Poughkeepsie New York’s Serial Killer: Kendall Francois

Growing up in the Hudson Valley back in the 90s, you heard all kinds of stories. But there was always one that stuck with me and I don't think I'm alone with this one.

All my general knowledge of the sad, grisly Poughkeepsie murders of Kendall Francois I learned in a Forensics class in high school. I remember clear as day, looking through slides of the crime scene in class and learning that Francois was also known as "Stinky." That nickname would later become a chilling detail in the case.

As a child living in the Poughkeepsie area in the 90s, I remember going to the pediatrician's office across the street from the Francois home and seeing the crime scene tape.

Poughkeepsie's Serial Killer

Back in the late 90s, there was a string of women who went missing in the Poughkeepsie area. From 1996 to 1999, a total of 8 women, all of which were prostitutes, went missing. Kendall Francois, a monitor in the Arlington School district, later admitted to strangling 7 victims and drowning 1.

Francois kept the bodies of his victims in crawl spaces and baby pools at his home, which he shared with his parents, on Fulton Avenue in Poughkeepsie.

8 Lives Lost

Ranker.Com explains Francois took the lives of Hudson Valley women Wendy Meyers, Gina Barone, Kathleen Hurley, Catherine Marsh, Michelle Eason, Mary Healey Giaccone, and Sandra Jean French.

Kendall Francois is Caught

In 1998, Christine Sala was attacked by Francois but got away. This led police to Francois and an end to the terrifying murders.

Kendall Francois has been covered by almost every news outlet, true-crime podcast, and television show, as well as movies. It's rumored that the 2007 indie film The Poughkeepsie Tapes is based on Francois' killings. He's also been a topic of many books. For instance, author Carole Rowe penned the book "The Spider and the Fly: A Reporter, a Serial Killer, and the Meaning of Murder." Francois and Rowe corresponded for 4 years, where the Poughkeepsie serial killer regaled his late 90s crime spree, according to the New York Daily News. 

Francois was charged with 8 counts of 1st-degree murder, 8 counts of second-degree murder, and 1 count of assault and was serving a life sentence up until his death in September of 2014.