Murder heads to grand jury
By DAVE GOSSETT, staff writerSTEUBENVILLE - A City Police detective testified Tuesday that accused murderer David Turner Frantz said he spent the night with Chandra Wilkins before an early morning argument turned deadly and Turner Frantz ended up in the Jefferson County Justice Center.
Turner Frantz was bound over to the Jefferson County grand jury following a one-hour hearing before Municipal Court Judge Daniel Spahn.
During the preliminary hearing Turner Frantz showed little emotion, but relatives of Wilkins sobbed openly as police Detective John Stasiulewicz provided some details of the murder scene last week at 714 Oakmont Ave. where Wilkins' body was found wrapped in a blanket and placed in a second-floor closet.
"The suspect told me he and Wilkins ate a late dinner and then went to bed. Early the next morning he said they had a sexual encounter and then he went outside. When he returned to the house, Turner Frantz said they began arguing about her possibly being pregnant by another man," Stasiulewicz said under oath.
"Turner said he went outside to get a rope to commit suicide and when he returned to the house, she (Wilkins) had a knife, and he tried to get her to stab him in the stomach. When she refused, he took the rope and strangled her," according to Stasiulewicz.
Stasiulewicz said he received an anonymous telephone call from a man who identified Turner Frantz by name and said, "a homicide had taken place at 714 Oakmont Ave., and the perpetrator may be at the JFK Apartment building and I better get up there. I advised the turn working at that point to check the house, and I went to the JFK Apartments where I found Mr. John Turner, the uncle of David Turner Frantz. I also found a vehicle belonging to Chandra Wilkins in the building parking lot."
"I was in Mr. Turner's apartment when the call came over the radio that there was a body at the Oakmont residence and it appeared to be a homicide. I asked Mr. Turner to accompany me to look for his nephew and almost immediately I heard on the radio that Patrolman (John) Lemal had arrested the suspect in the 400 block of North Webster Alley and was taking him to the police station," explained Stasiulewicz.
According to testimony by Lemal, he spotted Turner Frantz, "and when I started to approach him, the suspect jammed his hands into his pants pockets.
But he took them out immediately when I ordered him to do so. I placed him under arrest as part of an investigation into a homicide.
"We arrived at the police station at almost the same time, and I talked to David Turner Frantz for several minutes and then allowed him to speak to his uncle for about 15 minutes. Then I talked to him, explained his Miranda rights and told him there had been a homicide, and he was a suspect," related Stasiulewicz.
Stasiulewicz also said he searched Wilkins' car and found a rope and T-shirt with blood on them.
"Mr. Turner Frantz said she was bleeding from her mouth, and there was a pillow that was blood stained on one corner," testified Stasiulewicz.
"He told me he attempted CPR on Chandra after about 15 minutes, and he said he didn't mean to kill Chandra," stated Stasiulewicz.
"He also said he had placed Chandra's body in a blanket near a dresser while he took their daughters to day care and a niece to work. Mr. Turner said he returned and placed the body in a closet so another niece wouldn't find the body," stated Stasiulewicz.
Defense attorney Steven Stickles questioned Stasiulewicz about comments by Turner Frantz wanting to commit suicide.
Stasiulewicz testified a partially written note about suicide had been discovered by the police.
Turner Frantz remains in the Jefferson County Justice Center in lieu of a $1 million bond.
(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com.)
