The Franklin Bradshaw murder was a 1978 criminal case in which a Utah industrialist, Bradshaw, was killed by his grandson, at the instigation of his daughter, Frances Berenice Schreuder.
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The case inspired widespread coverage, including two books and two television movies. Prosecutors alleged that Frances Schreuder did not want to be cut out of her father's will and wished to continue funding her lavish Manhattan socialite lifestyle.
The killing
Heiress Frances Berenice Schreuder (born on April 6, 1938, in Salt Lake City, and died on March 30, 2004) pressured her son Marc Schreuder to murder her father, oil and auto parts millionaire Franklin Bradshaw. The murder was committed on July 23, 1978, when Marc Schreuder shot his grandfather in the back of the head.
Once Marc Schreuder's link to the crime was discovered, it was alleged that Frances Schreuder manipulated her son in a pathological manner through an unhealthy and abusive form of triangulation, using her son to target and murder her father. One of the wrinkles of the case was that Frances Schreuder's mother Berenice Schreuder continued to support her daughter throughout the case and bequeathed to Frances a share of her estate.
Marc Schreuder was convicted of second-degree murder in 1982 and spent 12 years in the Utah State Prison. Frances Schreuder was convicted in 1983 and spent 13 years in prison.
In popular culture
The case has inspired at least two nonfiction books, At Mother's Request: A True Story of Money, Murder and Betrayal by Jonathan Coleman and Nutcracker: Money, Madness, Murder: A Family Album by Shana Alexander. Shana refers to Jeanie Columbo, an usher who met Mrs Schreuder in 1981, as someone who was hired to care for daughter, Lavinia, renamed in the book, Ariadne. That was not the case. In fact, Mrs. Schreuder asked the young usher to babysit for one week. She never mentioned going off for a trial. Ms. Columbo stayed on, after becoming attached to the young child. Alexander wanted to also follow up with their story but Ms. Columbo refused saying Lavinia had enough publicity for one lifetime. Alexander's book was made into a 1987 TV miniseries starring Lee Remick as Frances Schreuder and Tate Donovan as Marc Schreuder. Coleman's book was also made into a 1987 TV movie starring Stefanie Powers as Frances Schreuder and Doug McKeon as Marc Schreuder.
On February 25, 2004, the case was discussed by Dominick Dunne in the episode "Family Secrets" (Season 4, Episode 5) of his true-crime show Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice.
On March 18, 2005, the case was featured on "My Dirty Little Secret" on the Investigation Discovery Channel. Shana Alexanders' daughter committed suicide a few years later.