Fatal Choice
On August 16, 2009, 9-1-1 operators received two separate calls from the same house. A husband and wife had each dialed in, claiming their partner had stabbed them. When the husband died of his wounds, investigators were left wondering if the killing was self-defense or a cold-blooded murder. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 9/3/2011. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays and stream on demand on Paramount+.
- Duration
- 38m
- Broadcast on
- 21 Oct 2026
- Audio Format
- other
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It was a gruesome discovery off a dirt road in Georgia. Hunters had found a body. Was it immediately clear to you that this woman had been murdered? Yes. But who was this mystery woman in the woods? That looks like Mindy. I'm Erin Moriarty, and from 48 hours, this is the woman in the woods. I've never wanted to be wrong like this in my whole entire life. Binge the full series The Woman in the Woods, wherever you get your podcast. On the night of August 16, 2009, I was returning home from vacation with my family when I received a phone call from my lieutenant who told me that there was a stabbing over on Stafford Road. When I arrived at the scene, I talked with some of the other officers. They said that Sandra Franklin, the wife, was responsible for stabbing Dr. Franklin in the chest. I'm Detective Sergeant Andy Kelly with Bainbridge Police Department on Jog County, Ohio. She's brought back to the station by one of our officers. Her photograph is taken. From there, she was brought up to the interview room. Hi, I'm Sergeant Kelly. This isn't a case of who'd done it. And she admitted that she had stabbed him. But now we needed to find out how this occurred, why it occurred. He snapped me hard in the face and knocked me in the ground. And who was the primary aggressor in this case? And then he put it in the winter and he said, "I'm gonna kill you in bitch." I loved Peter and Peter loved me at least I thought he did. It all happened so fast. One word leads to another and he hits me. He was in the process of attacking me. I grabbed a knife. I was not wielding it at him. He's angry and he's sweating and I'm backed up to the sink. Anybody in that laundry room at that time would have done the same thing. And I went like that. I didn't want to kill him. I hope he's not dead. It was too early at that point to draw a conclusion. But some of her story just wasn't matching up. There was no signs of any physical violence in the house. She said that she was slapped in the face, knocked to the ground. She said she had this big red mark. I didn't see it at all. There was no mark whatsoever. My intent was to just get out of a dangerous situation. She attacked him. There's no rational reason for me to do this. I don't have any motive to kill my husband. It is a case of murder. He had had the keys shocked up against my throat saying he's going to kill me. I'm not going to die. On a hot August night, 56 year old Sandra Franklin calls police to report a violent confrontation. As paramedics and police in Bainbridge, Ohio rush to Sandra's horse farm,
Transcription truncated.
On August 16, 2009, 9-1-1 operators received two separate calls from the same house. A husband and wife had each dialed in, claiming their partner had stabbed them. When the husband died of his wounds, investigators were left wondering if the killing was self-defense or a cold-blooded murder. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 9/3/2011. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays and stream on demand on Paramount+.