot. Frances admitted there was an ashtray full of cigarette butts which could have been hers on top of a refrigerator in the storage room. That room was one from which Frances could see the front of the house.
Sheriff Eisenbeiss testified that Frances told him she heard Dean open the kitchen refrigerator door, and she thought he took off his boots in the kitchen. Photographs taken from the area of the computer demonstrate clearly that the kitchen area, including the refrigerator, could easily be seen by a person at the computer. Deputies found two cans of Mace in Frances's bedroom. A loaded .25 caliber semiautomatic handgun was found under her pillow.
At the time Frances killed Dean, she was a 41-year old widow. She had just completed her third year of full-time study at the University of Nebraska Lincoln where she had been an almost straight-A student. Frances hoped eventually to attend law school and pursue a career in environmental law.
During her attendance at the university, Frances maintained an apartment in Lincoln. When not at the university, she resided in rural Knox County on an 850-acre farm near Verdigre. The farm was owned by Frances's mother and she hoped to inherit the farm one day. At the time Dean was killed, Frances's 22-year old son, Steven was stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois with the US Navy.
Frances met Dean shortly after moving onto the Knox County farm in 1985. Dean did odd jobs around the farm and was paid by Frances's mother. Dean also helped Frances with various tasks such as moving heavy objects and helping to care for her pet pig. In exchange, Frances did mending and typing for Dean.
Dean lived in Atkinson, Nebraska, and early in their relationship, Frances and Dean saw each other infrequently. Frances described her relationship with Dean as one of friendship. She testified that Dean was a "perfect gentleman" to her during the six years preceding the killing. She had rebuffed his one "pass" at her soon after they became acquainted. Dean sometimes spent the night at Frances's house when he did jobs for her that required more than one day to complete. He slept in a spare upstairs bedroom.
The nature of the relationship between Dean and Frances changed dramatically during the summer of 1991. On June 16, 1991, Frances spent the night at Dean's trailer. According to Frances's testimony, Dean suggested that night in a "business like way" that the two marry and that he take over the running of Frances's farm so they could pursue organic farming. Frances was interest in working her mother's farm rather than leasing it out, but had no farming skills, and Dean was a farmer without a farm.
Frances denied that she was interested in marriage or sex with Dean. Nonetheless, Frances and Dean apparently contemplated a sexual relationship of some sort. On Tuesday, June 25, Frances wrote Dean informing him that the cost of a Certificate of Sexual Health from the University Health Center would be about $103.28 and that "this project" could cost him over $200. In that letter, Frances stated: "Whew! I was hopin' to do this all w/blood outta my arm, but they INSIST they have to make ya take yer clothes off & spread yer legs. AAUUGGGHH!!! Makes me SICK! I'm tellin' ya, if I do this YOU'RE gonna do it, TOO. Ick, ick, ICK!! (I know, that was the idea, to make you do it, too. But I mean YOU hafta take all the same tests I do!!) (Emphasis supplied)"
Frances questioned whether Dean might rather keep his freedom after having some time to reconsider. Continuing the letter the following day, she stated: "I just reread what I wrote yesterday, and I bet I know how you're reacting to it. Betcha you're thinking something paranoid like, "Gee, sounds like she wants to back out." Uh-uh, dammit. I am quite nicely giving you every opportunity to back out... [Y]ou don't have to look for double meanings in what I write. (Second emphasis supplied)." Nonetheless, Frances explained at trial what she was really trying to tell Dean: "I was trying to give him a chance to back out, hoping he would take it, because I didn't want to get married. I didn't want to get involved in any sexual relationship... I didn't want him to think, and figure out what I was really thinking. I didn't want him to know, and I had never told him, that I wasn't interested in him sexually. I did come out and tell him that I was giving him an opportunity to back out, but I didn't tell him why I wanted him to take it. (Emphasis supplied)"
Frances informed Dean in the letter that she had changed her mind about going to summer school all summer and had dropped two classes so that she would be at home from mid-July to late August. She invited him to join her in Lincoln for the Fourth of July. On July 3 or 4, 1991, Dean went to Lincoln and stayed with Frances at her duplex until July 9, when both Dean and Frances left Lincoln and went to Verdigre. That same day, the two went to a physician in Verdigre and had blood tests done for acquired immune deficiency syndrome and syphilis. At trial, Frances described this as a "first step" in considering a serious relationship with Dean. Frances was concerned about sexually transmitted disease because she knew that Dean had engaged in sexual activity with other women.
Frances called the physician's office for the results of the tests, which were negative, and drove to Atkinson to give Dean the results. Frances testified that she was in Atkinson from July 12 through July 15 and that she stayed at Dean's trailer while she was there. On Tuesday, July 16, Frances started a letter to Dean inviting him to accompany her to Chicago for her son's graduation from basic training. She wrote, "I KNOW you don't particularly want to see Kid graduate. But, think about it! YES, you do! If he DOES graduate, he'll LEAVE ME ALONE for 4 WHOLE YEARS. You'll be so HAPPY FOR ME!!" She also wrote, "I put WAY too much energy into agonizing over letting sex back into my life. Guess it ain't for you but for ME it was the biggest change in lifestyle imaginable." Frances told Dean she had "something a little more fun" to write about, but that it was "too personal to put in a letter." She informed Dean that she had learned about something that "could be called Selfish Sex" at a California sex clinic and that she thought it was "neat." She promised to tell Dean all about it on Saturday, presumably July 20. Thompson signed the letter "Huggs & ...stuff."
Frances was in Atkinson again on July 22. Around this time, Frances told Dean she wanted to meet his ex-wife and children. According to Frances, Dean became "very angry and upset" at this request and said he did not want Frances meeting them, which made her suspicious. Frances also testified that Dean began throwing out strange comments about other women. She believed he was trying to bait her into being jealous because she was not reacting to him sexually as he wanted her to. Frances responded by writing two versions of a letter to Dean, apparently on July 22. She left one version of the letter at Dean's trailer, where it was found after Dean's death. The other version was found at Frances's farmhouse.
In the version left at Dean's trailer, Frances accused Dean of "jacking w/[her]," bringing up issues that raised questions in her mind, and refusing to answer her questions in regard to other women. In the letter, Frances referred several times to her "jealousy" and informed Dean that his behavior hurt her and "goad[ed her] into more jealousy." Nonetheless, Frances testified that she was not at all jealous of Dean because she did not want him and did not care who did. She claimed that she was "guilty of playing a game" with Dean when she said she was jealous, in hopes that by "feeding his ego," "head-patting," and "suck[ing]-up," he would be "complimented" and would "straighten up and be more honest" with her.
Frances further testified that she "was using the word jealousy for the word disgust. But telling somebody you're disgusted with them really doesn't get you anywhere, and [she] was hoping the word jealousy would." Frances wrote Dean that he had "slapped [her] up side the head w/ another woman" and then refused to answer her questions about the other woman and that "nothing could be more viciously calculated" to make her worry. Later in the letter, Frances alluded to yet another woman Dean had apparently mentioned: "And that remark last night about some woman's "stuff all over." That was doing it again, too. Why do you want to do that to me? Now I have to wonder, what woman? what stuff? where? here? He told me he had a live-in here. What did she look like? Was she prettier than I? Was she younger? What kind of competition is she? When you make me wonder, I wonder. BIG-time... I told asked you not to talk about other women to me. But there is something more cruel than that, even. It is bringing them up, & making me wonder. And worry...I love you. I want to keep you." In the other version of the letter, Frances also accused Dean of lying to her and of being sly and evasive.
Dean's telephone records show that on Tuesday, July 23, he made two long-distance calls to Frances's number and talked for 38 minutes one time and 37 minutes the other time. Frances testified that Dean had told her he did not think about the letter she had left in his trailer the previous day and that he had just thrown it in a drawer. A letter which Frances testified that she wrote on July 23 was found in Dean's trailer after his death. It contained four paragraphs which, according to the letter, were added after Frances talked to Dean on that night: "So I tried to communicate with you & you "threw it in a drawer." That's what I'm worth to you. Guess I was ready for that; I had this written yesterday. Like I said, minimum of hard feelings. I don't need you for an enemy. Sure sorry I ... ruined our friendship ... You left shit here. I don't think you'll worry too much about it. Seems you told me you left stuff at bitch's [sic] places ALL OVER the country, I'm just another one now."
The following day, July 24, Frances began a letter to her son, informing him that she had a "Fatal Fight" with Dean. Discussing this "Fatal Fight," Frances stated: "What was our Fatal Fight, do you wonder? Oh, it's a LONG story, Kid, I mean things have been HAPPENING since you left. Mommy was naughty, & Mommy is payin' now. Come to find out that not only VERY RICH OLD LADIES like Grandma ... need to worry about men romancing them for their money. Dean was trying to romance ME for the money & farm he THOUGHT I'd have soon. (Emphasis supplied)." In the letter, Frances speculated at length that Dean was going to give her trouble and that he might harm her pet pig, break in, or suggest to others that she should be robbed. She commented numerous times about how worried and scared she was, although she admitted that she often got "overexcited about everything & often overreact[ed]." Frances also referred in the letter to a previous relationship: "I remember Ron. I remember lots of violence & threats & evil behavior, and how ...STUPID I can be, & I DO expect real problems now from Dean, too." Frances stated that she was a fool and that her ego was crushed flat. However, she concluded by reassuring her son, "[D]on't worry about me, now... Remember, I may whine & cry, but I is a TOUGH old lady, and a damn good shot, too."
On July 25, Frances was in Jedlicka's Hardware Hank store in Verdigre. At that time she purchased .357 shells and inquired about the type of hardware needed to hold a 2- by 4- inch board against a door to secure it. The owner of the hardware store testified that he did not have the type of brace requested and he referred her to a welder. Frances testified that she had brackets made for an entry doorway sometime in July or August. Those brackets and a 2- by 4- inch board were found in place of one of Frances's doors the day Dean was killed.
On Sunday, July 28, Frances went with Dean to a state park. A state conservation officer visited briefly with them as they were leaving, and he testified that Frances was sitting in the middle of the front seat of the car next to Dean. That same day, Dean gave Frances $300 for her upcoming trip to Chicago. Frances testified that Dean was being pushy that day on the issue of marriage and that she told him she would not marry him. Frances claimed that she could not remember Dean's words in response to her rejection of him, but that his statement reminded her of an old saying of her mother's to the effect that "if I can't have you, nobody else will. Meaning if you don't marry me, I will kill you."
On August 1, Frances flew to Chicago to see her son graduate from Navy boot camp. Phone records indicate that Frances called Dean collect five times during her four-day stay in the Chicago area, the conversations each lasting between 9 and 26 minutes.
Frances returned from Chicago on August 4. On the way home, Frances stopped and phoned Dean's ex-wife, Betty Frank. Betty testified that Frances informed her that she and Dean were planning on getting married and that Frances said she wanted to get better acquainted and to discuss with her visitation rights with the children. However, Frances testified that she no longer wanted to discuss visitation rights at the time she called and that the real purpose of the call was to gather information to find out if Dean meant his threat to kill her made the previous week. Betty refused to meet with Frances and hung up. When she returned to her farm, Frances called Dean and talked to him for over a half hour.
The following day, August 5, Frances contacted Delores Fischer, a former girl friend of Dean's who lived in Atkinson, and arranged to meet her that day. Frances testified that Delores told her that once when he was drunk, Dean had threatened to slit Delores's throat. Frances testified that after her conversation with Delores, she decided that Dean was dangerous and that there was no longer a possibility of a relationship with him. When Dean called Frances that night, she called him a dirty name and hung up on him.
The evening of August 5, Frances wrote to her son explaining that she had not been "flirting" with Dean when she had called him from Chicago, but that she was merely "postponing," because if she could keep Dean hoping, he would not harm her home or her pet pig. Frances stated that she would not allow Dean to come over and fix her pig's irrigation pipe, even though he was willing to do so. She wrote to her son that she might have "blown [her] front" by refusing to see Dean that evening, but that she could not bear to have Dean drooling and weeping on her. Moreover, she wrote, Dean had "a face like a drowning rat...who could stand it w/o vomiting?" Frances admitted to her son that she did "kiss [Dean] & stuff." She reiterated her belief that Dean was interested in the money she might inherit from her mother, rather than "want[ing her] body" as she had originally thought. Frances was pleased that she, "the Honor Student," had figured this out before Dean "took" her for anything, even though it had taken her a month to do so. To the contrary, Frances wrote in reference to Dean "I took HIM! He's been spending a lot of money on me this last month. Serves him right. My single BIGGEST take was the $300 he gave me to fly to Chicago. Sucker!" Frances told her son that the reason she was afraid of Dean was because Dean would be "pissed" when he figured out that he was getting nothing from her. She thought he might be able to figure things out "w/ his half a brain." However, she concluded, "He's a liar, a user, AND a fool, and I ain't THAT scared of him. I'll just sleep w/ my .357 tonight... (grin)."
On August 6, Frances returned to Jelicka's Hardware Hank store and exchanged a box of ".357 Max" shells suitable for a rifle, for a box of .357 Magnum cartridges for use in a revolver. Also on August 6, Frances wrote a letter to a friend in Omaha discussing Delores. She wrote that she had concluded, after meeting and talked to Delores, that Delores still cared about Dean and still wanted "to do him." This made her "dislike" Delores, she wrote to her friend, but she could see Delores's weakness and loneliness and have pity. In the same letter, Frances referred to Dean as "a classic sociopath." She wrote that "[Frank's] MISTAKE was in being a FALSE FRIEND to an INTELLIGENT & non-desperate lady."
On August 7, Dean wrote Frances a letter which stated in part: "You went downtown got in a good argument with people and got Slapped around [sic]! to [sic] Bad you got beat up! ...I TOLD YOU MY PAST IS DEAD! NOW IT IS GONE TOO! YOU ARE REALLY INTO THE WRONG WORLD IF YOU BELIEVE OTHERS! I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH! LOVE!/s/Dean"
On August 8, Frances wrote Delores a letter in which she admitted spending the night with Dean on Sunday, June 16, but denied that she "took any of [her] clothes off." Frances was aware that Delores had spent the night with Dean in his trailer on a Saturday night in June, perhaps the night previous to Frances's visit. She made the following comments about her relationship with Dean: "You see, what happened, Dean started telling me after that he loved me so much that he hadn't been screwing anyone else at all for months. And I was stupid enough to believe that! So I didn't know he was seeing you then or I sure wouldn't have let him waste my time, and back stab you, by putting that snow job on me... When I want a Houseboy I'll hire one, I won't have someone pretending to be my friend come sucking up to me and lying to me to get my money."
Dean's phone bill indicates that on August 10, he called Frances at 6:40 PM and talked for 213 minutes. Frances testified that she did not remember the conversation very well, but that she simply gave Dean the opportunity to talk. On August 11, Dean was at Frances's farm, where he fixed the pig's irrigation pipe and moved a refrigerator. Frances testified that she told Dean on that day never to come back to her farm and that Dean wrote out a piece of paper giving Frances all his property which he had stored on her farm, including a 1973 Ford pickup. That document and the title to the pickup were found in Frances's kitchen after Dean was killed. On Monday, August 12, Frances wrote to her son that she "took a chance" by letting Dean come over to help her. She was willing to take such a chance because she "[knew] male psychology. Men are too STUPID to ever GIVE UP."
Having been rebuffed by Betty when she attempted to talk to her on August 4, Frances wrote her a later dated August 13. In that letter, Frances again said that her original purpose in contacting Betty had been to meet her because Frances and Dean had planned to be married. However, Frances stated, "Amazing how quickly things can change! The engagement is off." Frances informed Betty that Dean had been lying to her a lot, and she questioned about what might happen next. "How violent is he? He threatened to kill me if I wouldn't marry him, but I think that's a standard threat. Please tell me if I should, and how much, worry about retaliation from him? No-one would know about that better than you, I think. At least you are still alive, and that's encouraging."
On Saturday, August 17, the day before she shot Dean, Frances wrote a final letter to her son, in which she stated that Dean had been calling her all week but that she had not told him what she really thought of him. Frances stated: "This girlfriend of his that I met in Atkinson told me that he got all drunk before and threatened to slit her throat, and Mrs. Boham told me a few days ago...that he used to beat his wife all the time when they lived out there. I don't want that psycho AROUND. I bought a new box of .357 shells & I'm gonna load up and PRACTICE some this afternoon! I bought a new box of .25 shells awhile back, and if I can't find it I'll give the little guy some exercise, too."
A resident of a farm about one-quarter mile from Frances's testified that he heard shots which sounded like someone target practicing in Frances's yard area on Saturday afternoon, August 17. It sounded to him as if two different calibers of guns were being used because one group of shots was louder than another group of shots.
That evening, Dean called Frances at 7:06 PM and talked to her for 51 minutes. He called again at 10:12 PM and talked for 16 minutes. At 10:43 PM, Frances called the Knox County sheriff's office and reported to Don Henery, the chief investigator for the sheriff's office, a threatening phone call that she had received. Henery testified that Frances reported that she and Dean had argued earlier in the week and that Dean had just called and threatened to send the "Gatz boys" out to her place. Frances also told Henery that Dean was angry because she refused to marry him and that Dean had previously threatened her. Henery testified that Frances was very calm and matter-of-fact on the phone, that she did not request that he come out, and that he advised her to tape-record future threatening conversations.
Dean's phone records show that he called Frances at 1:05 AM on August 18 and talked for 13 minutes. Frances testified that Dean screamed things at her, threatening to slit her throat for checking up on him, shoot her truck full of holes with her in it, burn her house, and butcher her pig. However, Frances testified that she did not believe Dean was an immediate threat, because he sounded "drunk out of his mind," and she believed he was in Atkinson, at least two hours away.
Dean called Frances again at 7:08 AM. Frances claims he repeated his threats, this time in a calm and quiet voice. Dean's phone records indicate that this call lasted two minutes, although Frances testified that it seemed like he had said nasty things to her for a long time.
The sheriff's log shows that more than five hours later, at 12:26 PM, Frances called the sheriff's office and reported Dean's threatening phone calls to Deputy Lee Waterman. Frances kept notes about Dean and the events of August 17 and 18 on her computer. The computer disk containing those notes, as well as disks containing Frances's correspondence with Steven and with other people, was seized by the sheriff, printed out, and entered into evidence. The file name for Frances's notes of August 17 and 18 was "Assault Report."
On August 18, Frances wrote, "I called Deputy Waterman at 12:22 (noon)... I called Dean a 'dangerous psycho' and told Deputy Waterman how scared I am of him." Waterman instructed Frances on how to obtain a restraining order and advised her to do so on Monday, the following day. At 3:12 PM, Dean again called Frances, and they talked for 32 minutes. Frances testified that Dean did not threaten her at this time. She wrote in her computer notes that Dean "sounded calmer, but like he were going to burst into tears any second." She testified that Dean "sounded like his normal self and he talked about normal stuff." Before he hung up, Dean told Frances he was going to put clothes into the dryer and go grocery shopping. Frances testified that she did not invite Dean to her house, nor did he give her any indication that he was coming over.
A few minutes later, Delores called and told Frances that Dean had been at her place from 12:30 to 2 PM and he had seemed all right. Delores testified that Dean had watched TV, napped, and had two cans of beer during that time. She also informed Frances that she had talked to Bea Gatz, the mother of the Gatz boys, and that Bea had reassured her that the boys were harmless.
Frances testified, later, as she was sitting in the dining room at her computer writing about Dean's threats to her, she heard a car door slam. Frances claims she went into the adjacent storage room, saw Dean's car from the window, and became frightened because she had not thought he would actually come to her house and attack her. She testified that she thought she should get back to where her gun was, on a chair next to where she had been sitting working on the computer, and quickly went back to the computer. As she returned to her chair, she saw Dean in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. Dean told Frances he had brought groceries, and she instructed him to put them in the refrigerator. Frances testified that Dean walked toward the refrigerator then suddenly whirled around toward her, screaming, "I'm [unintelligible two-syllable word] kill you." Although she did not actually hear the words, Frances was sure that he had said, "I'm going to kill you," because it fit the situation.
Knox County Sheriff Wes Eisenbeiss testified that in his conversations with Frances after the shooting, she did not mention anything Dean had said to her before she shot him. She only told him that Dean had "made a noise." Frances testified that Dean then "lunged" toward her and that she grabbed her .357 Magnum from the chair, pointed it at Dean with both hands, and said "[H]uh-uh." She said that when Dean did not stop moving toward her, she rapid-fired all six rounds in her handgun. She testified that although the shots stopped Dean, she "couldn't stop pulling the trigger," so she aimed the last shots down and away from him.
The sheriff's log indicates that Frances called at 5:35 PM to report the shooting. Deputies arrived at Frances's farm at 6:25 PM and were admitted to the house by Frances. The deputies found Dean lying on the floor of the computer room and a pool of blood on the floor. To the left of Dean's head were words written in blood on the floor which appeared to say "self defense," although the second word was difficult to make out. There was testimony that Dean was right handed. No blood was found on Deans' right hand, but there was blood noted on his left hand. Deputies also found a note in an open suitcase nearby with the words "I love Fran," "self defense" and "Dean" each written twice and the words "Fran I love you" written once. When a deputy asked Frances what Dean had been shot with, she handed him a loaded Colt Python .357 Magnum gun. She testified that she reloaded the weapon while calling the sheriff's office to report the shooting.
After determining that Dean was still alive, the deputies requested assistance from the rescue squad. When squad members entered the house, Frances was sitting on the arm of a chair beside Dean, smoking a cigarette. In response to questioning, Frances stated that she did not know where she had shot Dean or how many times. Rescue squad members testified that Dean was lying on the floor on his left side in a fetal position, his knees drawn up to his chest. He was biting on a pillow and moaning. A bag containing a package of lunch meat was found underneath his side. In response to questioning, Dean replied, "Just leave me alone and let me die." Dean's condition deteriorated rapidly and he was unable to verbally respond thereafter.
A preliminary examination by squad members revealed two abdominal wounds and a back wound. One of the abdominal wounds was bleeding profusely. By 6:30 PM, Dean had no discernible blood pressure, pulse, or respirations and was totally unresponsive. Efforts at resuscitation proved unsuccessful and Dean was pronounced dead by a local physician at 7 PM, four minutes after the rescue squad arrived in Verdigre.
Frances was taken into custody that evening as a material witness. She commented several times to a deputy that "it did not turn out like TV." Sheriff Eisenbeiss testified that when he inquired how Frances was standing up under the events of the day, she responded that it was self defense, that Dean was going to kill her, that Dean had made threats to her, and that he was going to get the Gatz boys after her. Frances also told Sheriff Eisenbeiss, "Maybe he wouldn't have done anything to me, but I have read where women waited too long to defend or protect themselves." She expressed hope that the sheriff could test her hands for the presence of blood "so they don't think I wrote the note in blood." She informed the sheriff that Dean had written the note in blood. Eisenbeiss testified that he did not observe blood on Frances's hands at the time.
An autopsy performed on Dean's body revealed a wound from a bullet which entered his left abdomen and exited his back. Two other bullets entered from the back. One entered Dean's right hip, shattering his hip bone and lodging in the bone. The other entered his right back, passed through his liver and right lung, and exited through his lower chest, striking his right elbow area.
During the course of their investigation, deputies found three bullet holes in Frances's dining room floor next to where Dean had been lying. The path of the bullets was reconstructed by placing rods through the dining room floor in order to determine the angle from which the bullets were fired. Those three bullets appeared to have been fired from an area in the dining room in front of the doors leading to Frances's storage room. Frances claimed that she was standing next to her computer when she shot Dean. No blood was found anywhere in the house except in the immediate area where Dean was lying when law enforcement officials arrived, even though Frances testified that Dean had moved around quite a bit after being shot. Frances admitted there was an ashtray full of cigarette butts which could have been hers on top of a refrigerator in the storage room. That room was one from which Frances could see the front of the house.
Sheriff Eisenbeiss testified that Frances told him she heard Dean open the kitchen refrigerator door, and she thought he took off his boots in the kitchen. Photographs taken from the area of the computer demonstrate clearly that the kitchen area, including the refrigerator, could easily be seen by a person at the computer. Deputies found two cans of Mace in Frances's bedroom. A loaded .25 caliber semiautomatic handgun was found under her pillow.
Source: Justia US Law
