Offender Record · OFF-2026-069
Kendall Francois (photo from the Radford University biography)
Kendall L. Francois
Also known as The Poughkeepsie Killer
Sex
Male
Race
African-American
Height
6'4"
Weight
250 lbs
Born
1971
Custody
Deceased
States
NY, HI, OK
Distinguishing featuresBody odor problems; earned nickname 'Stinky' from students; extremely large physical build; approximately 6'4" tall
Custody
Deceased at Wende Correctional Facility · #A4160
Custody record at the facility
Sentenced to life imprisonment without parole on August 11, 2000. Initially incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility; transferred to Wende Correctional Facility before death. Died September 11, 2014, from natural causes at age 43.
This record documents arrests, charges and convictions reported by courts, law enforcement agencies and news organizations. Every statement is tied to a cited source with an archived copy. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt; a person charged is presumed innocent unless convicted. Solve the Case does not allege that this person committed any offense beyond what the cited records state, and this record is not a suggestion that the person is connected to any unsolved case. How records are built, corrected and removed.
Summary of the record
Kendall L. Francois was convicted of killing eight women in Poughkeepsie, New York, between October 1996 and August 1998. He was a school hall monitor who targeted sex workers, luring them to his family home at 99 Fulton Avenue where he strangled them and concealed their bodies in the attic and crawl space. Arrested on September 1, 1998, after an attempted murder of Christine Sala, Francois confessed to all eight murders and pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on August 11, 2000, and died on September 11, 2014, at Wende Correctional Facility, Alden, New York, from natural causes at age 43.
Documented Arrests, Charges and Convictions
Dispositions are shown exactly as the cited records report them. Pending charges are updated when a court acts; a record with no remaining conviction or pending charge is removed from the site.
Offense date Oct 1996, Poughkeepsie, New York
First-degree murder
Dutchess County Court, Poughkeepsie, New York · Dutchess County Court · Docket October 8, 1998 indictment · New York Penal Law § 125.27 · Arrested Sep 02, 1998 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Eight consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole
Francois pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder and eight counts of second-degree murder on December 23, 1998, and a plea deal was upheld by the New York State Court of Appeals in March 2000. The guilty plea allowed him to avoid the death penalty. Victims were eight sex workers picked up from downtown Poughkeepsie streets between October 24, 1996, and August 26, 1998. All victims were strangled by manual means. Bodies were hidden in the attic and crawl space of his family home at 99 Fulton Avenue.
SourcesKendall Francois; In the Matter of Kendall Francois v. Thomas J. Dolan; Radford University serial killer biography: Francois, Kendall
Offense date Sep 01, 1998, Poughkeepsie, New York
Attempted second-degree assault
Dutchess County Court, Poughkeepsie, New York · Dutchess County Court · Docket October 13, 1998 formal charge · New York Penal Law § 110.00 and § 120.10 · Arrested Sep 02, 1998 · Charged (pending) Charged (pending) · Sentence: Included in life sentence without parole
On September 1, 1998, Francois attempted to strangle Christine Sala at his home at 99 Fulton Avenue after she refused his sexual demands. Sala escaped after the attempted murder and reported the assault to police, leading to Francois's arrest and the discovery of eight homicide victims hidden in the home.
SourcesKendall Francois; In the Matter of Kendall Francois v. Thomas J. Dolan
Pattern and Background
Victim counts and the pattern of the offenses as stated by courts, agencies and the cited reporting. Suspected counts are what officials have said publicly, not a finding of this site.
8
Victims convicted
8
Victims confessed
0
Victims suspected
Active years
1996–1998
Stated motive
Anger or revenge, Sexual
Range from home
local
Confessed
Yes
Cooperated with investigators
Yes
Education
high school
Marital history
Never married
Children
0
Died
2014-09-11 · natural
Places Lived, Worked and Frequented
Each place and date range comes from a cited record. Dates marked approximate are as reported. Know a place that is missing? Use Edit record under the photo; a moderator reviews it before it appears.
HI
Honolulu, Hawaii
1990 – 1994 · U.S. Army assignment · army
NY
Poughkeepsie, New York
Jan 1975 – Sep 1998 · 99 Fulton Avenue, Poughkeepsie, New York (family home; purchased January 20, 1975, when Francois was 4 years old; residence during all eight murders)
Poughkeepsie, New York
approx. 1976 – 1983 · Arlington Middle School
Town of La Grange, New York
approx. 1984 – 1989 · Arlington High School; played varsity football and wrestling
Poughkeepsie, New York
1994 – 1997 · Arlington Middle School, first as part-time custodian starting 1994, then promoted to hall and detention monitor April 1996; employed until January 1997
Poughkeepsie, New York
1997 – Jan 1998 · Anderson School, special education facility in Staatsburg; hired after leaving Arlington Middle School but fired after short period; some sources indicate he was hired but school did not confirm his employment
Poughkeepsie, New York
May 18, 1998 – May 25, 1998 · Jail, Poughkeepsie (7 days served of 15-day sentence for third-degree assault conviction)
Village of Attica, New York
Aug 11, 2000 – 2014 · Attica Correctional Facility, prisoner number A4160; later transferred to Wende Correctional Facility, Alden, New York
OK
Oklahoma, Oklahoma
1990 – 1990 · Fort Sill, basic training · army
Known Vehicles
Vehicles and approximate dates of ownership or use, as reported in the cited records. A photo next to a vehicle is the vehicle itself as published.
1997 white Toyota Camry – Late-model white Toyota Camry
approx. Oct 31, 1997 – Sep 1998
Purchased after original vehicle repeatedly ticketed for illegal parking; used during final months of murders
1994 red Subaru unknown – 1994 red Subaru
approx. 1996 – Oct 1998
Used to transport victims to home at 99 Fulton Avenue
Timeline
Jul 26, 1971
Kendall Francois born in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Jan 20, 1975
Francois's parents purchased the home at 99 Fulton Avenue, Poughkeepsie, where most of his murders would later occur.
1989
Francois graduated from Arlington High School.
1990
Francois enlisted in the U.S. Army and completed basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
1990
Francois was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, after basic Army training.
1994
Francois began working as a janitor at Arlington Middle School.
1994
Francois was discharged from the Army and returned to Poughkeepsie to live with his family; began attending Dutchess County Community College.
Apr 1996
Francois was promoted to hall and detention monitor at Arlington Middle School.
Oct 24, 1996
Kendall Francois committed his first murder, killing 30-year-old Wendy Meyers at Valley Rest Motel; her body was hidden in the attic of his home.
Oct 26, 1996
Wendy Meyers's boyfriend reported her missing to police.
Nov 29, 1996
Francois murdered 28-year-old Gina Barone; body placed in attic.
Dec 01, 1996
Francois murdered Cathy Marsh; body placed in attic.
Dec 09, 1996
Gina Barone reported missing by her mother Patricia Barone.
Jan 15, 1997
Kathleen Hurley's family reported her missing; police began suspecting a serial killer.
Feb 1997
Francois murdered Mary Healey Giaccone; body placed in attic.
Mar 07, 1997
Catherine Marsh reported missing by her mother.
Sep 1997
Francois murdered Michelle Eason; body disposition not specified.
Oct 09, 1997
Michelle Eason reported missing; police also received complaint of Francois's illegally parked vehicle.
Nov 13, 1997
Mary Giaccone reported missing.
Jan 18, 1998
Police officer Siegrist stopped and questioned Francois after following him; Francois passed lie detector test.
Jan 23, 1998
Francois attempted to kill prostitute Lora Gallagher, who escaped; she convinced him to drive her back to Main Street.
Feb 26, 1998
Lora Gallagher filed assault charges against Francois.
May 18, 1998
Francois pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and was sentenced to 15 days in jail; served only 7 days.
Jun 12, 1998
Francois murdered 51-year-old Sandra Jean French; body placed in attic then moved to crawl space.
Aug 12, 1998
Francois murdered 34-year-old Audrey Pugliese; body placed in crawl space.
Aug 25, 1998
Francois murdered 25-year-old Catina Newmaster; body placed in garage initially.
Sep 01, 1998
Francois attempted to strangle Christine Sala at his home; she escaped and reported the incident to police, leading to his arrest.
Sep 02, 1998
Police executed search warrant at 99 Fulton Avenue and discovered eight decomposing bodies in the attic and crawl space; Francois was formally arrested.
Sep 04, 1998
Francois was indicted in Dutchess County Court for the murder of Catina Newmaster.
Sep 09, 1998
Francois entered a plea of 'not guilty' before Judge Thomas J. Dolan in Dutchess County Court.
Oct 13, 1998
Francois was formally charged with eight counts of first-degree murder, eight counts of second-degree murder, and one count of attempted assault.
Dec 23, 1998
Francois's attorney attempted to enter a guilty plea before the District Attorney filed notice of intent to seek death penalty.
Feb 11, 1999
Dutchess County Court initially ruled that the guilty plea could not be accepted under the death penalty law.
Mar 2000
New York State Court of Appeals upheld Francois's guilty plea.
Jun 2000
Francois was diagnosed with HIV, likely contracted from one of his victims.
Aug 10, 2000
Francois became prisoner A4160 at Attica Correctional Facility.
Aug 11, 2000
Judge Thomas Dolan sentenced Kendall Francois to eight consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole.
Sep 11, 2014
Kendall Francois died at Wende Correctional Facility, Alden, New York, from natural causes at age 43.
Sources
Solve the Case is never the original source. Each item below is the public record a statement on this page rests on, with an archived copy where one exists.
News report · Crime Library ·
Kendall Francois – The Poughkeepsie Killer“On September 4, 1998, Kendall Francois was indicted in Dutchess County Court for murder in the death of Catina Newmaster.”
News report · Murderpedia ·
Kendall Francois“Kendall Francois (born July 26, 1971) is a serial killer from Poughkeepsie, New York, convicted of killing eight prostitutes, from 1996 to 1998.”
Other · Radford University Department of Psychology ·
Radford University serial killer biography: Francois, Kendall“Kendall Francois (July 26, 1971-present) is an African American serial killer convicted of murdering eight prostitutes in Poughkeepsie, NY between October 1996 and August 1998.”
News report · Wikipedia ·
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.”
News report · Corrections1 ·
NY man who strangled 8 prostitutes dies in prison“A former school hall monitor who admitted strangling eight prostitutes and stashing their corpses in his home in the 1990s has died at a prison in western New York.”
Court record · New York Court of Appeals ·
In the Matter of Kendall Francois v. Thomas J. Dolan“On October 8, 1998, a Dutchess County Grand Jury indicted petitioner Kendall Francois on eight counts of murder in the first degree and eight counts of murder in the second degree.”
Discussion
Casual discussion about this record on the community forum. The facts live on this page: to add a place, a vehicle or a source, use the Edit record button under the photo so a moderator can review it. Please name no one else, never name a victim, and do not connect the person to any case not listed here.Open the topic on the forum
Corrections and removal. If a charge on this page has been dismissed, acquitted, overturned, pardoned or expunged, or any fact is wrong, tell us through the correction form. Corrections are free, reviewed within five business days, and a record with no remaining conviction or pending charge is removed. Information here may not be used for decisions about employment, housing, credit, insurance or any purpose covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and never to harass, threaten or harm anyone. Where a source is an offender registry, that information is reproduced as of the date shown and is subject to the conditions of use of that registry.