For two years, the humble New York town of Poughkeepsie was terrorized by a 250-pound serial killer named Kendall Francois, who murdered eight women before he was caught in 1998.
Poughkeepsie Police Department / Attica Correctional FacilityKendall Francois in 1998 ( leave behind ) and at a later escort ( right ) .
In 1997 , the sleepy townsfolk of Poughkeepsie , New York , was made up of 40,000 people — some of whom had begun to go lose . But none other than the local police and those who knew the victims get it on it yet . In fact , it would take a whole yr for constabulary to witness their slippery culprit : Kendall Francois .
A hulking U.S. Army old stager who stood at 6″4′ and weigh 250 Lebanese pound , Kendall Francois was a largely unassuming student monitor for Arlington Middle School , save for his stench , which had educatee anticipate him “ Stinky ” and parent complain .
Poughkeepsie Police Department/Attica Correctional FacilityKendall Francois in 1998 (left) and at a later date (right).
But it was only after his arrest on September 2 , 1998 , that they learned his stench was n’t just due to slovenly regard — but also to the many corps with which he know . baptise the “ Poughkeepsie Killer ” by the insistency , Kendall “ Stinky ” Francois ’ macabre crime left a once sleepy-eyed town in shock .
How Kendall Francois Became ‘The Poughkeepsie Killer’
Born on July 26 , 1971 , in Poughkeepsie , Kendall Francois played football game at Arlington High School . But when he graduated in 1989 , he used his towering stature toenlistin the U.S. Army instead of pursuing sports . In 1990 , he calibrate from Basic Training at Fort Sill , Oklahoma , and returned home to enroll at Duchess County Community College in 1993 .
Francois hold a freehanded artistry major and forged in the lead with coursework until 1998 . By that point , he had already been hired as the hall and custody admonisher at Arlington Middle School . During his time there between 1996 and 1997 , teachers observe his incompatible sexual antic with distaff educatee while touching their fuzz .
unbeknown to anyone , he had already set out killing women in the surface area — andstashingtheir bodies in his house .
Wikimedia CommonsThe dilapidated home of Poughkeepsie serial killer Kendall Francois three months after his arrest.
law would subsequently notice “ the olfactory sensation of fecal matter , soiled underclothes with human waste lining the fabric ” at his home . But perhaps most disturbing was that Francois ’ parents and sisterlivedthere , too — and had either give the sack the stench emanating from the Classical Greek or were too afraid to check .
Wikimedia CommonsThe dilapidated household of Poughkeepsie sequent killer Kendall Francois three month after his stop .
The Victims Of ‘Stinky’ Francois
The fell killing spree is believed to have begun with 30 - twelvemonth - old Wendy Meyers . After soliciting her for sex at the local Valley Rest Motel on Oct. 24 , 1996 , Francois grabbed her throat and crushed it — leave behind her to rot in his dilapidate bean .
Francois murdered his next victim on November 29 of that same year . After pick up 29 - class - old sex doer Gina Barone , Francois park his crimson 1994 Subaru on a side street on Route 9 and choked her so hard that the bone in her cervix broke . Her body was placed next to Meyers ’ in his house .
These victims were join by Cathy Marsh , who was pregnant , just days later . And in January 1997 , Kathleen Hurley disappeared followed by Mary Healy Giaccone in November 1997 . Then , mother of three , Sandra Jean French , vanished in June 1998 .
Poughkeepsie Police DepartmentVictims of Kendall Francois, Wendy Meyers (left) and Gina Barone (right).
As bewilder as they were appal by the disappearances , local police called the FBI , but the feds said a serial orca visibility was n’t feasible without a crime picture .
Things eventually began to run for the Poughkeepsie Killer at the end of the summertime of 1998 . While he slay 34 - twelvemonth - previous Audrey Pugliese and 25 - year - older Catina Newmaster in August , authority found a clue : Newmaster had worked the same business district street as Giaccone , spur police to patrol the area .
On Sept. 1 , 1998 , Poughkeepsie Police Detectives Skip Mannain and Bob McCready spent the afternoon handing out flyer tie in to Newmaster ’s fade from an unmarked car . Pausing to get gas , a woman named Deborah Lownsdale hurry to their vehicle to submit a woman had just been assaulted nearby .
When they detained the woman in motion and brought her in for elucidation , she lodge an official charge against Kendall Francois — who had been a regular customer on her street for years .
Ultimately , it did n’t take much prod for the defendant to confess to the murder of Newmaster . But a bigger disclosure for the police was still to come .
Justice For The Victims Of Kendall Francois
Poughkeepsie Police DepartmentVictims of Kendall Francois , Wendy Meyers ( left ) and Gina Barone ( the right way ) .
On Sept. 2 , 1998 , a search warrant allow detective to comb the theatre of the “ Poughkeepsie Killer . ” It was shortly after midnight when they found the cemetery he had made of his dome . One hebdomad later , however , Francois plead not shamed .
Nevertheless , he was charged with eight counts of first - degree murder , 2nd - stage murder , and attempt assault on Oct. 13 , 1998 . Despite the territory attorney requesting the death penalty , New York State police mandate only a jury could impose it under the setting .
The following February , Francois discovered that he had contracted HIV from one of his dupe . On Aug. 11 , 1998 , he was sentenced to life in prison .
His horrifying crimes were chronicle and dramatized for the 2007 filmThe Poughkeepsie Tapes , though the gentleman’s gentleman himself died of Crab on Sept. 11 , 2014 , while lag at Attica Correctional Facility .
After learning the horrify fib of “ Poughkeepsie Killer ” Kendall Francois , see if you could digest the slaying of 16 - year - oldSylvia Likensat the mitt of her neighbors . Then , take a expression at31 vintage crime aspect photos .
