Murder of Chris Franklin by Heidi Grant spotlighted on Married to Evil

Married to Evil is investigating the murder of Christopher (Chris) Franklin, who was gunned down by his wife, Heidi Grant, at their home in Antwerp, Ohio.

In January 2022, Grant had begun complaining to Franklin’s relatives that he had fallen off the wagon and was hitting the booze hard. Franklin’s brother later testified that things had become difficult between the couple, and Grant was angry and had threatened to kill Franklin.

On the morning of January 12, Franklin called the Antwerp police and claimed Grant had attacked him with a table leg. He said she hit him twice in the head before taking off in her car. The dispatcher said they’d send an officer over so Franklin could file a report.

In the meantime, Grant had gone to borrow a firearm from a friend. She told her friend she wanted the gun for a concealed carry class but later claimed she needed it for protection.

Grant claimed that when she arrived home, Franklin came at her with a baseball bat. She was holding the gun and began firing until her 47-year-old husband hit the ground. He was shot nine times.

The killer later recalled that Franklin called out, “What the f**k, you’re killing me.” Grant fired a final tenth shot into her husband as he lay on the ground. She testified that the final shot was to put him out of his misery as she “didn’t want him to hurt” and wanted “to save him one more second of pain.”

Heidi Grant encased murder victim Chris Franklin in concrete

A few minutes later, a police officer arrived at the scene. Antwerp Police Department Chief Clemens was investigating Franklin’s earlier call, claiming Grant had hit him. Grant assured the chief that her husband was fine but had been drinking heavily and was now sleeping off a hangover.

After Clemens had left the scene, Grant dragged her husband’s remains to the basement, where she encased him in cement. A few days later, Franklin’s brother reported him missing.

On January 22, the cops were concerned about the lack of progress in the search for Franklin, so they called Grant for an interview to discuss some of the details. As the interview progressed, Chief Clemens concluded that Grant wasn’t telling him the truth.

Heidi Grant convicted of killing Chris Franklin

A short time later, Grant confessed to killing Franklin and drew the cops a diagram of where to find his remains.

Grant was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years to life, plus a mandatory one-year sentence for a gun specification and 30 months for tampering with evidence. She is currently incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, OH.

Married to Evil airs Sundays at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.