Father of “Black Widow Killer” convicted for role in Pa. murder

HEMLOCK TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania (AP) — The father of a Pennsylvania woman nicknamed the “Black Widow Killer” after she was convicted of killing her husband has also been found guilty in the murder.

The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office announced today that 76-year-old Anthony Rocco Franklin had been found guilty in the 2012 execution-style slaying of his former son-in-law, Frank Spencer.

Franklin fled to South America in 2013 after testifying before a grand jury investigating the killing in Hemlock Township, about 130 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Franklin was extradited back to Pennsylvania in April 2017. His daughter, Maria Asnutti-Spencer, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2015 and sentenced to life plus 50 years.

Prosecutors say the father and daughter’s motive was to control and terrorize Spencer.