Palmer woman charged with manslaughter

PALMER — A 29-year-old Palmer resident, Emma Frankson, was recently arrested on assault and manslaughter charges relating to the death of her romantic partner, 26-year-old Palmer resident Donna Jackson.

According to a police affidavit written by Palmer Police Department officer Matthew Moore, PPD received a call from Frankson who stated that she believed that Jackson was dead because she was "cold to the touch and stiff" Jan. 3 around 12:38 p.m.

During Frankson's interview with law enforcement officers, she stated that she had been out drinking with Jackson the night before her death. She stated that Jackson was alive around 6 a.m. when she went to bed, and when she woke up, she found Jackson laying on the floor.

Frankson's ex-spouse, Ruthie Hale called PPD to express her concern over Jackson's death. Hale stated that Frankson called her after Jackson's death and told her "It's okay, they ruled it an accident," and Frankson chuckled after saying that.

Hale had been granted a domestic violence protective order against Frankson that expired Dec. 20, 2023.

"Hale said she wanted to share this information since she would want someone to investigate her death if it was this suspicious," Moore wrote in the affidavit.

During a follow-up phone interview with PPD officer Virginia Calvert, Hale stated that she experienced a lot of domestic violence issues while she was married to Frankson such as having a gun pointed at her stomach while she was pregnant and getting stabbed in the back by a broken beer bottle three times.

Hale told Calvert that Frankson was "dangerous and aggressive and is only worse with alcohol."

According to the affidavit, small lacerations were found inside Jackson's mouth during the autopsy and the lacerations could have been caused by someone placing their hands over her mouth.

Further investigation revealed screenshots of a Snapchat conversation between Frankson and Genna Carpenter where Frankson told Carpenter, "I had to put my hands on my girl again to get her to shut the (expletive) up," and "I almost killed her I think."

Frankson also said "I saw her become blue," "I'm a (expletive) monster," and "she wouldn't shut up" during the Snapchat conversation with Carpenter.

According to the affidavit, a Glass Warrant was approved on Jan. 5 for a conversation between Frankson and Hale. During that conversation, Frankson told Hale that she and Jackson were at home Jan. 3 and she asked Jackson to be quiet to avoid waking other residents of the household. Frankson told Hale that she and Jackson were both naked at the time and were about to have sex. Frankson told Hale that Jackson continued to be loud so she placed one or two hands over her mouth with her back against the wall "until she turned blue."

PPD officers arrested Frankson with the assistance of Wasilla Police Department officers around 8:10 p.m. Jan. 5.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com