Phone records provided to Scene by Christina Gaston’s family show definitively that former Cleveland Museum of Art Director David Franklin gave false information to Cleveland Heights police officers on April 29, 2013, when he allegedly discovered Gaston’s body at her apartment on Euclid Heights Boulevard in the very early morning.
Franklin told police, and provided handwritten testimony in their report, that he’d received a text message from Christina Gaston at 8 p.m. the previous night (Saturday, April 27). According to Franklin, that text said: “depressed from work.”
But Christina Gaston’s phone records show only one text on April 27. It was sent from Gaston’s phone at 6:06 p.m. to a number which Scene has confirmed is not David Franklin’s. What prodded Franklin to allegedly visit her apartment that night if that text was never sent?
Gaston’s phone, of course, was never recovered from her apartment after her death. Along with her missing camera — Gaston was an avid photographer — the missing phone appeared to be one of the more troubling question marks in an increasingly troubling tragedy. Additionally, those phone records show there was a large data transfer from Christina’s phone at 12:22 a.m. April 29, just minutes after Cleveland Hts. fire had arrived on scene after Franklin’s call to report the incident.
The Cleveland Heights Police, for their part, hadn’t given the phone much thought. They certainly weren’t looking for it. Ron Flower, Christina Gaston’s stepfather, called them on July 1 from his home in Georgia just to ask that the phone and camera be labeled missing. He provided the make, model and serial numbers. (This conversation is detailed in the original police report).
At the time, Ron Flower’s call was little more than a modest request from a grieving stepfather. After all, Christina Gaston’s death was an open-and-shut case, ruled a suicide immediately (cause of death: “asphyxiation due to hanging”) with no investigation whatsoever after the fact.
Until recently.
The Gaston family has confirmed (though Cleveland Heights’ Police Chief Jeffrey Robertson and Law Director John Gibbon will not) that on September 12, Christina Gaston’s case has been assigned to a detective for follow-up. (Whether or not the investigation is officially re-opened is unclear.) As far as the Gastons knew, no police personnel had been assigned to the case until that date.
Had detectives been assigned on the night of Gaston’s death, they might have though to collect the wine glass on her countertop to examine for fingerprints (never happened); or gather any evidence from the apartment at all (they didn’t).
Investigators might have probed further when David Franklin identified himself as Ms. Gaston’s “friend;” (they didn’t); they might have required a more thorough step-by-step of Franklin’s discovery of the body; they might have asked for a timeline less infuriatingly vague; they might have questioned neighbors or the building manager (they didn’t); they might have searched for the missing phone; and when David Franklin cited a text message from Saturday as the impetus for his arrival at Ms. Gaston’s apartment 28 hours later, detectives almost certainly would have asked to see the text in question.
When Scene brought these concerns before Cleveland Heights Police Chief Jeffrey Robertson in an effort to clarify their procedures when a suicide is called in, we were referred by Robertson’s secretary to Law Director John Gibbon, who has yet to respond via phone or email.
Scene did speak yesterday with the building manager at MMH Management who served as Gaston’s landlord until her death. He said that there had been zero communication from Cleveland Heights police. None back in April, none in September, none this week.
Franklin’s lawyer, Virginia Davidson, responded to Scene via email yesterday regarding the case in general: “The details that are being reported in the media concern Dr. Franklin’s personal life. There was a tragedy. It has nothing to do with the exceptionally fine work that Dr. Franklin has done for the museum. We just ask that you give his family its privacy at this time.”
When reached for comment about the new details this morning, Davidson responded via email: “You have your facts wrong. There is no story here, and no reason to engage in discussion about this personal matter.”
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2013.
Who’s the lead detective here, Barney Miller??
Ahhhh, our Cleveland Hts police fail again. The were probably too busy writing parking tickets for all the patrons of our fine restaurants. Way to go boys!
Someone commits suicide and their cell phone and camera go missing – and the Cleveland Heights police never investigate?? WTF??
I’m a little confused. What about the phone records for Sunday, April 28?
I guess we know now why Franklin has engaged the services of a criminal lawyer. Lying to the police is a felony. When people lie, they are usually trying to hide something. Ms. Davidson needs to get a grip and face the fact that Franklin’s former job as Director of the CMA made him a public figure here. That and his behavior make her request for his privacy asinine! If anyone deserves privacy, it is the Gaston family and the wife and children of David Franklin. As for Ms. Davidson’s comment that there “is no story here,” we shall see. The very fact that Franklin retained her says otherwise!
Good for Scene for beating the justice drum. Maybe Franklin did something untoward, and maybe he didn’t, but I think that Ms. Gaston and her family deserve a more complete answer than than “Maybe.”
“Additionally, those phone records show there was a large data transfer from Christina’s phone at 12:22 a.m. April 29, just minutes after Cleveland Hts. fire had arrived on scene after Franklin’s call to report the incident.”
So, the cell phone is missing but somehow there was a large data transfer around the time of her death??? This is puzzling.
I wish I could “like’ Chris Keffer’s comment more than once. There’s no revenue in criminal investigation. Only in traffic enforcement.
You mean 12:22 am on April 28, right? Please get your dates straight or it gets very confusing.
Mr Franklin says he received a text t 8pm on Saturday, April 27th. Then he stated he went to see Ms. Gaston late Sunday evening, April 28, and she was pronounced dead right after midnight that night–early Monday, April 29. The Scene article says there was a 28 hour period between the stated text and his visit to her apartment. I was curious if the Sunday phone logs show any activity at all that might be relevant.
Thank you Scene for continuing this investigation. Please continue. Ms. Gaston’s family deserves the truth, and it isalso important to shine a light on how the CMA board engaged in handling their employee, Mr. Franklin, from the moment they (or someone on the board) knew of his affair with a subordinate. We also need to hear about CH Police and their protocols, or lack of, when dealing with suicide scenes. Keep going.
People should keep in mind that even if the alleged text message to Franklin wasn’t sent from the cell phone in question, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t sent. It could have been sent from another cell phone — either a phone belonging to someone else or another cell phone that family/friends may be unaware of. Lots of people have more than one phone. In any event, the CH PD has clearly not been on the ball with regard to this unfortunate event.
Hopefully, the CHPD will wake up and request Mr. Franklin’s phone records to check for the wayward text. I’ll be surprised if they find it. Something is very rotten, indeed, in the state of Denmark.
Sam Allard, can you find out what the coroner determined to be the day and of death?
^^day and “time”^^^^^
Good question, Jolly.
The PD’s initial story says the CHPD report says she was unconscious at 12:13 am:
“According to the report, Franklin said he immediately called 911 and waited until police arrived at 12:13 a.m. to find Gaston unconscious …The Cleveland Heights Fire Department Rescue Squad arrived at 12:20 a.m. and pronounced Gaston dead six minutes later.”
Thanks clevescene for continuing to do such a great investigative job – despite what Mr. Franklin’s lawyer states!
It is now time to focus on the CMA Board’s failed stewardship and their attempts to what seems to be misrepresent the facts and to obfuscate most of their public comments.
Please clevescene follow-up and:
1.Request an interview with the head of HR for the CMA – Ms. Sharon Reaves.
Ask her what the CMA policies are regarding consensual sexual relationships between mature and
consulting employees. What is considered acceptable and what is considered not acceptable?
What are the consequences to one’s employment?
2. Ask Ms. Reaves what is considered inappropriate behavior between management and subordinates.
3. HR always prepares the termination papers for employees. Ask Ms. Reaves what were the grounds for Mr. Franklin’s dismissal? Was the affair having a negative impact on his job performance?
Was the affair creating difficulties for the CMA among its donors, other staff?
4. Ask Ms. Reaves if Mr. Franklin did not resign, what would have been the liability exposure the CMA would have faced?
5. Finally, ask Ms. Reaves when the CMA Board leadership fails in its ability to provide honest/transparent/truthful leadership what are the consequences for the Board and especially its voice and face Mr. Kestner? What policies are in place to dismiss badly performing Board leadership?
PLEASE clevescene continue to dig – there is more to uncover, despite what Franklin’s lawyer states.
(of course, her job as a high-powered/very expensive white crime lawyer is to obfuscate, deter, steer any investigation astray. that is what Franklin pays her so handsomely to do.)
Please clevescene call CMA HR Head – Ms. Sharon Reaves – and ask the tough questions and demand the honest answers.
Please call the CMA Lawyers – ask the tough questions about failed CMA Board and its consequences.
Please call major CMA corporate and private donors – just what do they believe will be the impact of Mr. Franklin’s “effective immediately” resignation. And the impact of CMA Board Chair Mr. Kestner’s obfuscated answers to the press/public, and his so obvious failed stewardship of the CMA during this crisis.
Please call Mr. Bidwell and ask him how well the Bidwells knew Christina and if it is true that they introduced her to Mr. Franklin. And ask Mr. Bidwell, isn’t there a conflict of interest with Mr. Bidwell – major CMA donor and Board Member at the time of the affair and of Mr. Franklin’s resignation – being Interim Director considering he had to be aware of Franklin’s affair months ago?
dismayed,
Re: time of death- I just wonder if Ms Gaston hanged herself shortly after her last text at 6pm April 27..or shortly before Franklin found her 30 hours later ?
And what transpired between Ms. Gaston and Mr. Franklin in the hours leading up to his finding her? According to the phone records was no “text” communication to him from Ms. Gaston 28 hours before his visit, but was there a phone call? A meeting? According to Mr Franklin (via the file of information provided by the family to the CHPD) Franklin and Ms. Gaston were supposed to be in Italy the following week celebrating her 35th birthday. Why did Mr. Franklin create a story about a text to the police, which he said indicated her being “depressed from work”? By accounts from her work colleagues she seemed fine with her job. If she wasn’t depressed from work, what might have prompted this act of self destruction?
Her telephone saw data activity AFTER she passed away, during the time the police were attending to the scene of her death. Did Mr. Franklin have the phone and go to another room and hurriedly delete phone logs, and data and pocket the phone for later disposal? And why don’t they check Mr. Franklin’s phone logs around the time of her death to verify his story? Or emails?
Mr. Litt’s PD article says the police report indicates the CHPD found her unconscious at 12:14 am, then CH Rescue and Fire pronounced her dead 6 minutes later. If that truly is so, she died then and there. Or, if that is not correct, as perhaps there is some sort of legal thing that only allows the medicos to confirm her as having died, she may have passed away any time between her text on Saturday at 6 pm to a work colleague and when the police came. But, according the Medical Examiner, the cat bowls were filled with fresh cat food, indicating, he said, a recent deliberate attempt by Ms. Gaston, to make sure her animals were taken care of until someone found her.
The family deserves to have all these loose ends tied up. Mr. Franklin’s lying to the police, and then ingratiating himself with the family after her death…I can see why they cannot put this to rest until they have all the information. But, with Mr. Franklin having hired a high powered criminal attorney, I fear they may never have the answers they need.
And the shameful way the CMA board has handled this is truly disgusting. This tragedy really illustrates how rich, powerful institutions and the folks who run them sweep ugly things under the rug usually with impunity. The CMA trustees have shown complete and utter disregard for their roles and responsibilities to the institution they represent. Self-serving and myopic people. Tainting the art museum’s reputation immeasurably–and all for what? Does Chairman Kestler really represent a united message from that board? Or is there at least one of them –Agnes Gund? Mark Schwartz?–who feels uncomfortable enough to stand up and publicly speak to how poorly they have handled this and how they intend to make help amends to Ms. Gaston’s family and the community for their lies? Where IS their sense of right and wrong in this matter?
As a long time member and contributor to CMA I find this entire thing so disheartening and upsetting.
Please, Scene, continue your digging. This mess has to be made right. Cleveland Scene is a part of the story, too, now.
“Please call Mr. Bidwell and ask him how well the Bidwells knew Christina and if it is true that they introduced her to Mr. Franklin.” One of the creepiest aspects, and there are many, of this story is the Bidwell connection. If the reporting is correct, Christina followed the Bidwells from the Akron Museum. Christina worked for both museums, yes? In other words, her relationship with the Bidwells predates her employment at the CMA. Laura Bidwell posted glamor photos of Christina on her Bidwells Projects website, including a photo in which Christina is dubbed, “Le Spice Melange.” Le Spice Melange is a reference to the aesthetic of filmmaker David Lynch, of which the Bidwells are fond. More particularly, Le Spice Melange is lifted directly from Lynch’s film, Dune: “The Spice Melange, commonly referred to simply as ‘the spice’, was a naturally produced awareness spectrum narcotic that formed a fundamental block of commerce and technological development in the known universe for millennia. It also played an important role in travel and cultural development.” Laura is fond of skull and cross jewelry, which in popular culture and anything-goes personal accessories of the current generation is nothing out of the ordinary. But in the context of an attractive young woman – an underling intimately involved with a member of the closed world of art museum leadership – it can suggest, well, anything. Perhaps in the absence of a criminal investigation, crowd sourcing is the best means for attaining truth. And of course, the good work of the Scene.
hi sonny – excellent points you present. yes, PLEASE clevescene keep the investigative pressure on.
Contact the CMA HR Ms. Reaves, contact the CMA Board Chair Mr. Kestner, contact the major donors both public and private, contact Mrs. Franklin as she is a part of this crisis also whether she likes it or not, contact the global art press world and spread the word of how poorly the CMA Board has handled this crisis, and finally, try to find Mr. Franklin – I doubt if he will talk, but maybe he just might.
I am soooo proud of the many voices of the PD and clevescene community that have been outraged by the mishandling and misrepresentation of this sad situation, and who, with the power of their digital voices, have kept the pressure on the powers that be. The CMA’s reputation has been severely damaged and until all the facts are transparent and public, the CMA will continue to have a demoralized staff, loss of donors, decline in membership, and of course, a tarnished reputation globally.
still waiting to read in clevescene:
1. Did Mr. Franklin receive a severance package from the CMA? Any ongoing benefits/perks?
2. What are the terms of Mr. Franklin’s retainment as a consultant? What is his salary? What exactly are his assignments?
3. Is there a dollar limit/time limit to Mr. Franklin’s “new job” as a consultant to the CMA?
4. Who will be supervising the work of Mr. Franklin at the CMA as a consultant?
5. Finally, why would the same Board that believed what Mr. Frankin did was so unreconcilable that the only solution was his resignation, now believe he is perfectly acceptable as a “consultant” to his former employer?
May I add that when police arrived on the scene, Christina Gaston’s body was STILL hanging though she was alive. David Franklin never bothered to cut her down. Hanging, until full death, usually takes around 20 minutes. The timing of his phone call to 911 and her time of death doesn’t really add up. She would have had to hang herself just minutes before he walked in. Thanks to Scene for following this. However, I speak from experience when I say that the CHPD doesn’t like to conduct investigations (remember how the screwed up a chance to catch Anthony Sowell?) and that they do not press charges for false statements. To get the CHPD to admit a mistake would be impossible, and for them to reopen the case or to go after David Franklin would be them saying they screwed up. The law protects it’s ego first.
Maybe the county prosecutor Tim McGinty should intercede and start an investigation into Cristina’s death since no one else would.
After being away from Cleveland for ten years, it is great to see that the Scene newspaper is still doing wonderful investigative reporting. How brave and socially responsible…we can see the Plain Dealer a little more clearly now. The Police in Cleveland and area are , and have been for a long time an embarrassment. The citizens really need to ban together to make some changes. As for the museum…well I remember when it was a “world class” museum, when did it sink so low? Franklin was shady from the start.