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Alleged killer left ‘butt dial’ voicemail during girlfriend’s murder

Michael John Franco is charged with killing Jill Grant
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department

The suspected killer of a beloved teacher may have accidentally made a ‘butt dial’ which recorded the final moments of her life on voicemail, according to Riverside County court documents.

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Californian teacher Jill Thomas Grant, 41 was found dead two days before Christmas in 2013, and her boyfriend, Michael John Franco, was charged with her murder soon after.

Prosecutors allege that he slit her throat with a box cutter, ran her over with a car and dumped her body at a golf course near their home, according to the Desert Sun.

Now, in a shocking twist, prosecutors claim to have a copy of a voicemail that Franco’s phone left on a friend’s voicemail on the night his partner went missing.

 

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Described as a ‘butt dial’, it is believed to capture the last moments of Jill Grant’s life.

 

While a lot of the conversation is inaudible, Grant appears to be begging for her life when she is heard telling Franco that they could say she had been attacked by someone else.

 

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‘What if I drive the car someplace and call myself and say I was attacked?’ Grant says in the voicemail, according to a transcript filed in court. ‘Would that work?’

 

‘But we can think of something to say like (inaudible.) I am sure we can think of something. What do you want me to say? What should I say?’

 

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The voicemail adds to an already extensive amount of evidence. According to prosecutors, CCTV footage showed Franco using his girlfriend’s ATM card to withdraw money the night she was killed and he was also caught driving her car with her possessions inside.

 

Franco has plead not guilty to the charges, but allegedly told one of his cell mates he cut Grant’s throat during a fight and buried her body at a golf course.

 

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The trial is ongoing.

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