On November 28th 2022, the Paulding County Common Pleas Court room was packed, with a few having to stand, for the sentencing of Heidi L. Grant in the January 13th, 2022 murder of her husband, Christopher S. Franklin.
Prosecutor Joseph Burkard addressed the court and requested that her sentences be served consecutively and also that the gun used in the crime be forfeited and destroyed. He then said there were family members of Franklin that wanted to make statements.
Olivia Franklin, Christopher’s daughter, spoke first and stated how this has changed her life and she just couldn’t understand. That she had trusted Heidi and Heidi lied to her and even took her out daily looking for her dad, all the while Heidi knew where he was.
Jeff Franklin, brother of Christopher, spoke next and said that he forgave Heidi, but it was for himself and God would judge her. He then referred to the night before the murder and said, “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.”
William Kluge, Grant’s attorney, spoke and stated that no matter what the sentence was, nobody was going to be happy and nothing would bring Christopher back. He went on to mention that he had tried to reach out to members of the Franklin family and they would not return his calls or meet with him and had even offered to drive to Paulding to meet them. At this point, Christopher’s brother, David, became visibly angry and eventually was removed from the court room.
Grant was given a chance to speak and she told Christopher’s family that she was sorry, and said if she could go back and change what happened she would, and that she never thought she would be in a situation where she was in such fear of her life that something like this would happen.
Grant’s uncle spoke to her and told her that no matter what, the family loved her and would always love her. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and sometimes good people do bad things.
At this time, Linda Aldred, Christopher’s ex-wife, asked the judge if she could say something and she spoke to Heidi and stated she trusted her with her most prize possession, her daughter, and couldn’t understand how she could do something like this.
Judge Tiffany Beckman took over then. She stated that the law in Ohio states anyone convicted of murder gets sentenced to the same amount of time. On the count of murder, unclassified felony, Ms. Grant was sentenced to 15 years to life. The gun specification gave her a mandatory 1 year sentence; and for the tampering with evidence, a 3rd degree felony, she was sentenced to 30 months, and she was ordered to serve these sentences consecutively. She will serve her mandatory 1 year for gun specification first, then her term for tampering with evidence, before beginning the time for the murder. With the murder being an unclassified felony she is not eligible for judicial review/early release, but was given 310 days credit for her time served in the county jail while awaiting trial and pending the outcome. Essentially serving 17 years to life. If she does get paroled after serving her mandatory sentence, she is ordered to register as a violent offender.
The weapon used in the crime is to be forfeited, turned over to Antwerp Police Department and ordered to be destroyed. Ms. Grant will be turned over to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
