Potts: I did not murder Nailah
Ex-lover admits his life is a mess but swears he's no killer
Reginald Potts Jr., the 30-year-old Chicago man whose name has been linked to the Chicago Police Department's investigation into the death of Nailah Franklin, knows his life is messy.
His criminal past includes car theft and escaping from FBI custody. He's separated from his wife and two children, and has a 4-month-old daughter with another woman. Both women have been granted orders of protection for run-ins revolving around child visitation.
At the same time, he was living the single life.
Quite a mess. But that doesn't mean he should be suspected of murder, he says.
"I may talk a lot of s - - - -- pardon my language -- but me putting my hands on somebody isn't really happening.
"Making somebody disappear -- having something to do with their abduction -- having something to do with a murder, that's kind of extreme. That is a huge leap," Potts told me during a three-hour exclusive interview.
Potts has not been charged with the murder of Franklin, a pharmaceutical representative from Chicago whose body was found in a wooded area of Calumet City on Sept. 27. Nor have investigators named him as a person of interest or a suspect. But his name was linked to the Franklin case when he was arrested for an unrelated matter two weeks ago. A BP security guard at a station near his home accused Potts of threatening him.
He denied the charge and accused the cops of harassment. Since the media coverage of his arrest, Potts said he and family members have received dozens of threatening e-mails, and some of his female friends have been warned that they are associating with a "dangerous man."
Thursday, against the advice of his attorneys, Potts talked for the first time on the record about his relationship with Franklin. Given his past, he's well aware that the circumstances surrounding her death have created a perfect storm that could sweep him into criminal proceedings.
Potts sat across from me in a conference room where we both taped the interview.
"I was absolutely not her boyfriend," he said, though he admitted they were intimate. He said he found out she was dead from a friend who had been watching the TV news. "I was shocked and I was saddened. A lot of things went through my mind. This was still somebody that at some point in my life made me smile."
But Potts said the sadness gave way to concerns that he would be targeted because of his past.
"At this point there is nothing, but I'm defending myself against rumors, speculations and a lot of gossip. It's affecting my family, my business and my relationships."
During the interview, I asked Potts straight out:
"Did you have anything to do with Franklin's murder?"
"No I did not. And no, I did not pay anyone else to do anything to her," Potts said. "What would be my motive?"
Potts, a real estate investor, said he met Franklin in March 2006 and was involved with her until late August 2007. The on-again, off-again relationship ended with a nasty e-mail exchange that Potts now concedes he should not have shared with friends. The e-mail was circulated on the Internet after Franklin's body was discovered.
The last time Potts said he actually spent time with Franklin was "somewhere between the 20th and 27th of August" when they met for breakfast at a downtown restaurant. He said contrary to media reports, he never threatened Franklin with bodily harm.
Franklin was last seen Monday, Sept. 16. She was reported missing on Wednesday, Sept. 19, after she didn't show up for an important work meeting. Her body was found in a wooded area of Calumet City on Thursday, Sept. 27. While dental records were used to identify Franklin, the cause of death has not been released.
"On Friday, I got a call from an Area 4 detective," Potts said. "I sat in a room with the detectives for three-plus hours. My lawyer didn't interrupt one time. I gave them voice mails, e-mails and everything. I gave them a timeline," he said. "I know that having all this stuff swirling around is why people would think funny," he said. "But what about the facts? Where is the evidence?"
Potts said he offered to take a polygraph test, but investigators have not set one up.
"I would take one in a heartbeat," he said.
Potts alleges that during a search of his residence, police kicked down his front door, poked holes in $3,000 Yamaha speakers, and spilled coffee on a white floor rug.
"I've had to have my door bolted closed," he said.
Police seized three computers, iPods, CD and DVD cases, a camcorder, four cell phones, and a pair of shoes, Potts said. "They basically destroyed my place."
A Chicago Police Department spokesman declined to respond to any of Potts' comments.
Besides being worried that he will be falsely accused of Franklin's murder, Potts said he fears for his and his family's safety.
"All this momentum is being built against me because it makes it easy for [police] to try and charge me if you have everybody thinking I had something to do with it," he said.