KENDALL FRANCOIS: THE MONSTER OF POUGHKEEPSIE

Article BY Kozzy

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Poughkeepsie, New York, USA 1996. A small city with a population of approximately 33,000, Poughkeepsie lies roughly 90 miles north of the buzzing and pulsating New York City, notorious for high crime rates, major incidents and violent offenses, often including murder.

On a cool dismal night in October 1996, Kendall Francois once again left his run-down family home at 99 Fulton Ave to troll the dark and often seedy streets of Poughkeepsie looking for the services of a sex worker. This massive-framed, hulking African American man stands six feet four inches tall, and at first glance he may even appear meek and shy. This, however, is not the case, as the ladies of the darker side of Poughkeepsie were about to become all too familiar with.

One of the most memorable and notorious features of this seemingly gentle giant are his monstrous hands, which turned out to be the perfect tools for taking control of a petite and worn-down woman who is desperate to make a few dollars. These hands would also later become deadly weapons.

Throughout his high school and college years, Kendall’s personal hygiene was less than stellar. An unkind nickname of ‘Stinky’ stuck to him like a fug, and his success in relationships with women finally led to his regular use of prostitutes.

On this cold October night, events had changed in Kendall’s life, to make it significantly different from all of the previous nights where he regularly used the services of prostitutes. Tonight Kendall would make his first kill, and then continue to savagely wrench the lives of tortured souls from the Poughkeepsie streets, only to ensure that their last moments on this earth were the most horrific and terrifying of their entire life up to this point.

While using prostitutes does not automatically turn you into a serial killer, it does provide access to a dark world that is founded on deceit, shadows, fear and power. Within this seedy and shadowy world survives a breed of working class people who live moment to moment, fix to fix and trick to trick. Someone like Francois, who is a familiar neighborhood face, will easily be able to blend right in, despite his size. And although some of the local girls knew of Kendall’s rough manner sometimes, they simply accepted it as just the way he was. After all, he had never really hurt anybody …

Inevitably, the local girls grew more fearful of Kendall and his slowly emerging ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ personality became more confident and powerful, until finally, late toward the end of this special night in October 1996, Kendall’s hands met their most brutal and barbaric grip of his young and deluded life, slowly twisting and rotating with malicious intent around the slim throat of Wendy Meyers, as the last breath escaped her dying, struggling body.

Wendy Meyers, described as being a white female of slim build, with hazel eyes and short brown hair, was reported missing to Lloyd Town police, Ulster County, October 1996. This was to mark the start of a murderous and stealthy killing spree, which would unfortunately result in the loss of eight lives and the miraculous survival of a ninth woman who barely escaped the brutal grip of Kendall Francois. Christine Sala would live to tell her tale to detectives and police, eventually assisting in bringing the Monster of Poughkeepsie to justice.

Not even ten weeks after Wendy had disappeared, the appetite of this lustful and sadistic murderer would claim the life of his next victim – Gina Barone, aged twenty-nine and reported by her mother as missing in December 1996. Gina was described as having a small build, brown hair and an eagle tattooed on her back. On her right arm she had another tattoo that read simply “POP.” She was last seen November 29, 1996 in Poughkeepsie on a street corner, apparently having a dispute with an unidentified man.

In January 1997, a few weeks after the Christmas and family holiday festivities when the streets remained lined with damp snow and the nights still bitterly cold, single mother Kathleen Hurley was out once again working the streets she knew so well. She was last seen walking along Main Street in the downtown area of Poughkeepsie. Hurley, like the others, was white, had brown hair and a small build. The letters “CJ” were tattooed on her left biceps. Not realising the extent of the danger she was in, Kathleen, like many other women, continued to walk and work the streets to survive, and earn a meagre living.

Late on one of these cold nights, the now notorious Kendall Francois approached Kathleen and she readily accepted the trick, without ever possibly knowing it would be her last. Kathleen, along with Wendy and Gina, would meet her end at the hands of Francois, and sadly her remains would also end up in the attic of the cesspit that was the dilapidated home at 99 Fulton Ave.

While the reports of the missing women remained non newsworthy due to many reasons - primarily the social segregation of class and the unfortunate lifestyles of the victims - the police forces in both the Town of Poughkeepsie and the City of Poughkeepsie grew increasingly concerned that the women on the streets of their communities were not safe, so a decision was made that something drastic needed to be done about it. By now, law enforcement were suspicious that the circumstances surrounding the missing women were possibly connected, and with the dedication of tenacious twenty-nine year PD veteran Det. Lt. Bill Siegrist, a quiet task force was set up and the crimes were investigated as though they were the work of one offender.

At this stage, the reports were still being investigated as missing persons, so Kendall Francois was not yet on the radar as a serious offender, however he did remain a significant person of interest and a surveillance team was set up to monitor his home and movements, after reports started coming in about him getting more and more rough with the girls. This surveillance did not reveal any new information, so consequently Francois could not fully be investigated as a suspect at this time.

In March 1997 as winter gives way to spring, unsuspecting 31 year old Catherine Marsh was reported missing by her mother. Described as white, small build, blue eyes and brown hair, it was determined that Catherine was last observed alive in November 1996. As a result of the amount of time that had passed between her last being seen alive and discovered missing, the investigation into her case proved to be more difficult. Only in August 1998 would we all learn that Catherine was another poor woman who fell victim to the hideous acts of Kendall Francois and become now the fourth person to lose her life by his hands.

For the next six months, no more women in the local Poughkeepsie area were reported missing, and it became a very general opinion that Wendy, Gina, Kathleen and Catherine were all people who simply decided to leave on their own, for whatever their individual reasons. The friends, family and loved ones of these women had other thoughts however, and their views were also along the same lines of law enforcement, so investigations into the circumstances surrounding these disappearances continued.

Spring and summer in 1997 came and went as it always had done through upstate New York, however this year, the concealed human remains of four women who all meant something special to someone, were slowly decomposing undetected in the gloomy shelter of the attic of the home at 99 Fulton Ave, Poughkeepsie. Children continued to play in the street, walk their dogs, ride their bikes and go to school. Working people came and went from their jobs, and Sunday church masses were always open to anyone who wished to attend … yet the stench emanating from the home on Fulton Ave was such a putrid odour, it seemed as though it had seeped into the very earth below the house, and no amount of church services, hose fights or summer storms would ever wash it away.

Mary Healey Giaccone’s father came looking for her in an attempt to deliver sad news regarding the death of her mother, in November 1997. When he could not locate her he reported her as missing, and it was then discovered that the last time anyone had actually seen Mary alive was in February 1997.

In the height of summer, June 1998, fifty-one year old Sandra Jean French was the next woman to be reported missing from the streets of Poughkeepsie and then within three months, twenty-five year old Catina Newmaster was reported missing in August 1998.

In early September 1998, Christine Sala accepted a ride from Kendall Francois, and when he attempted to make her his ninth victim, she miraculously escaped with her life and was contacted by police when another woman reported her assault. City of Poughkeepsie Police Detective Skip Mannain and Town of Poughkeepsie Police Detective Bob McCready then took Christine back to the station where her statement was taken and a search warrant issued for the property at 99 Fulton Ave.

Francois was then arrested and charged with the assault on Christine Sala, while the search warrant was served on his house. Francois was taken away, and the tale of the horror and agony that was the life of Kendall Francois would now be uncovered in the most shocking way that Dutchess County had ever seen.

When police entered the two-story, run down aluminum-sided home shared by Kendall’s mother, father and sister, one of the officers was overheard to have remarked that they were ‘the most wretched living conditions’ that he had ever seen. The home was filled with litter, clothing and personal belongings that covered every surface from floor to bench top, but the most savage attack to the senses was the foul odor filling every corner of every room, and the overpowering urge to regurgitate befell more than one of the investigative team. Eventually the team were drawn to the attic and a basement crawlspace, where the human remains of multiple victims were discovered.

Over the course of the next few days, extraction and forensic preservation procedures commenced so that the painstaking removal of these unknown victims could begin. Through forensic analysis, it was determined that there were eight victims in total recovered from 99 Fulton Avenue. Cause of death was later concluded to have been homicide - strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.

Seven of these eight victims had been reported missing in the Ulster County / Poughkeepsie area between October 1996 and September 1998. The eighth victim not reported missing in Ulster County was thirty-four year old Audrey Pugliese, from Westchester County.

An eighth woman who was also reported missing in the Poughkeepsie area and originally thought to be among the discovered remains, was not ultimately found at 99 Fulton Ave, and in October 2012 is still listed as missing. Michelle Carol Eason was aged twenty-seven years old when she was reported missing in September 1997, which would now make her forty-two years old. She is of African American origin, which led law enforcement to conclude that she was not a victim of Kendall Francois. All of Kendall’s victims had been Caucasian, petite women and he had also ‘hoarded’ the bodies of all of his victims in his home. When Michelle’s remains were not discovered with the others, police no longer believed that Kendall Francois was involved in, or had any knowledge of Michelle’s disappearance.

A particularly gruesome aspect of Kendall’s crimes was reported to have been forensic evidence pointing to the bodies being moved around after death, presumably to make room for more. The only thing covering the remains was a thick blanket, and when Francois ran out of room in the attic, he went south to the basement. There were also signs and evidence of necrophilia activity.

Law enforcement, attorneys and many others involved in the investigation of this case still to this day find it difficult to believe that Francois’ family had no clue of what he was up to for two years. While they say he gave them excuses, it is almost inconceivable to think that one could live in a home where the bodies were slowly piling up above and below you. The smell of rotting human flesh is one that is very distinctive and unforgiving. When Kendall gave lame excuses to his family about the smell being that of dead raccoons and vermin that he couldn’t get rid of, his family are reported to have believed him. For an average person who wants to vomit at the smell of a rotten fish or funky athletic shoes, it is easy to imagine the olfactory system simply packing a suitcase and leaving the body after years of aesthetic and aromatic abuse.

Personally, I would not be able to walk past the house out on the street without wanting to gag, let alone actually live inside the residence … however we all have a threshold and I try to believe that the family of Kendall Francois are among the percentage of the world population who simply are not affected by foul stenches and the smell of death. One can only be in awe of the circumstances and life events that would lead up to a complete break-down of the body’s senses to the point that the brain no longer recognizes human rotting flesh within ten feet of where you eat your dinner or take a shower. Sadness overcomes me to think of the lackluster life that the Francois family had been leading.

Take into account whatever sad and pathetic history Kendall Francois may have, and it could be any one of us who ends up at the end of life’s street, not knowing which way to turn. For 99% of us we will simply realize we’re in a dead end street, turn around, walk to the start of the street and take another path, however there are that minority of the population who feel it necessary to take out their vengeance on the rest of us. Nobody wakes up one day and decides they’re going to become a serial killer or a drug-addicted prostitute, however situations and circumstances don’t always turn us into torturers or murderers either.

Whatever reasons Kendall Francois has for suddenly turning into a monster, he is keeping close to his empty heart. Throughout his trial Kendall’s head hung low, his shoulders slumped and his mouth quiet. His lawyer stated that his client was ‘deeply sorry for his actions’.

He currently remains serving his eight consecutive life sentences without the chance of parole in Attica Correctional Centre in New York, which is a maximum-security facility for men. Perhaps the most poetic justice of all is that Kendall Francois contracted HIV and is now on his own death sentence.

The lives of the victims that Kendall Francois forever changed are permanently scarred and their families and loved ones are left to carry on with their lives. While I have never experienced loss through murder, I can only believe that nobody would want another person to suffer the agony of losing a loved one through such tragic events. The actions of a serial killer stab deep into the souls of everyone pierced by the steely blade of their crimes, and forever binds families and friends together through loss and a common goal of bringing the offender to justice.

‘Closure’ is a relatively loose and general term. I have learned that closure only comes to those people who are willing to forgive and move on with their lives. For others, forgiveness will never come and moving on is a daily battle they will suffer for the rest of their lives. The pain never leaves, the hole never closes and the suffering is only muted – not removed.

Bringing a murderer to justice in a civilized society has become a way of attempting to heal and treat our emotional wounds, but at the end of the day, another family is now destroyed because of one person’s actions. I am certain that Kendall Francois’ mother is absolutely shattered to think her own son took the lives of other human beings for no reason whatsoever and she will go to her grave knowing she raised an innocent young boy who grew up and turned into a malicious, cold-blooded killer.

However you view serial killers – with distaste, morbid curiosity or vile loathing – they are who they are, and they live, walk, study, travel and work among us. You won’t see a sign that says ‘Serial Killer in Action’ nor do they wear any kind of distinctive jewelry or body art to make them stand out. What you will see are ordinary, every day people living ordinary, every day lives. Some will even be married and parents. This is the most frightening thought of all – they live right next door to us and we don’t even know it. They are intelligent, cunning, sneaky and usually excellent social chameleons. Where they may be lacking in social skills, they become extremely adept at being sneaky and cunning.

Every major university in every developed country around the globe are undertaking their own individual studies with regards to why serial killers do what they do and how to recognise and diagnose certain troubling personality traits from a young age. From neurological research to family developmental studies and social observations, many discoveries are being made that largely include commonly shared maladies and / or mental and social deficiencies.

It is generally said that serial killers will fall into two primary categories – Organized and Social or Disorganized and Anti-Social. For example, Ted Bundy was an organized and social killer. Charming, charismatic and handsome, Bundy changed the course of serial killer history by becoming the first to move out of his local comfort zone and start killing in another state. Two escapes and three trials later, Bundy was finally convicted and sentenced to death for his crimes. He was executed January 24th 1989.

On the other side of the coin, Richard Ramirez was very disorganized and extremely anti-social. With bad hygiene, few friends and a mentally deluded mind brought about by severe drug abuse, Ramirez went on to terrorize the city of Los Angeles from April 1984 to August in 1985, murdering thirteen and injuring more than twenty people on his rampage. During the penalty phase of the trial on November 7, 1989, he was sentenced to die in California's gas chamber. He is still sitting on death row in California's San Quentin State Prison awaiting an execution date..

Kendall Francois falls into the ‘Disorganized and Anti-Social’ serial killer. The distinction between the two types of killers is relevant when one thinks about how the crimes can go unsolved for so long. In most cases, the serial killer will make a mistake. Get too arrogant, become too greedy for attention, or develop a sense of self that will ultimately build a delusion that makes them believe they may never be caught and will continue to kill for as long as they please. In Kendall’s case, he simply let one escape – that was to be his undoing. One can only speculate that perhaps he felt it was time to stop but couldn’t do so on his own, and needed to be caught by police to bring an end to the annihilation.

As each year starts, new psychological discoveries are made and treatments invented or developed to assist in understanding why we have such monstrous souls living among us. As a human race, we need to understand something in order to feel safe. In our minds and as humans, understanding apparently gives us power. When that power is taken away in the form of being held against your will or worse, the human reaction is to try and take the power back. Failing that we fight. A serial killer knows all of this about human nature and will use it to their advantage. Being able to recognize a weakness of the soul or body is like a drug to a serial killer, and once seen they will capitalize on it.

For each offender the choice of victim is different and those choices are made for their own reasons. Sometimes a victim is stalked and watched for a long period of time, while others are simply random choices of convenience. Either way, a victim is doomed once in the bullseye of a serial killer.

I am once again reminded of the thought that this could happen to anyone … and that is just plain scary.

Here in Australia we have had our fair share of hideous monsters rear their ugly heads from among the gum trees, however the United States of America seems to produce more serial killers per capita than any other civilization on the planet – more specifically within the past hundred years. This macabre figure makes studies and research into the affliction of psychopathy more efficient, hopefully fast-tracking better treatments to prevent an epidemic of people thinking that the way to solve a problem is to go and murder a bunch of innocent people.

Kendall Francois is a big man in physical size, but a very small man in character and self-worth. It is really not clear what drove him to commit murder on multiple occasions over a period of two years, however what is very clear and obvious is the fact that he thought he could get away with it. To so brazenly keep the bodies of his victims in his home that he shared with three other members of his family is so incomprehensible that it makes my brain want to implode. I simply cannot fathom the idea of living with any kind of rotting carcass – animal or human. The inner workings of Kendall’s mind seem romantically interesting from a distance, but I think this is only because he has now hit the list of serial killers from the USA who have murdered in the twentieth century. In reality, I feel if I had the chance to speak with him face to face, that my stomach would be doing flip-flops the whole time, trying to imagine why he did what he did and how he was able to put his family at such a shocking risk.

At the end of the day, an earthly judge handed down an earthly sentence, because that’s what was within his control and reach. When the time comes, Kendall Francois will meet his own judge and maker, and the sentence handed to him will make his earthly one seem like a party. I cannot wish another person dead – I don’t know him nor any of the victims he claimed – however I do believe in karma and cosmic justice, and that all of us at some point or another will have to answer to someone. This thought brings me some comfort to think that we, as a human race, are working to fight against this sickness that is slowly becoming bigger and bigger. It would be comforting to think that we will be able to find a way to prevent such tragic and sizable human loss at the hands of selfish and narcissistic animals who choose to wear pants and masquerade as civilized humans.

Thanks for reading, and remember to lock your doors and windows, and bring the dog in at night to keep you company. Always look over your shoulder and be safely paranoid, because you just never know which psychopathic murderer woke up energetic today … Kozzy

In loving memory of the murdered victims of Kendall Francois who died between September 1996 and September 1998.

Wendy Meyers aged 30
Gina Barone aged 29
Kathleen Hurley aged 47
Catherine Marsh aged 31
Mary Healey Giaccone aged 29
Sandra Jean French aged 51
Catina Newmaster aged 25
Audrey Pugliese aged 34

Surviving victim Christine Sala. You are an extremely brave woman and your strength helped police to make sure that Kendall Francois did not hurt any more women. May the rest of your life be filled with opportunity and love to keep you energised and help you cope with the terrible scars you now bear.

STILL LISTED AS MISSING October 2012
Michelle Carol Eason aged 27 – last seen in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA September 1997
African-American female, slim build, short black hair, approximately five feet ten inches tall.
If you have, or anyone you know has information regarding this active missing persons case, please contact your local law enforcement agency.