Mother Dearest

Just after 7:00 AM on a clear July morning in 1978 a customer walks into a Franklin Bradshaw Auto Parts in Salt Lake City Utah. He expected to see the owner, Franklin Bradshaw behind the counter as usual. But no one was there. Curious, he stepped around the corner and there he found Bradshaw lying on the floor, dead. He had been shot twice. When the police got on the scene in the morning it appeared that he had been robbed and that he had been shot during the course of that robbery. The robber had pulled his pockets inside out and opened the cash register. It appeared that Franklin Bradshaw had been killed over the few bucks he had on him and in his store. But this would become one of the most sordid tales in Utah history before all was said and done.

Bradshaw's auto parts store was in the warehouse district where there was a lot of crime. It appeared that Franklin's decision to open his store in a seedier part of Salt Lake city had cost him his life. The police found that the bullets were fired from a 357 Magum. But that would be just about the only clue they had. It is very difficult to put a case together when you have no murder weapon with no witnesses, especially when no one is talking. The police would quickly learn, however, that Franklin Bradshaw was a multi millionaire. And while the crime seemed random, the family thought maybe the perpetrator might just have been someone very close to him.. very close indeed.

Franklin Bradshaw was a self made man. Born in 1902 in a small town in Utah, he was the son of a local Bank manager. He studied Geology at the university of Utah and in 1924 married his college sweetheart, Bernice Jeuitt. In 1929 just a few months before the stock market crashed, he took out a $1000 loan and opened an auto parts store in Provo Utah. He quickly demonstrated a knack for retail sales. Whenever he sold a part he put the empty box back on the shelf so it looked like he had more inventory than he actually had. By 1931, he and Bernice had three children, Robert, Elaine and Marylin.

These were very lean times. Bernice made all the clothes the kids wore to school. Every weekend the girls would wash and iron the homemade clothes the kids wore the following week to school. But Franklin Bradshaw was determined to succeed and slowly built the single single store into a statewide chain. He worked seven days a week, twelve hours a day hours a day. He got up in the morning, had his bowl of oatmeal, did his push ups and went to work. The demands for his growing business left little time for his growing family.

Then in 1937, six years after he and Bernice had thought they had their last child, Bernice discovered she was pregnant again. In 1938 she gave birth to their last child, Francis. The sense of Francis being an unwanted child is something that Francis picked up on and used to her advantage throughout her life. Bernice was always under Francis' spell. Anything that Francis wanted, Francis got. It was just one of those strange relationships.

By the time Francis was a teenager, Bradshaw had auto parts stores all over Utah and Franklin was working as hard as ever. He sunk his profits from the auto parts business into oil and gas and parlayed his modest wealth into a vast fortune. He was one of the largest holders of oil and gas leases in the entire country, certainly in the west. He was extremely frugal and mysterious about his money. Bradshaw purchased the family a modest home in the outskirts of Salt Lake city. He drove a used pickup truck and carried an empty beer carton full of files instead of a briefcase.

Bradshaw was a very simple man. He wanted to spend his money only on things that were practical. He felt that that was the right way to live. He packed his lunch everyday and sat under an open light bulb in the back of his store and ate his lunch all the while checking on his investments. But his wife Bernice thought differently about money. She had seen her three older children grow up without all the luxuries that Bradshaw's money could now afford. She was determined that her teenage daughter, Francis, Would have it all.

Bernice told Francis that she knew her Father had lots of money but the only way she could get it was to take it. Bernice sent Francis to exclusive Brenmar College in Philadelphia where she hoped Francis would be exposed to the best in life. Francis became aware that the girls at Brenmar were day in and day out living lives that were more conspicuously materialistic. What she saw at Brenmar was the kind of life she wanted. She saw more of that life on weekend trips to New York City. There Francis discovered shopping. Sachs, Tiffanys, nothing but the finest. The best part was that the bills were being sent home to Utah.

In 1958 during the summer after her sophomore year, while out to dinner in New York City, Francis met a Italian pearl dealer named Victoro Gentilla. He would take her to nice dinners and the opera. To her that was a whole new life style. You have to remember she came from Utah where a big Sunday after noon was going to the ice cream stand. Gentilla swept her off her feet and over her parents objections Francis dropped out of Brenmar and married Gentilla in a ceremony in St. Patricks cathedral.

Francis and Gentilla would have two sons, Mark and Larry. But their marriage would quickly start to fail. Gentilla loved her but the two were like oil and water. He was hot tempered and she was given to fits of rages. Francis spent four years fending off Gentilla's alcohol induced violence. By 1963 she had had enough. She took her sons and moved out. Desperate she turned to the only man she knew who could help her.. Franklin Bradshaw.

She asked her sister if she would call him and she did but the millionaire was not happy. It was more than he wanted to give. Eventually Bernice convinced her husband to send more money to New York. It was like Francis got all the things that Bernice felt entitled to. Francis was Bernice's ticket to lead the kind of life that she really wanted both actively and vicariously. Every Mother wants the best for her daughter. But Bernice was creating a monster. Francis had come to expect her Father's money without any appreciation. Perish the day that the money stopped flowing.

Nothing could fill the void that Francis' greed was creating. And everyone would have to pay, literally and figuratively. In 1963 Franklin Bradshaw found himself footing the bill for his divorced daughters lavish New York lifestyle. He did not like that at all. She was living in a different world than Frank had ever lived in and none of it made any sense to him. Francis was living on the upper east side, sending her sons to fancy private schools and dining out at the best restaurants. Funny, her Father turned $1000 into a fortune and Francis could have spent that in one night.

Bradshaw wanted Francis to come home. New York made absolutely no sense to someone like Franklin Bradshaw. He would hear about how much apartments cost in New York and none of this computed to him. He felt that the best thing for her to do would be to move back to Utah. But Francis refused to return to Salt Lake. When Franklin threatened to stop paying her bills she turned to her mother. Bernice told Franklin that she would give Francis anything she wants and so should he. "That money down in the bank, may I remind you, is also mine" she told him. Bernice Bradshaw convinced Franklin to continue Francis' allowance. She also began cashing in stocks and bonds on the sly and sending extra money to Francis herself.

In 1969 Francis married former Dutch Diplomat Fredrick Shroyder whom she met while he was employed in New York. It looked like Franklin Bradshaw was off the hook. Francis' new husband seemed will to support her new husband and her lavish lifestyle. The newlyweds moved to Europe and in 1973 they had a daughter Lavinia. But Shroyder's potential didn't pan out, his career was on the wane and he was often out of work. Francis' sense of entitlement was by now raging. It created a whole in the middle of her that nothing could fill up and as a result everyone was going to have to pay.

In 1976, Francis divorced Shroyder and moved her three children back to New York. Once again she turned to her father and Mother. Francis needed to be supported. She essentially refused to get a job. But Bernice was the driving force behind whatever support Francis was getting. That is not to say that Franklin wanted Francis out on the street but if it wasn't for Bernice he would have kept an arms distance away from Francis and her problems. Holed up in her apartment on the upper east side, Francis, depending on checks from Utah, Francis became obsessed with her children. They were under Francis' complete control and had no life of their own, especially the two boys.

Francis believed she had given her two teenage sons everything they could have ever wanted. But in return she expected and demanded their complete obedience and devotion. She made it clear to her teenage sons that if they didn't respond to her every whim, they would not be welcome in the apartment. She often threatened them, especially Larry, with locking them out and see how you can fare on the streets of New York. More often than not, Larry would find himself sleeping in stairwells, locked out. Mark lived in fear of that constantly. Mark's fear made him obedient and he became Francis' favorite. But poor Larry could do no right. At sixteen Larry was shipped off to military school and forbidden to come home during holidays. While it was a bad situation he fully accepted it. On one Christmas visit to his Aunt he was not permitted to visit his mother unless she allowed it.

By 1977 Franklin Bradshaw had been paying for his Daughter's idle lifestyle for nearly 15 years and he was losing patients. By this time even Bernice wasn't able to persuade him to continue writing the checks. Once Francis had to go downtown to pick up a welfare check. But Francis didn't despair. She decided she was going to get the money flowing east again no matter what it took. Desperate for money, Francis concocted a scheme. In the summer of 1977 she sent her sons Larry and Mark to live with their grandparents in Salt Lake City. Franklin gave them jobs at his auto parts warehouse and the two boys put their Mother's plan into action. Over the next ten weeks Mark and Larry stole cash, stocks, and bonds amounting to $200,000 from their Grandfather. They then called her and told her what they had and she told them which of the stolen loot to send back east.

Francis had figured out a way to get the money flowing again after all. So she treated herself to a $50,000 pair of gold earrings from Tiffanys and rented a sprawling summer house in South Hampton. She may have been evil but at least she hung out in all the right places. When Franklin started to see that things were missing he knew who had done it but more importantly he knew who was behind it and he was crushed. Franklin Bradshaw was fed up. His Daughters freeloading days were over. He sent Larry and Mark back to New York and made it clear to Francis that she would not receive on more dime of his money. But he didn't stop there. He also threatened to cut her out of his will. Bradshaw released a memo to all of his employees announcing that he was drafting a new will and his Daughter Francis
would get nothing.

Of course word of the memo gets back to Francis and she is frantic. For the next year Francis had almost no money coming in. Bernice was sending her a few dollars here and there but it wasn't enough to keep the bill collectors away. She was reduced to borrowing money from friends. Francis took her frustrations out on her children, particularly Larry. When the 1978 school year ended, Francis told him not to come home. Larry found himself on the outside looking in and he really did want his Mother's love. That summer while Mark and Lavinia were living in Francis' upper east side apartment, Larry had nowhere to go.

His Grandmother Bernice took pity on him and despite the trouble he had caused the summer before she invited him to come back to Utah. But Bernice was the only person welcoming Larry back. The rest of the family thought it was inviting disaster. Sure enough, just a week after Larry arrived disaster struck. On July 23rd 1978, Franklin Bradshaw rose at 6:00 AM, did his push ups and ate a bowl of oatmeal just as he had done for the past 30 years. He then drove his pickup truck to his auto parts store in the warehouse section of Salt Lake City. Just before 7:00 AM Bradshaw was in the back of the store going through receipts from the day before. Two shots from a 357 magnum rang out. The gunman emptied the millionaire's pockets and scattered cash and credit cards all over the floor. He then rooted through the register and left as quietly as he had come. Thirty minutes later a customer walked into the store and discovered the awful scene.

He was dead by the time the police got onto the scene. It appeared to be a robbery gone bad. But when Bradshaws older Daughters heard about the murder that thought it was something much more personal. When Bradshaw's Daughter Elaine and Marylin got together they both thought Larry had done it. Larry, who had stolen over $200,000 from his grandfather the previous summer seemed the most likely suspect. He was not quite altogether and very nervous. In the days following the murder he spent most of his time in his Grandfather's basement. When friends and family stopped by to offer their condolences Larry would barely look at them. But when the Salt Lake City police wanted to know Larry's whereabouts on the morning of the murder Bernice insisted that he was home asleep. The police had been unable to recover the 357 Magnum or any physical evidence from the crime scene. Despite their suspicions and best efforts they were not able to link Larry to his Grandfather's death.

So the police have no leads and the case goes cold. And there was another problem. No one could find Bradshaw's will. So what does Francis do? She petitions her grandfather's estate and is granted a $5000/month allowance. It looked like Francis was back in business. She is living in New York City in a $500,000 apartment on the upper east side paid for by her Mother Bernice. In fact Bernice was seeing to it that Francis was living so comfortable that when Francis wanted to crash New York society she was able to come up with a $350,000 donation to the New York city Ballet. Not long afterwords her Daughter had a role in the Nutcracker and, more importantly, Francis had a seat on the prestigious board.

Two years after the murder in 1980 Francis' sister Marion received an astonishing phone call from a man named Richard Barons. He said they had the wrong suspect, it wasn't Larry it was Mark and he had the gun to prove it. Marion said but Larry was there. He replied that Mark had gotten the gun and went to Salt Lake, killed her Father and then went back to New York. Barons had known Francis for more than 15 years and had babysat Mark and Larry when they were just children. For over a year he had been trying to get Francis to repay a loan for $3,600. The once loyal friend who Mark and Larry had referred to as "Uncle Dicky" had had enough.

Marion arranged to meet him two blocks from her apartment and he had three or four shopping bags in with him and said the gun was in the bags. Without looking in the bag, Marion takes it to the police and told her bizarre to the Detective on duty. Ballistics test prove that it was the same weapon used to kill Franklin Bradshaw. At that time the investigation took a complete right turn and went in a completely new direction.

In December 1980, Mark Shroyder is arrested for suspicion of the murder of his Grandfather, Franklin Bradshaw. But by the he was in custody, Richard Barons, the only person tying Mark to the crime had changed his story. Francis got to Barons and reminds him that he has been holding on to the murder weapon for to years and is now an accomplish to the crime not to mention obstruction of Justice, tampering with evidence to name but a few. Without Barons' testimony the case against Mark falls apart and all charges against him are dropped. But Salt Lake city Ernie Jones and investigator Mike George wouldn't give up.

They knew they would have to do a lot of record collecting to solve this case. Investigators trace the serial number of the murder weapon to a gun dealer in Midland Texas. They show the dealer a picture of the Mark and he confirms it was Mark who bought the gun in July of 1978 just a week before the murder. At the same time Mike George was combing through thousands of plane tickets, rental car contracts and rental car logs. After an exhaustive search, Mike George finally found what he was looking for; A plane ticket from Midland Texas to Salt Lake City dated July 22nd 1978, the day before the murder. The name on the ticket was Gentile, Mark's original last name.

Obviously the cops are ecstatic. Mark Shroyder was arrested on suspicion of murder for a second time. His Grandmother Bernice was quick to put up the $100,000 bond for Mark. And while authorities in Salt Lake City are trying to extradite Mark he went underground. Bernice is giving Mark money so he can stay on the lam. He is living in a cheap hotel under an assumed name. Francis and Bernice are both urging him to leave the country but ultimately being cutoff from his Mother was unacceptable to him.

While the New York police are looking for Mark, Ernie Jones and Mike George were starting to piece together a larger conspiracy. They knew that Mark pulled the trigger but the question became why. There was only one answer to that question. His Mother who had abused him physiologically abused him for years had made him do it for the inheritance money. Convicting Mark of the murder was one thing but bringing charges against Francis who had no connection to the gun and was thousands of miles away in New York City was quite another.

In October 1981, the New York City police spotted Mark Shroyder while he was on his way to his post office box. He was placed under arrest for the murder of his Grandfather, Franklin Bradshaw and was sent to Utah to stand trial. But the DA's office knew that without Richard Baron's testimony a conviction was a long shot. So Mike George went to New York to lean on Barons. He told him that if he didn't cooperate he would be charged as an accomplice, tampering with evidence and a slew of other charges. Barons quickly decided to play ball.

Barons told Mike George what investigators had suspected all along, that it was Francis who masterminded the murder of her Father and Mark was forced into the plot. But Barons didn't stop there. This guy was a gold mine of information. He told Investigators that Francis had paid another guy to go to Utah and knock off her old man. The guy took the money but never took the job. With Barons playing ball the Salt Lake City DA's office could charge Francis with conspiracy to commit murder.

On March 19, 1982, New York City authorities pulled up in front of 10 Grace Square, Francis' posh upper east side apartment building with a warrant for her arrest. When they went to her door she told the maid not to let them in, they are not allowed in here. When they push their way in she is trying to jump out a window and commit suicide. She had to be forcibly removed from the apartment. The arrest made front page news. But it was Mark Shroyder who would see the inside of a courtroom first.

On June 14th 1982, four years after the murder of Franklin Bradshaw, Mark's trial began. The DA was none too sure of his case because Richard Barons had given two different statements to the police. Mark's attorney, Paul Van Dam had a plan however. Believing he stood better odds without a Jury Mark elected to have a bench trial letting the Judge decide his fate. When the trial began, prosecutor methodically presented the evidence. He detailed how Mark had purchased the 357 Magnum in Midland Texas, flew to Salt Lake City, killed his Grandfather, and flew back to New York.

Mark's attorney was convinced that the prosecutor had a good case so he decided to minimize Mark's involvement by explaining why Mark did it. He stunned the courtroom by siding with the prosecution and said that mark had indeed killed his Grandfather but here was why. According to Van Dam Mark killed Franklin for one simple reason; His greedy, manipulative, psychopathic, Mother made him do it. He further states that Mark had literally no choice in the matter at the hands of his controlling Mother after years of psychological abuse and after she ordered him to do it. He also says that Mark asked his mother not to go through with it many times but she was insistent. Mark's story had a big impact on the court. After just ten hours of deliberation, Judge James Solia ruled that Mark was guilty was guilty but of the lesser count of second degree murder. He sentenced him to a term of 11 years.

Mark's trial had illustrated the extent of his Mother's control and her evil scheme. The Salt Lake DAs office had Francis in their sights but there wasn't a lot of evidence and Francis had Daddy's money to defend herself with. Without Mark's testimony the prosecution wasn't sure they had enough. Mark Rosen, Francis' attorney doesn't even think that without Mark the case would not even have gotten to the Jury. Ernie Jone's gave Mark one more chance. Finally Mark agrees to testify. Seven days into the trial Mark Shroyder took the stand. Ernie Jones asked him who ordered him to murder his grandfather. He simply stated "my Mother did". To Francis Shroyder it was the ultimate act of betrayal.

The Jury deliberated just four and a half hours. Francis Shroyder was found guilty of first degree murder. She was sentenced to 13 years to life. She was released after 13 years in 1996. Mark has admitted what he did and why he did it. Francis has never taken responsible for her actions. As the author of the best selling book about this case "At Mother's Request" stated it has all the elements of how human nature can be at it's worst. Francis Shroyder is about as evil a person as you can find on the American crime scene. Now that she is out she will never have to worry about money again, thanks to an extremely generous trust fund her Mother set up before she died. So does crime pay? You be the judge..