This is the story of how Kendall Francois, also known as the Poughkeepsie Killer, got away with abducting women and keeping them hidden from their loved ones and police for over 2 years. The women started going missing in 1996 and had one thing in common besides the monster who was taking them; they all battled drug addiction.
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TuneInMain Mall Row Poughkeepsie NY Daniel Case [CC BY-SA]
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie, New York is located midway between New York City & Albany. It’s in the Hudson River Valley in Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie was founded in 1686 and was referred to The Queen City of the Hudson by the Dutch.
Famous families such as the Astors, Rogers & Vanderbilts built large summer estates in the Hudson River Valley. Famous sites include Vassar College and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library.
The city has a population of approximately 30,000 as of the 2017 census.
September 1, 1998 – I’ll Kill You, I’ll Kill You
Christine Sala, a local drug addict, had been seeing a customer on and off in her motel room that summer. This customer was Kendall Francois, a 27-year-old African American male who was born and raised in Poughkeepsie. Kendall invited Christine back to his home on 99 East Forbes Street that he shared with his parents and younger sister.
His mother, Paulette Francios, was a counselor/nurse at a vocational/technical school for the mentally disabled. His father, McKinley Francios, was a factory worker. Kirstyn Francios, was his younger sister and was attending college full time. He also had an older sister, Raquel, and another younger sister, Aubrey.
Kendall Francois pulled the car into the garage and at that point demanded sex from Christine. She told him no and that is when Kendall punched her in the face and held her by her throat. Christine says that Kendall pulled her out of the car by her hair and demanded that she perform a sex act on him (i.e. oral) and repeatedly said: “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you.”
Suddenly, Kendall’s younger sister, Kirstyn was at the garage door yelling at Kendall that she needed the car because she needed to get to school. Christine was able to break away from Kendall Francois as he was distracted. She ran to a nearby Sunoco gas station clad only in sweatpants asking for the police to be called as she had been attacked.
The Serial Killer Documentary
Version 2 and the one on the Serial Killer Documentary is that after they finished having sex, Kendall became enraged and started choking Christine. She was able to break away and begged him to drive her to a local gas station so she could get cigarettes. Kendall agrees and when he gets close Christine jumps out of the car and runs into the station and doesn’t come out.
Kendall meanwhile waits outside until he sees the police setting up a roadblock. Detective Mannian of the Poughkeepsie PD is handing out flyers of area women who have gone missing when the gas station attendant flags him down and has him talk to Christine.
Kendall Assaults Area Prostitutes
Poughkeepsie Police Department were very familiar with Kendall Francois. He had been arrested and charged on several occasions for assaulting area prostitutes who would bang on neighbor’s doors screaming for help and half-naked.Police saw Kendall’s behavior as being more of a bully who had a history of assaulting area prostitutes and not as the monster he would turn out to be.
Kendall Francois was born on July 26, 1971, and by all accounts seemed to have a lower-middle-class upbringing. In school, Kendall stood out due to his large size. He was quiet and mostly kept to himself. Other kids called him “stinky” due to his hygiene issues.
High school seemed to go better for Kendall. He participated in both football and wrestling and graduated from high school in the spring of 1989.
After high school, Kendall Francois joins the Army in 1990. In 1994 he was discharged due to his obesity issue. Kendall returned home to Poughkeepsie and got a job working for Arlington Middle School. He first worked as a janitor and then he received a promotion to hall monitor in April 1996
He is described by co-workers as being quiet, pleasant, and soft-spoken. Some say that his interest in female students seemed unsavory. He made off-color remarks and touched their hair.
He stood 6 ft. 4 inches and weighed over 300 pounds.
Kendall Runs A Bath
On October 24, 1996 Kendall Francios picked up Wendy Myers (30-year-old) a prostitute and brought her back to his home. Wendy was white with a small build and short brown hair and hazel eyes. During sex, Kendall began choking Wendy on his bed. Once she lost consciousness but was not dead, Kendall ran a bath. He placed Wendy face down into the tub and held her down until she died.
The other version I read is after he killed her he placed her in the tub to wash her.
Kendall then moved her lifeless body into the attic and wraps her body in garbage bags. Two days later Wendy’s boyfriend contacts the police to report her as a missing person. He last saw her in her apartment that was across the river from Poughkeepsie.
Kendall Strangles Gina
Kendall Francois picks up Gina Barone (29-year-old) another area prostitute/drug addict on November 29, 1996. Gina had a fight with her boyfriend while driving around in his car. She jumped out and walked away.
Gina is described as a white female with a small build and brown hair. According to her mother, Gina had a long history of drug use starting at the age of 12.
On a quiet street between 2 to 3 am Kendall strangles and kills Gina after she complains that he was too heavy and it’s taking too long. He places her body in the trunk of his car and leaves his car overnight in the family garage. The next day, Kendall placed Gina’s body into a trash bag and places her under a mattress where she will stay for 3 months until he finally moves her body to the attic.
On December 9, 1996, Gina’s mother contacts police to report her daughter missing.
What’s that Smell?
Neighbors of the Francois begin to smell a horrible odor that seems to be coming from the Francois home. The Francois home looked to have a worn-down, shabby appearance on the exterior and stood out from other homes on the block that were well kept. The home was one block away from Vassar College and two blocks from an area of Poughkeepsie that was lined with fast-food restaurants and where prostitutes worked to support their drug habits, usually crack.
The inside of the house was not much better with dirty clothing lying about, insects in the bathroom sink and various syringes lying about. It was basically described as a dump inside with lots of garbage odors.
Unfortunately, no one reported the odor.
Inside the Francois home, Kendall’s family did comment on the strange smell. Kendall told them that dead raccoons were decaying in the walls and he could dispose of them.
Kendall Adds To His Attic Stash
On November 31, 1996 Kendall picks up prostitute Catherine Marsh (31-year-old) and takes her back to his home after they agree on a price. Catherine was white and had a small build, with brown hair and blue eyes. She was also pregnant, according to one article from the New York Times that I read.
After sex, Kendall once again chokes his victim to death and places her in the attic with his other two victims after washing the body.
In March 1997 (4 months later), Catherine was reported missing by her mother
Police Finally Suspect There May Be a Serial Killer
Kathleen Hurley (47) is last seen alive walking down Main Street in Poughkeepsie on January 12, 1997. Like all the others she had a slight build, white and brown hair. She had never been arrested for prostitution
Her family reported her missing on January 15, 1997.
It’s around this time that the police suspect that a serial killer may be operating in Poughkeepsie, but for now, these were just missing person cases as there were no bodies or crime scenes to canvas. Lt. Bill Siegrist and Det. Skip Mannain are assigned to investigate. If it was a serial killer the running theory was that they were looking for a white male committing these offenses.
Investigators start to question area prostitutes and one name keeps popping up….Kendall Francios.
Mary Disappears
Mary Healey Giaccone (29) disappears in February 1997.
She is reported missing by her father on November 13, 1997. He had come into the Poughkeepsie Police Department to see if they could help locate her so he could tell her that her mother had passed away in October 1997.
Mary had a similar body type to the other missing women as she was 5’4’’ and 110 lbs.
Michelle Vanishes
Michelle Eason (27), an African-American prostitute disappears in September 1997. She is the only victim of color, but she also had a slight build, 5’2’’ weighing approximately 115 lbs.
She is reported missing on October 9, 1997
Debbie Escapes From Kendall
Debbie Annan, an area prostitute and drug addict escapes from an encounter with Kendall after he picked her up on a street corner in November 1997.
After negotiating money for sex Kendall took Annan back to his home, where he attempted to strangle her. Annan got away and reported to police what Kendall tried to do to her, but it didn’t seem to go beyond that point.
Is There A Killer On The Loose?
The Poughkeepsie Journal runs a report on women who have gone missing in the area. Their December 14, 1997 article asked “Is there a Killer on the Loose?”
At this point, the only thing the police know is that there are multiple missing women who all share similar features and some been arrested for prostitution in the past and all had drug addictions, but they still have no crime scenes nor have any bodies surfaced.
January 1998 – Kendall Is Under Surveillance
Kendall Francois has been placed under periodic observation/surveillance by the police due to his numerous assaults on prostitutes. Lt. Siegrist follows Kendall as he drops his mother off at work on the 18th and stops him asking him if he would come down to the station for questioning. He agrees.
Kendall answers the detective’s questions in a respectful manner, but admits to nothing and even agrees to take a polygraph test, which he passes. Kendall allows Detective Mannian to come into this home and specifically his bedroom, but he could not go into any other rooms. Detective Mannian would report that the home smelled awful and was a mess due to piles of garbage, dirty clothes, unwashed dishes lying about, rotting food, and live and dead roaches.
He did not put together that the noxious smell was also due to decomposition
On the 23rd, Kendall picks up Lora Gallagher and like the other begins to assault her. Mysteriously, she is let go by Kendall. She files charges against Kendall at the end of February 1998
May 5, 1998 – Kendall Pleads Guilty To 3rd Degree Assualt
Kendall Francois pleads guilty to 3rd-degree assault charges and sentenced to 15 days in jail, but only ends up serving 7 then released.
Kendall Kills Sandra
On June 12, 1998, Kendall picks up Sandra Jean French (51), a grandmother who stood 5 ft. and weighed 120 lbs. She was reported missing from the town of Dover which is 20 miles east of Poughkeepsie.
Her car was found three blocks from the Francois home. Kendall would end up strangling her during sex. Initially, he places her in the attic after washing and drying the body but moves her to the basement crawl space under the house the following day.
Kendall Kills Again
Kendall picks up Audrey Pugliese (34) on August 12th, 1998. He brings her back to his house and goes down into the basement. During sex, he begins to strangle her, but she breaks free and runs for the door.
Kendall catches her and starts to punch her in the face and head and eventually throws her to the ground. Once on the ground, he stomps on her face, ribs, and stomach. He then puts his hands around her neck strangling her till she dies. He buried her body next to Sandra’s in the crawl space.
Kendall’s is at it once again and picks up Catina Newmaster (25) on the 26th. Newmaster had worked for the police as an informant in the past. Detective Mannain warned Newmaster not to get into Kendall’s car and to remain extra vigilant.
She didn’t listen.
Kendall killed Newmaster in the garage at his home and placed her body in the crawl space. She would be Kendall’s last victim.
August 27th – Another Missing Prostitute
Officers assigned to the task force looking into the missing women were about to have a press conference when they were notified that there was another missing prostitute – Catina Newmaster
September 1998 – DA Is Devastated By Confession
After Sala escapes and talks to the police, Kendall Francois is brought in for questioning on the assault. Kendall admits to the assault on Christine Sala. After being left alone in interrogation room 112, he is informed that police are getting a search warrant for his home. Kendall then asked if he could look at photos starting in 1993 of area prostitutes.
It’s at this point that Kendall asks to speak to the prosecutor about all the missing women in the area. Nine hours after DA Margie Smith entered the interview room she left devastated by what Kendall confessed.
Kendall in a very matter-of-fact way separated out the pictures from those he killed and those he wasn’t sure of and then drew a diagram where the bodies could be found in his home. Kendall waived his right to a lawyer several times during his confession. In his confession, he described choosing women who knew him and trusted him.
He killed each of the victims by strangulation in either his car, garage, bedroom, or basement. He would then lay the victims out side-by-side in the attic or the crawl space off the basement.
That evening he confessed to killing Wendy Meyers, Gina Barone, Catherine Marsh, and Sandra Jean French along with Catina Newmaster and Michelle Eason. He wasn’t sure but thought he might have killed Mary Gianconne and Kathleen Hurley. Kendall never confessed to killing Audrey Pugliese.
He claims that he had hired them all before, but killed them when they angered him in some way such as:
- Barone had become “rude and nasty.”
- He accused French of stealing from him.
- Newmaster “betrayed” him.
- Others had “ripped him off” in some way.
Wendy Meyers, Kendall’s First Victim
Kendall told investigators about his first victim, Wendy Meyers. He claims that he picked her up in his 1983 red Subaru and after negotiating money for sex he took her back to his home and up to his bedroom. He strangled her after she tried to skip out saying the sex was over.
Police get a search warrant for the Francois residence and after removing the family they begin the excavation of all the victim’s bodies at midnight on September 2nd. Crime scene investigators wearing white hazmat suits with anti-putrefaction masks entered the home and followed Kendall’s maps as to where the bodies were.
In the crawl space near the back of the house, black garbage bags could be seen with some remains protruding out. In the attic in one corner in plain view was another bag containing skeletal remains.
8 Bodies Are Removed From The Francois Home
Over a three day period, 8 bodies would be removed from the Francios home: 3 from the crawl space and 5 in the attic.
The five bodies in the attic were all in various stages of decomposition. Bodies 1 through 3 were wrapped in plastic and it had looked as if Kendall had started to dismember the bodies. The 4th body was found decomposing in a kiddie pool. The 5th body was found in the worst stage of decomposition and was in a can.
The 3 bodies found in the crawl space had less severe decomposition since they were the most recent victims.
Keep in mind, that Kendall lived there with his mother, father, and younger sister, who were all surprised after finding out about the bodies
On September 4, Kendall Francois (age 27) is charged with one count of second-degree murder in the death of Catina Newmaster for which he pleads not guilty and is held without bail. Randolph F. Treece a public defender from the Capital Defenders Office is assigned to represent Kendall. Lawyers from the CDO are assigned when there may be a death penalty case.
The district attorney for Dutchess County was William V. Grady.
Police initially removed 6 bodies from the home, but one of the bodies was not someone they expected to find. It was that of Audrey Pugliese who went missing August of 1998. She had just moved to Poughkeepsie in March 1998 from Westchester County. She had never been reported missing by anyone.
Victims positively identified at that point were:
- Catina Newmaster
- Catherine Marsh
- Gina Barone
Police Expected To Find More Victims
Police also expected to find:
- Wendy Meyers
- Kathleen Hurley
- Michelle Eason (her body was never recovered and is still considered to be missing)
- Mary Healy Giaconne
- Sandra Jean French
Police brought in radar control detection equipment (i.e. ground penetrating radar) to assist in locating any bodies that might have been buried in the backyard
October 13, 1998 – Kendall is Charged With 1st Degree Murder
Kendall Francois is charged with 8 counts of 1st-degree murder, 8 counts of second-degree murder, and 1 count of assault. He plead not guilty on all counts.
DA Grady had yet to make a decision on whether or not he would seek the death penalty.
February 1999 – DA Seeks The Death Penalty
Kendall’s lawyer attempted to enter a guilty plea prior to the end of 1998 to spare Kendall the death penalty. DA William Grady gave notice that he planned to seek the death penalty against Kendall and asked Judge Thomas Dolan of Dutchess County Court to not accept the guilty plea.
The question this raised, according to a New York Times article written by David Chen and Claudia Rowe in February 1999 was “did Mr. Francois even have the right to plead guilty before the district attorney decided to seek the death penalty?” Family members of the victims were split as some wanted the death penalty and others wanting to avoid a trial and secure a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
What made this case unique was that this was the first time in New York State that a defendant (Francois) was pleading guilty to an entire indictment before the DA had time to serve notice.
Francois’s lawyers went into court on December 23, 1998, and the DA didn’t serve notice that the death penalty was being sought until December 24, 1998. DA Grady felt that he had a 120-day window after Francois was arraigned in which to decide whether or not to seek the death penalty
May 1999 – Kendall Can’t Avoid Death Sentence
The New York State Court of Appeals upheld a ruling from the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court, basically affirming that Kendall Francois can’t avoid a sentence of death by preemptively pleading guilty. This was a unanimous decision that ruled capital murder defendants cannot jump the gun and plead guilty while a DA is deciding whether or not to seek the death penalty
June 2000 – DA Avoids Airing Gruesome Details
DA Grady accepted a guilty plea from Kendall Francois, now 28, to avoid a trial and possible death sentence. Grady’s decision was to avoid a trial where gruesome details of how his victims died would be made public, as some of the victims family members did not want that shared
He also wanted to avoid a jury that might feel Francois had a mental condition and not give him death and possibly give him an opportunity at parole someday
August 2000 – Kendall Is Diagnosed With HIV
Kendall Francois was sentenced to 8 consecutive life terms without the chance of parole plus 25 years for the sexual assault on Christine Sala. Kendall was diagnosed with HIV in 1995; it’s believed he had gotten it through sex with a prostitute. His family denied knowing what Kendall had done and no family members were ever charged.
September 2014 – Kendall Dies But Coroner Refuses To Release Cause
It is reported that Kendal Francois died of natural causes in the Wende Correctional Facility Regional Medical Unit in Alden, Erie County. He was 43 years old. The county medical examiner refused to release the specific cause of death.
After his plea deal, he served the majority of his life sentence in Attica State Correctional Facility as prisoner A4160.
Resources
- Poughkeepsie Man Linked to Slayings Of Eight Women
- Police Are Criticized as Poughkeepsie House Yields Corpses
- Body Found Inside House Is UnexpectedBody Found Inside House Is Unexpected
- Families of Slain Women Demand Bodies for Funerals
- Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in the Killings of 8 Women
- Court Upholds Rejection of Guilty Plea in Killings
- Guilty Plea Is Accepted In the Slaying Of 8 Women
- Admitted Killer of 8 Women Receives 8 Life Terms Without Parole
- Kendall François
- Serial killer Francois dies in prison
- Journalist revisits relationship with serial killer who confessed to eight murders in N.Y.
- Francois
- François
- Kendall Francois – Serial killer documentary