Chronology of the life and times of confessed hate killer Joseph P. Franklin:
- April 13, 1950: James Clayton Vaughan Jr. is born in Mobile, Ala., to James Clayton Vaughan Sr. and Helen Rau. He later changed his name to Joseph Paul Franklin.- 1968: Franklin marries, but the couple divorces after four months. He moves to Arlington, Va., where he joins the American Nazi Party.
- Sept. 18, 1970: Franklin is photographed in a Nazi uniform during a demonstration outside the White House to protest a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
- 1972: Franklin is convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in Fairfax, Va.
- Mid-1970s: He's drifting but spends time in Georgia, where he joins the Fascist Party and sells its racist newspaper in Atlanta.
- July 29, 1977: He bombs a synagogue in Chattanooga, Tenn., shortly after services ended. No one is injured.
- Aug. 7, 1977: He shoots and kills Alphonce Manning Jr. and Toni Schwenn, an interracial couple in Madison, Wis.
- Oct. 7, 1977: A sniper kills Gerald Gordon, 42, and wounds William Ash, 30, outside a synagogue in Richmond Heights, Mo. Years later, Franklin is charged with the attack.
- March 6, 1978: A gunman shoots and paralyzes Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt and his attorney outside a Georgia courthouse. Six years later, Franklin is charged with the shooting.
- May 29, 1980: A gunman shoots Urban League President Vernon Jordan in the back as he gets out of a car in Fort Wayne, Ind. Franklin later is acquitted of the shooting.
- June 1980: Lawrence Reese, 22, and Leo Watkins, 19, both black, are shot to death outside a store in Indianapolis. Franklin is charged, but the case never goes to trial.
- Aug. 20, 1980: He shoots and kills Ted Fields, 20, and David Martin, 18, both black, in a Salt Lake City park while they jog with two white women.
- October 1980: Franklin is captured in Lakeland, Fla., after a nationwide search for a Salt Lake killer.
- March 4, 1981: He's convicted of violating the civil rights of Fields and Martin and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. He tries to attack the judge.
- Aug. 27, 1981: A Utah jury convicts him of killing Fields and Martin. The jury can't produce a unanimous decision to send Franklin to a firing squad, so it recommends two more life sentences. He's sent to the federal prison in Marion, Ill.
- June 13, 1984: Franklin confesses to the Chattanooga synagogue bombing and is sentenced to 31 years.
- February 1986: He is convicted in Wisconsin of killing Manning and Schwenn and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
- Nov. 8, 1994: Franklin tells FBI agents he's responsible for the Richmond Heights shootings. He's charged in December. If convicted, he could be sentenced to die.
- May 2, 1995: He appears in St. Louis County Circuit Court. His trial is set for Nov. 27.