'I'm Not a Monster,' Killer Cried; Judge Calls Him a 'Conniving Coward'

The man who took Nailah Franklin away from her family and friends will spend the rest of his life in prison. Reginald Potts Jr., who briefly dated Franklin only to harass and stalk her when she rejected him, learned Tuesday there will be no possibility of parole.

The punishment comes after days of testimony at his sentencing hearing — last Friday he tearfully proclaimed "I'm not a monster" — and more than eight years after the 28-year-old woman's murder. At one time, prosecutors wanted the death penalty for Potts, but after his arrest the state did away with execution as a form of punishment.

What he did, however, was monstrous, cruel, and deserving of the harshest punishment.

Franklin, a 1997 Homewood-Flossmoor High School graduate, was missing for nine days. Her family searched feverishly for her, handing out fliers with the beautiful young woman's smiling face and appearing on television to publicize her disappearance.

Franklin - who earned a bachelor's degree in advertising at the University of Illinois - worked for Eli Lilly and Co. in Chicago as a pharmaceutical sales rep, and her disappearance was first brought to her family's attention by her employer when Franklin missed an important work meeting. She spoke to her friends by phone on Sept. 18, 2007. She was last seen two days earlier, when she attended a wedding with her boyfriend of three months, Andre Wright, a lawyer.

Franklin and Wright were so smitten with each other they spoke or texted several times a day.

When she didn't return calls for a few days, according to a Chicago Sun-Times account, Wright emailed her and asked, "Are you alive?"

When her car was found in Hammond, Indiana, he joined the family in their search.

The desperate search ended in the worst heartache when Franklin's beaten body was found in a wooded lot in Calumet City behind a store owned by Potts' brother-in-law.

Last fall, Potts was convicted of murder. Described as a sociopath and a liar by Cook County prosecutors, they described how he stalked Franklin, made her fearful of him and then asphyxiated her. He was seen on surveillance video at Franklin's West Loop condominium just before her disappearance.

Potts had a history of abusing women, including a former wife and a woman who gave birth to one of his three children. He beat and choked both women. He also was convicted of assaulting a police officer and possession of a stolen motor vehicle for conning a friend into buying him a $225,000 Bentley and then skipping payments.

Franklin briefly dated Potts but stopped because she thought he was "crazy" and dangerous. In one episode, Potts choked Franklin. After she stopped seeing him, Potts then left her a message threatening to "erase" her. She reported that phone call to police and planned to get an order of protection against Potts.

But he got to her first.

His criminal history, cellphone records that showed the killer's trail ,and video surveillance were key elements of the prosecution's case. Police found evidence he'd been lying in wait for her outside her condo for days.

By all accounts, Franklin was a happy, successful woman with a very good future ahead of her.

"One of the joys of my life was witnessing Nailah live hers," her sister, Lehia Franklin Acox, testified during the sentencing hearing last week, according to a Chicago Tribune account. "I honestly was in awe of her drive, cheerful optimism, sense of style and total devotion to her family and friends."

On her MySpace page, Franklin had written of her dreams, how she one day hoped to meet Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton.

But Reginald Potts Jr., a man with none of Franklin's potential, choked the life out of her. Police believe he killed her in her condo or in her car.

As his case dragged on and on, Potts has assaulted Cook County jail guards and gotten into trouble.

On Tuesday, Judge Thomas Gainer Jr. sent the killer away with a message.

"You did not erase her, Mr. Potts. She lives on in the hearts and minds of all those who loved her and cherished her," Gainer said. "I know who you are ... You are a cold, calculating, conniving coward of a con man who must be punished."

And with that, the judge told the guards, "Take him away."