| 4/13/1950 |
Joseph Paul Franklin |
James Clayton Vaughn Jr. is born in Mobile, Ala., to James Clayton Vaughn Sr. and Helen Rau. |
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Birth |
| 1/1/1976 |
Joseph Paul Franklin |
Vaughn changes his name to Joseph Paul Franklin, after Paul Joseph Goebbels and Benjamin Franklin. |
http://hnn.us/article/139368 |
Name change  Tribune file photo: Undated photo of Joseph Paul Franklin |
| 6/8/1980 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots cousins Darrell Lane, 14, and Dante Evans Brown, 13, both African American, in Cincinnati. He is convicted in October 1998 and receives two life sentences. |
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Two young teens shot and killed |
| 7/25/1977 |
Crimes |
Franklin bombs the Rockland, Md., home of Morris Amitay, a Jewish lobbyist. |
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Maryland bombing |
| 10/31/1980 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
A federal jury in Utah indicts Franklin for violating the civil rights of Fields and Martin. His bail is set at $1 million. Other states begin linking him to sniper shootings. |
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Indicted |
| 7/29/1977 |
Crimes |
Franklin bombs the Beth Sholom synagogue in Chattanooga, Tenn. He is convicted of the bombing on July 17, 1984, and sentenced to 31 years in prison. |
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Tennesee bombing |
| 8/20/1980 |
Crimes |
Ted Fields, David Martin, Terry Elrod and Karma Ingersol are crossing 500 East at 900 South at 10:15 p.m. after jogging in Liberty Park as shots are fired. Fields, 20, and Martin, 18, both African American, are killed. |
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Liberty Park shooting, two killed  Tribune file photos: Victims David Martin and Ted Fields |
| 8/7/1977 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots African American Alphonse Manning Jr., 23, and Toni Schwenn, 23, a white woman, in Madison, Wis., shortly after robbing a bank. In 1986, Franklin receives two life sentences for the murders. |
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/15/us/man-is-convicted-of-killing-interracial-couple-in-wisconsin-in-77.html |
Two shot and killed |
| 3/23/1981 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
Franklin is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in federal court for the Utah murders. |
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Sentencing |
| 10/8/1977 |
Crimes |
Franklin fires at a crowd outside Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel Congregation synagogue in Richmond Heights, Mo., killing Gerald C. Gordon, 42, of Chesterfield, Mo., and wounding William Lee Ash, 30, of Akron, Ohio. He is convicted in 1997 and receives a death sentence. |
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Synagogue attack |
| 6/25/1980 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots Nancy Santomero, 19, and Vickie Durian, 26, in Pocahontas County, Va., after one of the white women said she had had a boyfriend who was African American. He confesses to the murders in 1984. |
http://www.hurherald.com/cgi-bin/db_scripts/articles?Action=user_view&db=articles_hurherald&id=6496 |
Two shot and killed |
| 2/2/1978 |
Crimes |
Franklin kills African American Johnny Brookshire, 22, and wounds his white wife, Joy Williams, 23, in Atlanta, Ga. |
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/11/02/loc_franklin_admits_to.html |
Two shot, one killed |
| 9/25/1980 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
Franklin is arrested in Florence, Ky., on car theft charges but escapes from the jail five hours later, setting off a nationwide manhunt.
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Escape |
| 3/6/1978 |
Crimes |
Larry Flynt, publisher of "Hustler" magazine, and his attorney Gene Reeves are shot while in Lawrenceville, Ga. Flynt is paralyzed from the waist down. Franklin later admits to the shooting. |
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/57114795-68/franklin-flynt-execution-missouri.html.csp |
Larry Flynt shooting AP file photo: Hustler magazine founder Larry Flynt |
| 3/4/1981 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
After deliberating 14 hours, a federal jury in Utah finds Franklin guilty of civil rights violations for murdering Ted Fields and David Martin. The verdict followed a seven-day trial. |
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Guilty verdict Tribune file photo: A courtroom sketch of the closing arguments of Joseph Paul Franklin's federal trial in Salt Lake City on March 3, 1981. |
| 7/29/1978 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots African American William Bryant Tatum and wounds his white girlfriend, Nancy Hilton, 18, in Chattanooga, Tenn. He confesses, pleads guilty and receives a life sentence in 1998.
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Two shot, one killed |
| 2/3/1982 |
Joseph Paul Franklin |
Franklin is stabbed 15 times by inmates three days after arriving at the federal prison in Marion, Ill.
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Prison stabbing AP file photo: Franklin is wheel-chair bound because of knife wounds he suffered in prison. |
| 7/12/1979 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots Harold McIver, 29, an African American man and Taco Bell manager, in Doraville, Ga.
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One shot and killed |
| 6/15/1980 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots Arthur Smothers, 22, an African American, and Kathleen Mikula, 16, a white, in Johnstown, Pa.
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Two shot and killed |
| 8/18/1979 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots Aftican American Raymond Taylor, 28, in Falls Church, Va. |
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One shot and killed |
| 8/10/1980 |
Joseph Paul Franklin |
Franklin arrives in Utah, staying in various local motels. |
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Utah arrival |
| 10/21/1979 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots Jesse E. Taylor, 42, an African American, and Marion Bresette, 31, who was white, in Oklahoma City. He is charged with the crimes but the case is later dropped. |
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Two shot and killed |
| 8/22/1980 |
Joseph Paul Franklin |
Franklin leaves Utah and travels to Nevada and then San Francisco.
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Travels |
| 12/5/1979 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots Mercedes Lynn Masters, 15, a white prostitute, after she tells him she had had African American customers. |
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One shot and killed |
| 10/28/1980 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
FBI agents arrest Franklin at Sera-Tec Biologicals, a blood bank, in Lakeland, Fla. |
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Arrest |
| 1/12/1980 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots African American Lawrence E. Reese, 22, in Indianapolis.
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One shot and killed |
| 11/5/1980 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
First-degree murder charges for deaths of Fields and Martin are filed against Franklin in state court. |
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Murder charges Tribune file photo: Franklin, 31, served as his own attorney during his trial on first-degree murder charges in the sniper killing of two black joggers. |
| 1/14/1980 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots African American Leo Thomas Watkins, 19, in Indianapolis. |
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One shot and killed |
| 3/18/1981 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
Franklin is charged with 1979 Oklahoma and 1980 Indiana murders. |
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More murder charges |
| 5/2/1980 |
Crimes |
Franklin fatally shoots Rebecca Bergstrom, 20, a white woman, in Mill Bluff State Park, Wis. He admits the murder in 1984.
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One shot and killed |
| 9/18/1981 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
In a case brought by the state of Utah, Franklin is found guilty of first-degree murder. He subsequently receives two consecutive life sentences. |
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Anoter guilty verdict |
| 5/29/1980 |
Crimes |
Vernon E. Jordan Jr., president of the National Urban League, is shot outside a Marriott Inn in Fort Wayne, Ind. Franklin is later charged with attempted murder, but is acquitted after a trial in August 1982. Years later, Franklin admits shooting Jordan. |
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Urban League Director shot  Tribune file photo: Vernon Jordan, May 29, 1983. |
| 2/27/1997 |
Arrests, trials and sentencing |
Franklin receives a death sentence in Missouri for killing Gerald C. Gordon. |
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/08/15/execution-date-set-for-infamous-racist-serial-killer/ |
Sentenced to death |
