Housing people with mental illness has been a priority here in New Jersey.

The state contracts with several companies and nonprofits that help coordinate that housing.

But what happens when those arrangements go awry?

NJ Advance Media reporter Adam Clark recently wrote a heart wrenching article about Frank and Frankie, two men diagnosed with schizophrenia whose time living together ended with one strangled to death and the other charged for his killing.

I recently sat down with Adam to talk about how this case sheds light on some deeper problems.

Adam, so great to have you on the show with us tonight.

You wrote about a story recently, Frank and Frankie, that on its surface feels like a cut and dry murder case.

But you and your reporting with your team have uncovered some real underlying issues in this case.

What just first to help us understand what happened here.

Yeah, this story is really the worst nightmare scenario for anyone who has a family member with serious mental illness.

These are two gentlemen from a very vulnerable population.

Frank Rance and Frank Majuri both have schizophrenia, and they were placed to live together in a condo in Wayne, New Jersey, by a not for profit organization called SERV which helps adults find housing.

Adults with mental illness find housing.

And Frank rants.

On the night of November 5th, 2021, was convinced that his roommate, Frank Majuri had stolen his social Security check.

He called police and the police arrived.

They questioned Frank Majuri, who told them that he did not take the check.

He went to the mailbox and opened it again to prove the check wasn't there.

And the officer instructed Frank Rance to call the Social Security Office and request a new check.

The officer asked for assurance that there wasn't going to be any problems when he left.

Frank Rance sort of shrugged and didn't really say much.

And after the officer left, Frank Rants later admitted that he strangled Frank Majuri to death, that he strangled her for about five full minutes.

He is now charged with first degree murder.

So all of this is seen on body camera footage, which you and your team included in this story.

And it is pretty disturbing to see how the situation escalated so quickly within an hour or two to Frank Marjorie being killed.

Serve placed these two together, as you said, serve as a not for profit that works for the state is contracted by the state.

You talk about how there were red flags missed here and not just in this case, but in others.

What are some of those red flags?

What is happening here with serve that's not being caught?

So in this program that the two Franks are living in, they are supposed to be having weekly check ins.

According to Frank Majuri his family and those weekly check ins would be to make sure that these gentlemen are taking their medication and that they are taking care of all their daily household needs.

And just generally speaking, to make sure that they're doing well, that they are not spiraling or relapsing in any way.

But Frank Majuri's family says that these check ins were becoming more sporadic during the three months that these two live together.

And what we found through our investigation was that Frank Rance was having trouble sleeping, that he was having some delusions and paranoia.

He was calling police once at 4 a.m. about missing mail.

He was convinced that a former roommate was impersonating the FBI to try to get in touch with him.

And then, of course, he was convinced on that night that his roommate had taken his check.

Does the state bear responsibility here as well?

I mean, you say that these weekly check ins aren't happening.

Is it the state's job to step in and perhaps no longer contract with a not for profit like SERV?

So that's one of the big questions that family members are asking and that mental health experts and advocates are asking about is the role of the state in supervising all of these organizations because they do contract with several dozen of these organizations.

But the state says that their role is really to sort of watch from afar.

And if something egregious happens, if there are continuing ongoing problems, to then potentially step in.

But the state, based on the interviews that I've done, the state doesn't have the manpower essentially to watch on a day to day, week to week basis and make sure that these check ins are happening in real time.

One of the things you talk about in your reporting is that there's a real push to house these people and perhaps too much of a push.

With that in mind, what are the families asking for in this case?

Mostly, they're still asking for, I think, a lot of answers and for accountability.

Frank Majuri's family would love to see a Frank law.

They would love to see someone step up and try to address the issues in this case and figure out what can be done to prevent this from happening again.

Yeah.

Adam Clark, this is terrific reporting by you and your team over at NJ Advance Media.

Thanks for coming on to talk with us.

Thank you so much.