Oregon lawmakers want FBI to reopen Francke murder case

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Republican leaders in the Oregon legislature asked FBI Director Kash Patel to reopen the Michael Francke murder case now that the man previously convicted for the 1989 crime was exonerated.

The letter by House Majority Leader Ben Bowman and House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, obtained by KOIN 6 News, told Patel the “lack of resolution in this case is a grave injustice to the Francke family and the State of Oregon.”

KOIN 6 News reached out to the FBI for a response to the lawmakers’ letter and are awaiting a reply.

KOIN 6 Podcast: Broken Dome, the Michael Francke murder case

The letter stated the Francke family “are in full support of this request.”

The lengthy, convoluted saga of the unsolved 1989 murder of Oregon Corrections Director Michael Francke took another twist in early March 2025 when Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield offered nearly $2 million in compensation to Frank Gable, who was wrongly convicted of killing Francke and spent nearly 30 years in prison until his conviction was reversed in federal court.

ODOJ appealed the reversal all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. After the highest court in the land declined to consider the appeal, ODOJ fought Gable’s request for compensation in Marion County Circuit Court, arguing that he had not proven his innocence, as requested by the state law.

But once ODOJ acknowledged Gable’s innocence, Francke’s killing officially became an unsolved murder again after more than 36 years.

Francke’s brothers argued Gable was innocent and said their brother was killed by corrupt officials in the Oregon Corrections Department he was going to expose.

KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.