Margaret Ridgely (2:38)

Kelly needed to use our computer to get a money transfer, so we walk inside to my bedroom so that Kelly could use our computer for a little bit.

Narrator (2:47)

Michael and Margaret met on a blind date while Margaret was in her junior year of high school. Michael was three years older than Margaret. They hit it off immediately, especially after Margaret told them she was a gymnast.

Margaret Ridgely (2:59)

He wanted to see something. And of course me. I go doing a bunch of back Flips down the yard. And he was just enamored at that point. And he called me the next day. We talked every day for a week or so and then just decided to take it to the next step. I was attracted to his charm. Not very many men would carry your purse at the mall, but he was one of those guys who did that. At that time in my life, that was what I wanted. He was very smart. Very, very smart. He loved working on cars. I can't remember a time that his hands were ever clean. At one point, he was gonna work for his dad.

Narrator (3:33)

When the couple met, Michael was working with his father, Michael Sr. In his construction business.

Detective Jason DiPietro (3:38)

Working side by side was pretty awesome. He got to see another side of me outside of the home. My son was still pretty young, in his early 20s and just trying to find his way, trying to really search to see what path he wanted. I don't think he had anything really.

Narrator (3:56)

Michael came from a very close knit family and when he introduced them to his girlfriend Margaret, they welcomed her with open arms. He was truly blessed to have the support of his family. Something that Margaret had been denied in her life.

Detective Jason DiPietro (4:10)

The environment I tried to create is just to try to be always open. There's no secrets, there's problems. We all work together to solve it.

Narrator (4:20)

Margaret fit right in with the Temple family.

Margaret Ridgely (4:23)

Michael's dad accepted me like I was one of their own. At one point, Michael's dad got a wood stove. So he taught me how to chop firewood. That was fun. And I think that's where Mike got that protective aspect from, was from his dad because his dad would make sure the family was taken care of no matter what. Michael wanted to be my knight in shining armor. He wanted to fix everything that was wrong in my life.

Narrator (4:51)

After dating for around four years, Michael and Margaret move in with Margaret's grandmother on Williamsburg Lane. Unfortunately, Margaret's grandmother has fallen ill. She's diabetic and has onset dementia. Michael and Margaret want to help take care of her elderly grandmother. With a large basement that the couple take over, there's more than enough room for all three of them. Michael and Margaret are somewhat reclusive. They prefer the company of one another, so most evenings are spent cuddled up in front of the television. After finding Kelly on their doorstep, Michael and Margaret welcome her into their home. The trio head for the bedroom in the basement, careful not to disturb anyone else inside. Margaret's grandmother is asleep upstairs and her visiting uncle is watching television in the living room. Kelly sits down at the computer and begins typing away.

Margaret Ridgely (5:47)

A couple seconds later, we hear a knock at the door. So Michael opened the door and the first thing we saw was a pistol coming through a small crack in the door.

Narrator (5:58)

Two armed and masked men burst into the couple's bedroom. The couple and Kelly are unaware that Margaret's uncle, Donald Ganion has been pistol whipped and duct taped upstairs. Michael, Margaret and Kelly are ordered to the ground while the two masked men demand money.

Margaret Ridgely (6:16)

We were in shock. The two guys took Michael over to the safe and asked him to open it. He said no. So then they threatened me. He still said no. And then fight or flight just kicked in and I started fighting the guy who was in front of me. He started hitting me in the head with the butt of the gun and I saw stars. I was just doing my best to stay conscious and fight for my life. As I'm fighting, I hear what sounds like two pots being hit together.

Narrator (6:49)

What Margaret hears isn't pots and pans, but instead gunfire.

Margaret Ridgely (6:59)

The guy that was fighting me ran off, so I went over to check on Michael and he was down on the floor by the back door. He had a hole in his chest and in his thigh, just leaking blood.

Narrator (7:14)

The man who just shot Michael now takes aim at his second target.

Margaret Ridgely (7:18)

I vividly remember him raising the gun and I feel like I can still see it in slow motion of him lifting up the gun. It felt like he had it right to my forehead. And I remember looking past it to him and he was wearing all black. The only thing that I remember seeing was these bright eyes in like a sea of black. And I just closed my eyes thinking I was dead. When I opened my eyes, both of them were gone. Michael was on the floor with a pool of blood. He was coughing, he could barely talk. But he told me that he stabbed the guy. He just kept saying that over and over. Before he lost consciousness,

Narrator (8:07)

Michael had stabbed the intruder who responded by shooting him in the chest. The two intruders then run from the home leaving Michael bleeding and Margaret in a state of panic and confusion. After the two men flee from the home, Kelly runs up the stairs and calls 911. Detective Jason DiPietro is off duty when he receives word of the shooting.

Detective Jason DiPietro (8:27)

I got a phone call from home from my supervision who advised that there had been a home invasion robbery gone bad. Suspect had shot Michael twice and he had to be taken up to our shock trauma with life threatening injuries.

Narrator (8:40)

Both Michael and Margaret are rushed to the hospital to be treated for shock trauma. Margaret had sustained a large gash over her eye and police Want to question her about what had transpired. But Margaret is in no condition to talk, at least not until she knows that Michael is okay. Doctors are being evasive about Michael's condition.

Detective Jason DiPietro (9:01)

I'm communicating with the doctors and the nurses. We could never really get a clear answer to if our son's going to live or die.

Margaret Ridgely (9:10)

You feel like your world is shattered, and all the control you thought you had is just gone.

Narrator (9:24)

As Michael fights for his life in the hospital, police transport Margaret's grandmother and uncle to safety. The home is cordoned off as a crime scene as investigators get to work. Skyler Henry, investigative reporter for WMAR2, recalls the chaos that followed the shooting.

Detective Jason DiPietro (9:41)

It was snowy then, and folks were in their houses. They heard it. People were genuinely concerned about what happened at that home. They didn't necessarily know the particulars or Michael Jr. Specifically. But when this initially happened, there was panic in that neighborhood.

Narrator (10:01)

Investigators search around the home for footprints, but their search is hampered by the heavy snowfall. As they scan the area, Detective dipietro notices some blood in the snow near a light pole.

Detective Jason DiPietro (10:12)

We began to follow that trail that went out from the basement up into the front yard to that light pole, and then it stopped. So we believe that would be where whoever was stabbed got into a vehicle and left the area.

Narrator (10:23)

The blood from the light pole leads investigators directly to the basement. They theorize that the getaway vehicle was parked beside the light pole and that the two assailants had fallen from the basement after one was stabbed and then made a quick getaway in the parked vehicle. Investigators speak with neighbors, and one informs them that he heard gunshots and moments later saw a silver truck speed away from the crime scene.

Detective Jason DiPietro (10:47)

We immediately contacted hospitals in the area in the hopes that maybe he went there to seek medical treatment. But we learned that no one had come in at any of the medical locations in our area.

Narrator (11:00)

Detective dipietro continues to scour the crime scene, hoping it can provide some insight into the elusive intruders.

Detective Jason DiPietro (11:07)

If you were to go to the house for the first time, you, would obviously go to the front door, but these individuals went to the side door.

Narrator (11:13)

He figures that the intruders must have known Michael or Margaret. They knew exactly what door to go to.

Detective Jason DiPietro (11:21)

We recovered.357 SIG cartridge casings in the kitchen area. And we located the knife that Michael used to stab the suspect underneath the dresser area. I remember as I went down to the bottom of the stairs, and I looked to the right into this bedroom, I remember seeing a safe in the closet. Right away I thought, if there's a safe involved. Is that what these guys were looking for?

Narrator (11:44)

It was evident the men were interested in the safe, but why? What was hiding away behind that lock? Investigators speak with Margaret and ask her for the safe combination. At first, she's evasive.

Margaret Ridgely (11:57)

When the police pulled me in for questioning, they wanted the safe combination. I wanted to be helpful to catch the people that did this.

Narrator (12:05)

But Margaret's desire for justice for Michael prevails, and she provides investigators with the combination to unlock the safe. Inside they find a stash of opioid pills.

Detective Jason DiPietro (12:16)

We were talking about drug involvement now, so it increased our suspect pool by a lot.

Margaret Ridgely (12:25)

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Detective Jason DiPietro (13:48)

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Narrator (14:08)

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Margaret Ridgely (14:53)

Kelly told detectives that she just happened to be at the house when they came home, and she went inside with them. And then all of a sudden, these two home invasion robbers come in. And she was not heard or touched during the assault. The other two were assaulted and beat up and shot at and injured. So it was very suspicious.

Narrator (15:12)

Kelly insists to investigators that she was only at the home to use the computer.

Detective Jason DiPietro (15:17)

We had that computer analyzed to check to see exactly what she was doing. And we did verify that, in fact, she was doing a wire transfer paperwork. We spent quite a bit of time looking into Margaret's friend, and every bit of investigation we did never linked her to the crime. Actually excluded her in some instances as having any knowledge or involvement in it.

Narrator (15:40)

Back at the hospital, Michael is still unconscious. Margaret and the family play him music and talk to him. They stroke his hand and hope that he knows that they're there with him. They cling onto hope that Michael will wake up soon. After a couple of days, Michael begins to respond.

Margaret Ridgely (15:57)

Once he was able to at least talk through writing. I had this little spiral notebook that we talked all day, back and forth, just writing to each other, asking each other, you know, if we were okay.

Narrator (16:11)

With Michael now conscious, Detective DiPietro pays him a visit at the hospital.

Detective Jason DiPietro (16:16)

But Michael didn't really provide any suspect information. He just didn't know.

Narrator (16:21)

Michael tells investigators that the list of people who know about the safe is a short one. He confesses that he's a small time drug dealer, but that he only sells to people he knows well. Michael had been warned of the dangers he was putting himself into by his friend, Chris Ruiz.

Margaret Ridgely (16:37)

I told him that with the amount

Detective Jason DiPietro (16:40)

of people he has come into his house, that eventually someone's gonna come in

Margaret Ridgely (16:44)

to Rob him, and he's going to get shot.

Narrator (16:49)

Michael was in high school in 2005 when he became involved in drugs.

Detective Jason DiPietro (16:54)

He was very bored with school.

Margaret Ridgely (16:57)

And Mike has a very addictive personality.

Detective Jason DiPietro (17:00)

And prescription drugs were easy enough to get in our area. Mike and I could have gotten our

Margaret Ridgely (17:08)

hands on just about anything we wanted. Every addict tells themselves that pills are safer, that you're not really an addict because it's something that's prescribed. But in my case, I knew what I was doing. We had some codependencies, and, you know, we just. We fed each other's addiction, just like many couples who are fighting that battle. We wanted kids. Unfortunately, I was told that I can't have kids. The medication to fix the problem was gonna be a couple thousand dollars a month, and we couldn't afford that. So we started thinking of ways that we could make that happen. So Michael, when he brought to my attention that there's a way to make a lot of money, you know, I was weary at first, but we decided to try, and it started going pretty well. He didn't want me close to that part of it. I was just mostly around for the ride. My idea was, let's just, you know, do it until we have enough to pay for the fertility doctor, and we'll stop there. And then, you know, a couple weeks later, his pride kind of got the better of him. Once we got to the amount that we needed, he actually invested it to flip it again. We were in the process of getting all that back when the shooting happened.

Narrator (18:26)

Michael survives the shooting, and eventually he improves enough to leave the hospital, but paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.

Detective Jason DiPietro (18:34)

We put an addition onto the house, added living room and bathroom that would accommodate a wheelchair outside, elevator that would be able to lift him up and down to get him into the house. Most positive sign, just his will to survive. Because most people, and I included myself, I would have just rolled over because of the condition. I mean, he was in was just unimaginable.

Narrator (18:59)

The first couple of months back at home are tough for Michael, Margaret, and the rest of the family. Michael tries to adapt to his new life as a quadriplegic. But as each day passes with no improvement, he loses a little bit of hope. Margaret and Michael wrack their brains trying to figure out who. Who could have committed the shooting.

Margaret Ridgely (19:19)

If not a friend, then who? Everybody that I looked at, I started wondering, is it this guy? Is it this person who would possibly do this?

Narrator (19:32)

As Michael faces a long and uncertain road to recovery, investigators develop a new lead as to who May have targeted the safe.

Detective Jason DiPietro (19:39)

When this occurred, we were experiencing a higher amount than normal of home invasion robberies. A gang called DMI Deadmans Incorporated were suspected of being involved. They possibly owed Michael money. Michael might have owed them money, and they may have known where he kept his money and drugs. So once we learned of a possible gang involvement, the department immediately formed a task force to investigate all these cases and tried to figure out who had done this to Michael.

Narrator (20:07)

An anonymous tip points investigators to one particular member of this gang.

Detective Jason DiPietro (20:11)

We located him walking down a street one day. He was cooperative, and he agreed to give us his DNA. And he also agreed to take his shirt off for investigators to show he had not been stabbed. We submitted his DNA, and we later learned that he was not the person that we were looking for.

Narrator (20:29)

With no more suspects, the case of the brutal home invasion that left a young man paralyzed goes cold. While the intruders remain elusive, investigators move forward. On one arrest. Margaret. They charge her with felony possession of drugs with the intent to distribute.

Margaret Ridgely (20:55)

My mind was complete chaos. I felt like I betrayed my family and Michael's family. I just was lost. I didn't have any direction. I had no hope. I had no future. I didn't know what else to do other than to turn myself in and just see where it took me.

Narrator (21:13)

Margaret avoids further hardship when a judge only sentences her to probation. Despite Margaret's claim that the drug operation was mainly Michael and not her, Michael is spared any charges. But his fading health puts a strain on the young couple's relationship.

Margaret Ridgely (21:28)

He was losing touch with his inner strength. His body would have these little seizures, and I think each time there was a complication, he just lost a little bit more hope. He had a light about him that just made me want to be around him all the time. But he just started losing touch with me. A year into caring for Michael, he saw the emotional toll that it was taking. One day he just came to me and told me that I have to go. I have to go and find my own path. So I think Michael saw the struggle that I was having. I just wasn't healthy. And I think we both sort of needed to break away.

Narrator (22:14)

As the years continue to pass, it becomes clear that Michael isn't getting any better. By 18 June, 2015, it had been five years and four months since he was shot. Every day, his father watches him suffer through the lingering pain of the shooting.

Detective Jason DiPietro (22:31)

It just was a downward trend the whole time. It was hard to watch because you knew that a part of him was suffering. I got a call from Mike's father

Margaret Ridgely (22:43)

telling me that he had tried to

Detective Jason DiPietro (22:45)

call Mike and couldn't get ahold of him.

Margaret Ridgely (22:48)

And he came home to find Michael on the floor. Mr. Mike wasn't sure Mike was going to make the ambulance ride to the hospital. I left immediately, went to the hospital, and by the time I got there, Mike was gone.

Narrator (23:05)

The infections and blood clots from the wounds Michael had sustained never truly healed and eventually they had become too much for him.

Margaret Ridgely (23:13)

It wasn't until a few weeks later that I contacted his friend Chris. And Chris told me that they already had the funeral and that I wasn't allowed to go. So I didn't get to say goodbye. I think his dad felt very betrayed. He let me in. He treated me like his own family. And I think Mr. Mike felt like I walked away. I think he wanted me to do better and be better. And I couldn't do that. I couldn't emotionally do that or be that at that time.

Narrator (23:54)

Michael's autopsy rules his death as a homicide. Due to the complications from the gunshot wound, his death heats up the cold case investigators are now dogged in their determination to catch the killer.

Margaret Ridgely (24:06)

After Michael had passed away, the detectives called me and said that the entire course of their investigation was shifting from assault with a deadly weapon to murder. And with it being a murder case and a cold case, that it was going to pick up more momentum moving forward. Homes.com knows that when it comes to home shopping, it's never just about the house or condo. It's about the home. And what makes a home is more than just the house or property. It's the location and neighborhood. If you have kids, it's also schools, nearby, parks and transportation options. That's why homes.com goes above and beyond to bring home shoppers the in depth information they need to find the right home. And when I say in depth, I'm talking deep. Each listing features comprehensive information about the neighborhood, complete with a video guide. They also have details about local schools with test scores, state rankings and student to teacher ratio. They even have an agent directory with the sales history of each agent. So when it comes to finding a home, not just a house, this is everything you need to know, all in1place.homes.com We've done your homework.

Detective Jason DiPietro (25:17)

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Narrator (26:14)

Detective Regina Collier and Detective DiPietro take a fresh look at everything, beginning with the original crime scene.

Margaret Ridgely (26:21)

When you're given a cold case, the first thing you do is look at the original case file to see if there is anything that could have possibly been overlooked.

Narrator (26:30)

They return to the interview that Margaret had with the investigators all those years earlier. She was recorded by investigators as she walked them through the crime scene.

Margaret Ridgely (26:39)

Michael's down on the ground over there. And I see the guy crouched down, the little guy with the bandana with the gun.

Detective Jason DiPietro (26:45)

Okay.

Margaret Ridgely (26:46)

He's got his gun to Mike's temple.

Detective Jason DiPietro (26:48)

So when you guys came in through this way, obviously the bad guys, you would have noticed if someone would have followed you right in.

Margaret Ridgely (26:55)

Right.

Detective Jason DiPietro (26:55)

So where do you believe these guys were? Do you think they were in with your uncle, or do you think they came in through this other door at the top of the stairs?

Margaret Ridgely (27:02)

No, I think they were in here with my uncle because even if the blinds were up that way, I would have saw a shadow or somebody walked through, walk past the front of the house.

Detective Jason DiPietro (27:11)

So would you have heard them if they came in through this door?

Narrator (27:14)

Yes. Okay.

Margaret Ridgely (27:14)

Yeah. Cause it's right next to our room.

Narrator (27:17)

Investigators run the DNA found at the crime scene in the form of blood through codis, the combined DNA index system. This database, often used in these types of murder cases, includes the DNA of missing people as well as people convicted of crimes and forensic samples collected at crime scenes. They don't get a hit, but it isn't a lost cause just yet.

Detective Jason DiPietro (27:39)

Our evidence coordinator, Craig Robinson, had read an article about a company saying they're doing some cutting edge stuff With DNA analysis, We can basically take an unknown profile and phenotype it so they can give you what most likely the person would look like.

Narrator (27:55)

To create this portrait of a killer, genealogists use blood left on the knife that Michael used to stab his killer. With this DNA sample, they are able to determine someone's heritage, what eye color somebody has and what Their hair color was. The two home invaders were wearing bandanas, but Margaret was able to see the killer's eyes.

Margaret Ridgely (28:14)

I couldn't recognize his face, but he did have the bluish eyes.

Narrator (28:20)

On December 15, 2015, investigators released the computer generated image of Michael's killer. It shows a man with fair skin and green or hazel eyes and brown or blonde hair.

Margaret Ridgely (28:32)

When we put that composite out, I was very excited about it. I thought, somebody's going to recognize him. I couldn't fathom that somebody would have kept their mouth shut for this many years and not shared with anyone else that they had done this. Somebody's going to recognize this person and relate it back to a story they might have heard.

Narrator (28:51)

Despite the hopes of the investigators, nobody comes forward to identify the killer. Investigators are back at square one. With no leads to go on, they turn to the media for help.

Detective Jason DiPietro (29:01)

Police in Anne Arundel county were stumped. I was first introduced to the Temple investigation relatively late. I was the cold case reporter that who would build relationships with detectives within police departments. And the homicide detective and the cold case detective sat me down and said, hey, listen, we might be able to solve a cold case.

Margaret Ridgely (29:25)

We needed to get out into the public so the community knows that this case, we did not just forget about it. We did not just stop working on it.

Narrator (29:35)

Eight years after Michael was shot, Skyler Henry, investigative reporter for WMAR2, is introduced to Michael Sr. He's standing at the foot of his son's grave with cameras and reporters surrounding him.

Detective Jason DiPietro (29:48)

I remember it being an extremely snowy day. He was someone who was on the brink of giving up hope, but also holding out a sliver that something might change.

Narrator (30:02)

The typically reserved fire makes an appearance on local television and pleads for help in solving his son's murder.

Detective Jason DiPietro (30:09)

Snitching is a word invented by cowards. What I'm asking for is help and justice, which is for the strong to stand up for what's right. And any help that we could get would be greatly appreciated.

Narrator (30:29)

A father's plea for justice brings Michael's case to the forefront of everyone's mind, but it does little else. Unfortunately, the public appeal doesn't yield a single new lead.

Margaret Ridgely (30:40)

It took the wind out of my sails at that point. You just can't fathom that somebody hasn't come forward. But we didn't give up.

Narrator (30:48)

Detective Collier holds out hope that genealogists may get a result from a radical new investigative tool that they've been developing. It's known as reverse genetic genealogy. Cece Moore, chief genetic genealogist at parabon nanolabs explains further.

Margaret Ridgely (31:05)

When you are doing investigative genetic genealogy, Instead of going backward in time, now you've got to come forward in time. My job is to identify those common ancestors and then identify all of their descendants and narrow it down to a very small pool of potential persons of interest, Oftentimes only one.

Narrator (31:25)

Genealogists again turn to the blood found on the knife. They want to use the DNA from the blood to build a family tree that could include the killer.

Margaret Ridgely (31:34)

We were able to find different connections that all zeroed in on one family tree. And that set of parents only had one son.

Detective Jason DiPietro (31:46)

We were kind of shocked. We pulled up a picture of this guy and wow, look at his eyes. This could be our guy. This could be our killer.

Narrator (31:58)

The man's name is Fred Frampton Jr. And he looks eerily similar to the snapshot of the killer created by the DNA profile three years earlier. Frampton lived in the area and had a criminal record that abruptly stopped in 2010. With no prior felony convictions, Frampton's DNA was never entered into CODIS.

Detective Jason DiPietro (32:19)

And we learned still to that day, he had a silver truck registered to him, which, again, a neighbor said they saw a silver truck fleeing the scene.

Margaret Ridgely (32:28)

Then we ran to see if he owned any guns, and he owned a.357, which is the same caliber of the shell casings that we found next to Michael temple. That night, it all started to click.

Narrator (32:42)

Investigators believe Fred Frampton is their blue eyed killer, but they are still a long way from proving it. They will need a sample of Frampton's DNA to match the DNA they recovered from the bloody knife. A team of investigators follow Frampton in public day and night, Waiting for the perfect time to secretly recover anything that may have his DNA on it.

Margaret Ridgely (33:04)

We observed Fred frampton and his other co workers go to lunch, and he was walking into a 711 smoking a cigarette. He actually flicked the cigarette right at the detective's car. So we waited for him to go inside, and we grabbed a cigarette. I just couldn't believe that it just happened so easily.

Narrator (33:23)

Lo and behold, the DNA on Frampton's cigarette is a match to the DNA on the knife used to stab Michael's killer. Armed with the DNA evidence, Investigators arrest Frampton.

Margaret Ridgely (33:35)

He kept asking, what's this about? And he's like, I'm under arrest. I was like, yes, you're under arrest. And I told him, let's talk about what happened on williamsburg lane. At first, he said he didn't recall ever being on williamsburg lane. We have your DNA we know you were there.

Detective Jason DiPietro (33:51)

He looked at us and he's like, how did you get my DNA? And I remember telling him, you gotta watch where you throw your cigarette butts.

Narrator (34:02)

Once Frampton decided, discovers that investigators have his DNA, his whole demeanor completely changes.

Detective Jason DiPietro (34:09)

And from there, he confessed to everything. He said Michael Temple pulled out a knife and stabbed him. And he goes, once he stabbed me, then like, he goes, I shot him.

Narrator (34:17)

Frampton admits that he's the killer, but he claims that the home invasion wasn't his idea. He names the other assailant as Jonathan Ludwig. Ludwig was a drug client of Margaret and Michael, and the home invasion was targeted. According to Frampton, Ludwig knew where the safe was inside the home, and he knew that it contained drugs. Unlike Frampton, Ludwig will never see the inside of a courtroom. He had died seven months earlier from a drug overdose. Over the past eight years, Margaret had managed to pick up the pieces of her life and move forward. She has a son now, and she's just settling into her brand new home when she receives a phone call.

Margaret Ridgely (35:02)

It was the detective, and she told me that they got a hit on the DNA and they finally know who it was that shot Mike. And in that moment, I lost all my breath. I hit my knees and I just started to cry. Finally getting answers was the most freeing moment that I've had.

Narrator (35:29)

There's just one more person investigators need to tell about the big break in the case. Michael Sr.

Detective Jason DiPietro (35:37)

The most shocking part was knowing that

Margaret Ridgely (35:41)

the murderer was actually working with Mr. Mike after the incident for a number of years. I can't imagine the feeling knowing that

Detective Jason DiPietro (35:49)

he could have looked his son's killer

Narrator (35:51)

in the eye every day. Michael Sr. Comes down to the Criminal Investigation Division and is told about the new developments. As soon as he hears the names Frampton and Ludwig, he becomes visibly upset. Michael Sr. Informs the investigators he had trained both Frampton and Ludwig at his construction site not too long after the shooting.

Detective Jason DiPietro (36:15)

Michael Sr. He's a guy who, when you shake his hand, you feel the calluses of the hard work that he puts in. He also wants the people around him to do well. And so when you have these folks that are working with him on a construction site, he's taking them under his wing and the deceit that he felt. So keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You can't get no closer. You can see how he was seething. You can see the sheer frustration, the anger, the, my goodness, you've been here right next to me this entire time under my nose. When they first told Me, you just stop, you know, trying to get out of yourself. I hear this was people that worked right beside me. If somebody would do that, it'd be that cold and calculating and just be right next to you the whole time and can see your pain and just. It's just unfathomable, you know, it's just against all human nature.

Narrator (37:13)

Prosecutor Samantha Mildenburg offers Frampton a choice. He can plead guilty to murder and face 55 years in prison with the possibility of parole, or go to trial and risk receiving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Frampton's defense attorney asks for mercy, claiming his client is a changed man.

Margaret Ridgely (37:34)

Mr. Frampton's argument for leniency was he stayed out of trouble. He had turned his life around. He had kicked his habit, and he was working and raising his son personally. Anyone can see that this individual made a huge mistake. The other side of me saw that another individual was murdered because of his brazen acts of going into a home late at night, armed with a gun to steal money. He wanted what he wanted, and he did what he did, and there are repercussions to everybody's actions. Ultimately, he went ahead and took a plea.

Narrator (38:14)

On September 19, 2019, Frampton shuffled into court to be formally sentenced. He apologizes for the murder of Michael, but his apology does little to sway the judge's mind. Fred Frampton Jr. Is sentenced to 55 years in prison with the possibility of parole.

Detective Jason DiPietro (38:36)

The only time he was sorry is that he got caught. You know, he had a relationship. His son can still come see him in jail. My son's still in the graveyard. He's never getting. It's over. I have no empathy for him at all.

Margaret Ridgely (38:51)

I distinctly remember the judge telling Mr. Frampton that you had these nine years to spend with your family, to walk the streets, to have a job, to, you know, celebrate holidays and go on vacation, do all the things that, you know, Mr. Temple never got to do.

Detective Jason DiPietro (39:11)

Whatever Michael Jr. Was doing with those guys all those years ago, it didn't need to be this. It didn't need to be death and jail and deceit and grieving relatives for a decade. It didn't need to be any of this. I'd like my son to be remembered having a good heart, fun, maybe. Adventurous, not the perfect job. Definitely wanted to enjoy life and respected others, loved his family.

Margaret Ridgely (39:48)

If I could talk to Michael's family, I would say that I'm sorry that I couldn't save him and that I never stopped loving them. And I just. I really hope they're happy, or as happy as they can be.

Narrator (40:15)

Cold Case Files is hosted by Paula Barrows. It's produced by the Law and Crime Network and written by Eileen McFarlane and Emily G. Thompson. Our composer is Blake Maples. For A and E, our senior producer is John Thrasher and our supervising producer is McKamey Lin. Our executive producers are Jesse Katz, Maite Cueva and Peter Tarshis. This podcast is based on AE's Emmy winning TV series Cold Case Files. For more Cold case files, visit aetv.com. Pluto TV has thousands of free movies and TV shows.

Detective Jason DiPietro (41:09)

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Narrator (41:12)

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Detective Jason DiPietro (41:23)

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Narrator (41:26)

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Margaret Ridgely (41:32)

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Detective Jason DiPietro (41:36)

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