December 11, 1929

Governor Harvey Parnell issued a public denouncement of the “yellow” journalism being practiced in the matter of the alleged murder of Connie Franklin. The cost of the trial for the supposed murder was more than $8,000, breaking the already financially burdened Stone County. The alleged murder of Connie Franklin in 1929 scandalized the state and served to reinforce negative stereotypes about Arkansas. The uproar surrounding the apparent murder only increased with the reappearance of the “victim,” alive and well, shortly before the trial of his alleged murderers.