Naman Shrestha
In early 2022, Christopher Franklin went missing, turning his loved ones’ lives upside down. Little did they know that something worse than their nightmares awaited them. A few days of search resulted in the discovery of a sinister crime as he was found dead and buried. The entire case is covered in a detailed manner in Investigation Discovery’s ‘Married to Evil: What Lies Beneath,’ which also features in-depth interviews with the victim’s family and friends who talk about the impact it had on them.
Christopher Franklin Was Found Buried In the Basement of His Own House
Christopher S. “Chris” Franklin was welcomed into the world by James Robert “Jim” Franklin and Marsha A. Burkley Franklin on March 2, 1974, in Paulding, Ohio. He had a childhood filled with the love and care of his loved ones, including his two brothers, David and Jeff Franklin. Besides focusing on his academics, Chris also ensured that he gave enough time to himself and his hobbies, like spending time outdoors, either fishing or four-wheeling and playing softball. Chris dated a woman named Linda Aldred, and as their relationship got stronger, the two tied the knot.
Not long after, they gave birth to Olivia Franklin, who became the apple of his eye. As per reports, he also had a son named Trevor, seemingly from a previous relationship. One of the ways Chris used to bond with his daughter was by playing softball with her. After a few years, Chris and Linda’s marriage deteriorated due to the former’s struggle with alcoholism, and they decided to get divorced. At the time, he was employed at Continental Diamond Tool. After the divorce, he reconnected with one of his former classmates, Heidi Lynn Grant, through Facebook. Like him, she was divorced and mother to two children who lived with her former husband.
These were some of the many similarities that they had, allowing them to form a close bond in a short period of time. Reportedly, after dating for a while, they got married in 2021 at Grant’s Catering Hall. A few months later, in January 2022, Chris went missing from his house and when his brother, Dave, noticed his disappearance, he reported him missing on January 22, claiming that he had not been seen since January 16. Soon after the missing persons report was filed, the police found 47-year-old Christopher Franklin buried in the basement of his Antwerp house. Upon examining the body, the cause of his death was determined to be multiple gunshot wounds.
The Killer Claimed Self-Defense in the Murder of Christopher Franklin
After Dave reported Christopher Franklin missing, the police launched an investigation and interviewed his loved ones to find out who had last seen him. When they brought his wife, Heidi Grant, for questioning, she claimed that she last saw him on January 16. As the investigator asked more specific questions, she ended up breaking down and confessing to shooting her husband to death on January 13, 2022. Heidi claimed that a fight broke out between her and Chris in their West River Street home on the fateful day, and she felt threatened. As per her claims, she borrowed a gun from a friend nearby but when she returned, she alleged that Chris started attacking her with a baseball bat.
Heidi then allegedly shot him out of self-defense, claiming that she shot him again because she “did not want him to suffer.” On the same day, a few minutes prior to his death, Chris reportedly called 911 and claimed that Heidi had tried to kill him. According to a witness at a local store near his house, the victim walked into the store with a wounded and bleeding head to purchase a pack of cigarettes. Once he returned home, Heidi supposedly landed the fatal shots soon. Sometime later, a police officer knocked on the door of their residence, checking in to ensure that the reported domestic violence incident had not gone out of hand. Somehow, Heidi managed to keep the officer from entering the house and told him that Chris made the call in a drunken state and was fast asleep now.
Her alleged next step involved taking his body to the basement and burying him with the help of almost a dozen bags of cement. She then got rid of any evidence that might connect her to the crime. As soon as she confessed, Heidi Grant was taken into custody and charged with the murder of her husband. Christopher Franklin. Upon going through the surveillance footage of the areas around her neighborhood, they saw her interacting with a man named Neil Diemer. When the authorities interrogated him, they learned that he was her friend and had intimate relations with her at times. However, he was eliminated as the additional suspect.
Heidi Grant is Serving Her Sentence at an Ohio Prison Facility
Several months after she committed the brutal murder of Christopher Franklin, around November 2022, Heidi Grant stood trial for her crimes. During her trial, many of Chris’ loved ones, including his daughter Olivia and his brother Jeff, addressed the court and the perpetrator. The latter stated, “Heidi you asked me that night, ‘when is it okay to kill somebody’, and the answer is never. It is never okay to kill somebody.”
When Heidi was granted a chance to speak, she apologized and claimed that she deeply regretted what she did and wished that she could change the past. After hearing both sides of the coin, the jury returned with a guilty verdict and convicted her of aggravated murder. A few weeks later, on November 28, 2022, she was sentenced to 15 to life in prison, in addition to a mandatory one year for the use of the firearm and another 30 months for tampering with evidence. As of today, she is incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio, where she awaits her parole hearing, which is scheduled for June 2040.
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