Kendall Francois

Kendall L. Francois (July 26, 1971 – September 11, 2014) was an American serial killer convicted of killing eight women in Poughkeepsie, New York, between 1996 and 1998.

Early years Francois was the second of four children born to Haitian parents. As a teenager, he wrestled and played football at Arlington High School. Upon graduation in 1989, he enlisted in the United States Army and completed basic training at Fort Sill. After four years in the Army, Francois was discharged due to obesity, as he weighed 320 pounds (145 kg) at 6 ft 4 in (192 cm). He returned to New York and enrolled at Dutchess Community College as a liberal arts major.

In 1994, while attending Dutchess Community College, Francois took a job as a school aide at Arlington Middle School, first as a part-time custodian and later as a student monitor from April 1996 to January 1997. His body odor earned him the nickname "Stinky" from students. Francois also behaved inappropriately with female students, including telling them sexual jokes, hugging them, and touching their hair. Francois left his job, claiming he was going to work at Anderson School, a special education institution for mentally disabled children in nearby Staatsburg, but the school did not confirm his hiring. Days later, he killed his third victim, Catherine "Cathy" Marsh, who was pregnant at the time. He placed all three bodies side by side in the attic of his home at 99 Fulton Avenue, where Francois lived with his parents and younger sister.

Marsh was not reported missing until March 7, 1997, by which time Francois had already killed his fourth and fifth victims, 47-year-old Kathleen Hurley and 29-year-old Mary Healey Giaccone. Giaccone was not reported missing until November 13, 1997. Poughkeepsie Police Department Detective Bill Siegrist began investigating with the Neighborhood Recovery Unit (the department's narcotics unit), where he learned that some of the Main Street prostitutes had complained about a local man (Francois) who was rough with them and violent during sex.

Detectives began surveilling Francois's home and had a wired prostitute meet with him. Little useful information was obtained; however, they noticed that Francois had a routine: in the mornings, he would use the family car to drive his mother to her place of work at a nearby psychiatric center, where she was a nurse, after which he would cruise the streets of downtown Poughkeepsie.

Police reports described the interior of the house as filled with garbage, rotting food, and broken furniture. The odor was severe enough that investigators required anti-putrefaction masks to enter.

One of the bodies discovered in the house was 34-year-old Audrey Pugliese, who had not been reported missing, bringing the confirmed death toll to eight.

Trial and sentencing On September 9, 1998, Francois entered a plea of "not guilty" before Judge Thomas J. Dolan in Dutchess County Court. In his next appearance on October 13, he was formally charged with eight counts of first-degree murder, eight counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted assault. Francois pleaded not guilty and laughed when the families of the victims heckled him in court.

On December 23, Francois's lawyer attempted to enter a guilty plea before District Attorney William V. Grady could formally file his intent to seek the death penalty. Judge Dolan initially declined to allow Francois to enter such a plea. The defense team appealed the decision to the State Court of Appeals, which ruled to allow the guilty plea.

Francois showed no emotion during the proceedings and later commented that "killing seemed easier than getting into a relationship." On August 7, 2000, Francois was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder and eight counts of second-degree murder. The plea agreement allowed him to avoid a possible death sentence. He died at Wende Correctional Facility on September 11, 2014, at the age of 43.

Victims Name Age Date of deathWendy Meyers 30c. October 1996Gina Barone 29c. November 1996Catherine Marsh 31c. November 1996Kathleen Hurley 47c. January 1997Mary Healey Giaccone 29c. February 1997Sandra Jean French 51c. June 1998Audrey Pugliese 34c. August 1998Catina Newmaster 25c. August 1998

On October 9, 1997, 27-year-old African American sex worker Michelle Eason was reported missing in Poughkeepsie. She too was last seen in the downtown area. Though he admitted to knowing her, Francois denied killing her, and he was never charged in her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.