GUILDFORD, N.Y. — Three weeks after a fire left the home of Ernest and Heather Franklin destroyed and their son dead, the couple was arrested for the murder of 16-year-old Jeffery Franklin and the fire they set to cover it up, according to Central New York authorities.

Ernest F. Franklin II, 35, and Heather Franklin, 33, were charged with second-degree murder, third-degree arson and tampering with physical evidence, Chenango County deputies said in a media release. Both Franklins are from Guilford, a rural town in New York with a population of about 2,000.

Since the fire on March 1, neighbors and community members raised more than $11,000 through GoFundMe to help the family. Dominick Gildersleeve, who lives across the street from the Franklins, set up the page that raised the money.

Donors have asked for their money back, according to Gildersleeve, who said the couple already has taken the money and he has no way to return the contributions. 

“I’m so sorry I can’t get people’s money back to them,” a crying Gildersleeve said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. “My family has been taken advantage of in every way possible.”

Originally, deputies said the cause of the blaze was a wood stove, which was the main heating source to the manufactured double-wide residence. Officials said the body was found in a bedroom and was taken to a hospital in Binghamton, New York, for an autopsy.

The autopsy determined that fire wasn’t the cause of Jeffrey Franklin’s death, and that he died before the fire, according to deputies, who also said the fire was set to cover up the murder of the teenager.

“It is just unbelievable,” Jaime Gildersleeve, who lives with her husband, Dominick near the Franklin’s home, said. She said that she wasn’t completely surprised about the arrests, because of the way Heather and Ernest Franklin acted the night of the fire. Heather did not ask about her son, Jamie Gildersleeve said, a fact she initially attributed to shock.

Jaime Gildersleeve said she “had never seen” Jeffrey Franklin, who was home-schooled and had special needs.

Ernest Franklin was an Army veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the GoFundMe site, and Heather Franklin is pregnant and a stay-at-home mom.

Dominick Gildersleeve said two state police investigators visited him Tuesday and told him the fire case had become a murder case.

“I had no knowledge,” said Dominick Gildersleeve, who took care of their cows, chickens, goats and two dogs after the fire.

Jaime Gildersleeve said her husband was devastated by the developments in the case.

“We just wanted to be supportive and do what we could to help,” she said. “It’s very overwhelming right now.”

The Franklins were being held in Chenango County jail without bail Tuesday night, officials said. 

Chenango County officials are withholding details of the case, including the cause of death, while investigation and court case are pending.

Richardson writes for the Oneonta, New York Daily Star.