by Robert Scott
Eventually Frankie returned to Washington State, and was walking with the help of a leg brace and cane. When she spotted Lane for the first time, after her return from California, she went up to him as fast as she could and gave him a big hug.
Frankie spoke to a reporter for Aberdeen’s newspaper, the Daily World. A lengthy article was about domestic violence, and Frankie admitted, “Never in my wildest dreams did I expect him (Gerard) to do something like that.” She once again reiterated she wasn’t sure what had attracted her to him in the first place, but she said in the beginning “he was a great guy.”
They went out dancing, drinking and shooting pool. After they moved in together, Gerard sold off a few cows that he owned and bought a new car for Frankie with the money. Or at least that’s what he told her about how he had gotten the money. Frankie was impressed, but she didn’t realize that there were strings attached.
With the gift of the car to Frankie, Gerard became more and more possessive of her. He kept the car documents in his name, and would threaten to report her to police. If she ever left him, he would claim she had stolen the car. Things only got worse when David learned that he was diagnosed with diabetes. This was the ailment that had killed his mother, and Lane always wondered if it was because David had withheld her insulin. David began drinking even more and went into dark moods.
When Frankie left Gerard for a week at one point, her cat was killed and its body was left in her mother’s pickup truck. She immediately suspected Gerard of killing her cat. But having no job, and little money, Frankie came back to Gerard despite this incident.
Frankie told the reporter her reasoning for this was “He had already destroyed everything of value that I had. I never believed he would seriously injure me. And besides, I was worried about losing the mobile home we were buying together.”
Despite her mother’s warning that David would seriously hurt her, Frankie stuck with him. Frankie’s mom, MaryLou, told the reporter, “I don’t know the true definition of violent rage, but that’s what David’s all about.”
And that rage surfaced right to the top when Gerard accused Frankie of cheating on him with her boss at the dairy, Eugene Clark. When Frankie threw coffee on him, and he was fired from his job as a handyman at the dairy, it only fueled that rage. And yet with Gerard it was generally a controlled rage. When he struck her with the hammer in the milking shed, it was in a calculated, methodical manner. He wasn’t yelling. He wasn’t screaming. He was totally silent, focused and determined to finish her off. (Which once again made it hard to “type” Gerard. He had been so methodical and cold in trying to kill Frankie with the hammer; whereas with Carol Leighton, Lane believed, he flew into an uncontrollable rage as he stabbed her.)
In the same article the reporter spoke with Aggie Eldred, director of the Domestic Violence Center of Grays Harbor. Eldred said that Frankie’s story was not uncommon, except for the fact that she had survived such a brutal attack. Eldred added that in the year 1999, alone, more than 250 women had become new clients at the Domestic Violence Center. Eldred stated that they came in with broken arms, broken ribs, bruises, cuts and scrapes.
Speaking directly about Frankie Cochran, Eldred said, “She has a very typical case. The extent of her injuries is the only major difference. Any one of those other women could end up that way, whether it’s the first time or the tenth time they’re attacked. Domestic violence victims invariably think there are many compelling reasons not to leave their abusive partners. The largest factor, by both the abuser and victim, is denial.”
Turning back to Frankie, the article told of the immediate aftermath of her almost fatal assault. Frankie recalled being struck in the head three times, but she was actually struck five times. And she said, “It didn’t hurt at the time. You’d think getting hit with something that hard would hurt. It only hurt later.”
Frankie recalled lying on the cold, wet floor, slipping in and out of consciousness for two hours. She also recalled the moment that Eugene Clark found her, and she clutched his arm, begging him not to leave her. He, of course, had to do so, to call 911.
The article went on to relate the flight to Harborview Medical Center and surgery, followed by months and years of rehabilitation. Frankie’s cheekbone and jaw had been broken. Her eye socket was crushed. The fist-sized piece of skull had to be removed because her brain was so swollen. She had a stroke, causing paralysis in her left side. As she lay in bed, there would be episodes of excruciating pain. She went through anger and depression, and at times she wished she could just die. Even now, her left eye tended to wander, and she had to help move her left arm by the use of her right arm.
And despite all those things, something good had happened to Frankie. She had met a decent man, who now cared for her and helped her in the most positive ways—her physical therapist, Steven Jones. Steven, called Steve, helped her through her pain, depression and the nightmarish flashbacks that had haunted her since March 17, 1999. He helped her overcome her fear of men in general. Steve was a caring and sympathetic individual and he helped Frankie during her days and nights of despair. Lane Youmans liked Steve as well. He called him a “caring, compassionate person. He was good for Frankie.”
Frankie told the reporter, “The girl David Gerard beat up with the hammer, she’s dead. She’s never coming back. But I’m here. I’m alive and walking again. I’m doing the best I can.”
Frankie went to the KBKW radio studios in Aberdeen with Gray Harbor County sheriff Mike Whelan. A reporter on the station generally spoke about topics that concerned Grays Harbor County. The topic of the day was domestic violence. The reporter said, “This is a lady with as much courage as anyone you’re going to find anywhere. This lady is a survivor!”
From a legal standpoint, the reporter reviewed with the sheriff what had happened to Frankie. Sheriff Whelan said it was one of the most brutal attacks he’d ever seen in his twenty-three years of law enforcement. Then the reporter said it was amazing that she had survived such a brutal attack.
The reporter turned to Frankie and said that it was incredible that she was still alive. She agreed by saying that none of her doctors or surgeons had expected her to survive the ordeal. She added that she was walking again, but it was taking a long time.
The reporter apologized to her for dredging up such painful memories and asked if she ever suspected that anything like this would happen in her relationship with David Gerard. Frankie admitted that she never thought it would go to that extreme. In fact, she was more adamant than that. She said in her wildest nightmares she never expected anything like that would ever happen to her.
They touched on Gerard’s lengthy sentence, and the reporter said that Gerard would be behind bars until he was seventy years old. Frankie corrected him and said that Gerard would be seventy-four. But even at that age, if he got out, she believed he would try to finish what he started. In other words, kill her. At least she took comfort in her belief that Gerard would never make it all the way through his time, because of his diabetes. She was certain that he would eventually die in prison.
Sheriff Whelan brought up the fact that Frankie’s relationship with David Gerard was initially a good one, and that was often the case with victims of domestic violence. And then Whelan cited all the promises Gerard had made to Frankie in the beginning, and his supposed gift of a car to her. Whelan said this was typical of the way a lot of domestic violence relationships started. There would be good conduct from the abuser, which changed over time as he settled into the relationship. The one primary factor was that the abuser started calling more and more of the shots, and if he deemed that the other person had stepped out of line, he would “punish” that person.
The reporter asked if Gerard’s violence against her had escalated. Frankie admitted that it hadn’t been the norm of a lot of domestic violence situations, where arguments often led to the man hitting the woman. Frankie said that Gerard had never done that. The most he had done in that regard was to raise his voice. She s
aid there was a lot of mental abuse, but he never got to the point of hitting her. All that, of course, was before the attack with the hammer, where he nearly killed her.
And then typical of Frankie’s sense of humor, she said that Gerard hadn’t struck her before because he knew “she could take him down.”
The reporter laughed and replied, “That’s probably why he went and got the hammer.”
Frankie laughed as well and said, “Exactly!” Then she added, “Look for dramatic behavioral changes. To you women out there, when you see those, run like hell and don’t look back!”
The reporter spoke of the “noose being tightened” in the relationship, and asked Sheriff Whelan if that was what this was all about. Sheriff Whelan said that it was very typical of the cycle of abuse, and that exerting control was one of the first things that happened in an abusive relationship. He said that the situation with the car that Gerard supposedly “bought” Frankie, and then retained control, was a classic example.
The reporter asked why she went back with him, and if he had worn her down with time. She said that was basically the case. Then Frankie added that she really wasn’t sure why she went back with him. She thought one of the main reasons was security. She said he had the job, and she wasn’t allowed to have a job. He had all the money, and she had none.
Sheriff Whelan said that reasoning occurred with victims of abuse because “the perpetrator controlled the situation by controlling finances.” This aspect made the victim depend upon the abuser to a great degree. And then Sheriff Whelan added that this situation was so common amongst women who had children and depended upon an abuser, there were probably some of them out in the radio audience at the present moment, listening to the program. Whelan stated that these women felt that for their own security, and the security of their children, that there was no way they could leave the abuser. They felt trapped and powerless.
The reporter asked if late in the relationship, if someone had given her a phone number for the local domestic violence center, if she would have called them. Frankie replied that, honestly, she probably wouldn’t have done so then. The reporter asked her why, and she said she wasn’t mentally prepared to do it at the time.
The reporter then asked an interesting and pointed question of the sheriff. He wondered if things had turned so violent because David Gerard wanted Frankie to fear him, and she wouldn’t. Sheriff Whelan replied that he didn’t really know what was going through David Gerard’s mind when he hit Frankie with a hammer and attempted to kill her. Whelan said that he and Frankie had talked about that very point, and that it was never an excuse for what Gerard did. But one reason that Frankie had told him was that David came from an abusive household. He had been an abused child, according to David. All three agreed that these things could be generational, and the cycle had to be broken if things were to get better.
The reporter brought up the fact that Frankie had worked very hard to try and get back to a life that she used to have. If she hadn’t done so, then David Gerard would have won. Frankie absolutely agreed and replied that there was no way she was going to let Gerard win in this contest of wills. It was the one thing that had kept her going, pulling herself through the pain of her recovery.
Sheriff Whelan added that it was a credit to Frankie’s courage at how much of her life she had reassembled through very difficult physical and mental work. Whelan said that six months in the past, Frankie could barely walk. She was still confined to a wheelchair at that point. He also brought up her painful rehabilitation in southern California, and spoke of how progress was slow and measured in small steps forward.
The reporter asked what was now in store for Frankie. She sighed and said that she had a lot more intense therapy to endure. She said it didn’t hurt to walk now, but she still had trouble doing so. Then she said that her brain didn’t know how to “manipulate” many situations anymore. It was more than just memory. It was putting together things of what she saw and felt, and how she had trouble making sense of situations she encountered. What other people took for granted was now a struggle for her.
The reporter wondered if Frankie had spoken with any other women who had been in her situation. She said no, and the fact was, most women who suffered injuries that Frankie had did not live. Sheriff Whelan added, however, that all of the volunteers at the domestic abuse center had been abused women. They knew exactly where a new client was coming from. They had been there themselves. And Whelan thanked Frankie for having the courage that day to come speak on the radio, because he knew it dredged up very painful memories for her. But if those memories helped one woman break out of a domestic abuse situation, then it was worthwhile. He spoke of Frankie as having been at “death’s door,” and nothing else could highlight just how dangerous these situations could become.
The reporter asked if she could get any of David Gerard’s assets and sue him in a wrongful harm civil suit. Frankie didn’t think she would do so, or that it would even be feasible. In fact, Frankie said that the judge and her mom had urged her not to go to Gerard’s trial for his attempted murder of her. They thought it would be too emotional and upsetting for her. And then Frankie added, “The day he gets out of prison, I will have two hammers in my hand. Not one, but two!”
The reporter laughed and said that Gerard would be seventy-four by that point, so maybe she would only need a little hammer. Then he added that he could certainly understand the anger she still had at David Gerard for destroying the life she had known.
And then the reporter ended with a fact that was near and dear to Frankie’s heart. By her attitude and hard work, she was determined not to let David Gerard win. Every day that she got better diminished his power over her. Every day diminished the evil that he had done.
After the radio interview and newspaper article, Lane Youmans began asking Frankie various questions, but he kept the number of questions limited. Lane said later, “She was still having trouble remembering details about what she called her ‘former life.’ Frankie was convinced that the old Frankie was dead, left bleeding on the floor of that milking parlor. She had to make do with what was left.”
Frankie told Lane that she had met Gerard at the Red Barn Restaurant and Lounge in Grand Mound. Her recollection of dates now was very foggy, so she thought it was in 1997 or very early 1998. Frankie said, “One day I met him, and before I knew it, we were living together. It’s like one day he wasn’t there, and the next day he was. I hadn’t had anything like that happen to me before. I’m not even sure how he suddenly was in my life.”
Frankie and Gerard moved into a mobile home in Lewis County, and everything at first was fine. David was working, while Frankie stayed home and kept house. They would go out sometimes to shoot pool, go dancing and take long drives in the countryside. David seemed to like doing that a lot. He drove all over the area, with no place in particular as a destination. He seemed to know a lot of back roads and was familiar with the areas where he drove. Frankie thought nothing of it at the time, except that Gerard seemed to know a lot of roads that were off the beaten track. He wandered here and there, often silent as he drove along, but attentive. Only in retrospect did Frankie wonder if he was scouting out locations, or even going to locations that had some important memory for him. Memories of places where he had harmed someone, or even had murdered them.
After a few months Frankie started noticing a change in David Gerard. He was becoming more and more possessive and jealous. He would explode if Frankie danced with, or even talked to, another man. This wasn’t directed at strangers, but rather friends that Frankie had known for a long time. David’s reaction would go way beyond what was called for in the situation.
David was also becoming more and more adamant that he and Frankie have a child; something she did not want to do, already having three children and not wanting any more. David told Frankie that he had twins by a former girlfriend, but Frankie never met them and wondered if it was the truth. Lane Youmans wondered as well, since he could fin
d no record of Gerard ever having fathered any children. This was a constant theme, however, and Lane would hear stories from other people about Gerard claiming to be a parent. In one story Gerard would claim to have a son; in another story a daughter. And in one story, as Frankie noted, Gerard claimed to be the father of twins. Despite all of these claims by David Gerard, Lane could find no record that Gerard was a father at all.
Frankie also told Lane about Gerard’s almost compulsive obsession with sex. Lane related, “She told me that he had sex with her twice a day, every day. Nothing fancy, nothing kinky. It was always in the missionary position, and he expected her to be ready when he was. He also wanted to marry her—something she didn’t want, since she’d already been married, and didn’t want to marry him or anyone else at that point. Their days got into a definite pattern. They would go away on long drives, shoot pool, and she would wait around for him to come home and have sex with her. She wanted more from life than that.”
One day, fed up with the unvarying—and what she considered selfish—routine on Gerard’s part, Frankie went to a store located near the mobile home park and put in a job application there. When Gerard found out about this, he walked into the mobile home they shared and began destroying every item Frankie owned that he could lay his hands on. She told Lane that while David was doing this, he showed absolutely no emotion, nor did he say a thing to her. He just destroyed her things, slowly and methodically. Anything she held of value was completely wrecked. Then he left without a word.
Once David was gone, Frankie phoned the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy came out, took a report and photographed the damage. Shortly after the deputy left, David came back, took all of Frankie’s clothing from a closet and dresser drawers, piled them on the bedroom floor and poured bleach over the clothing. Once again he did this without any sign of emotion, and walked out without saying a word to Frankie. Incredible as the circumstances were, Frankie stayed with him. By now, she had no job, nor any means of support on her own. And as Aggie Eldred had noted, many women found one excuse after another why it was preferable to stay with the abuser than to leave. Finances were nearly always near the top of the list.