According to the Chicago Tribune: A high-tech analysis of cell-phone records shattered the alibi of Reginald Potts, leading to his arrest for the murder of his former girlfriend, pharmaceutical rep Nailah Franklin, Chicago Police said today in announcing his arrest.
Investigators also collected physical evidence and determined that witnesses did not confirm Potts' alibi for where he was the day in September that the 28-year-old Franklin was killed, authorities said.
Reginald Potts (inset), 30, of Chicago, is being held on first-degree murder charges in the death of 28-year-old Nailah Franklin.
(AP)
"Today, a family is relieved, a community is at peace and a murderer is behind bars," Interim Police Supt. Dana Starks said at a news conference at Chicago Police headquarters.
The disappearance of the successful Franklin captured the city's attention, as did the frequent public statements of Potts, a 31-year-old real estate investor with a history of having trouble with police.
Potts has said he had nothing to do with the murder.
"I may talk a lot of s--- - pardon my language - but me putting my hands on somebody isn't really happening," Potts said in an October interview with the Sun-Times.
Investigators were never swayed by "his antics," police said.
FBI agents pulled the cell phone records of both Franklin and Potts, and were able to determine through a high-tech analysis that they were in the same geographic area the time of her murder, authorities said.
Potts, who already was in jail for aggravated battery of a police officer in a separate incident, did not confess to the crime, and was described as somewhat defiant and uncooperative by authorities.
"It's believed he acted alone," Area 4 Police Cmdr. Steve Petersen said.
Franklin's family praised police and said they were confident justice would be served.
"I know that everything done in the dark will come to light, and I know that justice will be done," said Ashley Chappell, one of Nailah Franklin's sisters.
At a press conference, family and friends said they knew they had a long road ahead but said they were focusing on Franklin's positive legacy.
"We feel her every day spiritually and that keeps us going," said her mother, Maria Maner, who spoke at the news conference via speakerphone from her home in North Carolina.
In the days before Nailah Franklin was killed, she had received a threatening phone call from Potts and had reported it to police, who urged her to get an order of protection.
Franklin was in the process of doing that when she was slain, police said.
Police officials would not discuss a motive, which remains under investigation, but a source said there is a strong possibility that a strained relationship between the two led Potts to kill Franklin.
The cause of Franklin's death is still pending police investigation, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
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