Cold Case MHS: Monsters and Demons · Randy Hubbard

Season 4:Episode 6 Unusual Victim: The Murder of Franklin Benedict

November 14, 2024·27 min·1 clip

Franklin J. Benedict was found with multiple gunshot wounds, but his roommate initially thought he'd been electrocuted fixing the power.

The students open by saying cold-case research gets tough when the record is thin. Franklin J. Benedict becomes a hard case for that exact reason. He is described as a quiet man with little background available. Franklin worked third shift as a manager at the Ashtabula Walmart near his apartment. On the day they discuss, he was not supposed to work, but he decided to go in anyway. The power went out at some point during the day. The episode treats that detail as part of the timeline, not proof of anything by itself. Franklin was later found in his apartment with multiple gunshot wounds. His roommate discovered him after returning from a family meet a couple of days after the incident. That delay makes the case feel especially thin and hard to pin down. The students also found Franklin’s girlfriend through a forum where she was answering questions. She comes across as superstitious and deeply uneasy about what was happening around him. She says she saw a black van waiting outside the Walmart more than once while she dropped off lunch. The show makes clear that this is hearsay, and there is nothing to back it up. Even so, the van adds to the sense that somebody may have been watching Franklin. She also says the feeling around the apartment and the store was so bad that she thought about going back after he got off work. She ended up not going. Randy and Lydia keep steering the students back to the difficulty of proving what happened to a low-key man who did not leave many clues behind.

As heard by us

A careful cold case episode that stays rooted in uncertainty.

Franklin Benedict's killing is handled as a case built from very little, not as a mystery with clean answers. Franklin J. Benedict, a third shift manager at the Ashtabula Walmart near his apartment, was found there with multiple gunshot wounds after his roommate returned days…

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Why you'd press play

You want a student-led cold-case listen that centers Franklin J. Benedict and keeps the uncertainty visible.

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