Realtor fixes up serial killer's house; markets it as model home
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Realtor fixes up serial killer's house; markets it as model home
By Associated Press, 09/01/99
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) A year after the decomposing bodies of eight
women were
pulled from a city home, the house is being marketed as a model home by
a
realtor who bought the crime scene and fixed it up.
Last Sept. 1, Poughkeepsie police arrested Kendall Francois, who was
charged
with killing the eight women over two years and hiding the bodies in the
basement and attic.
Francois, 28, an unemployed former school monitor, is facing death by
lethal
injection if he's convicted of all eight murders.
Violet Curry purchased the house four months ago for $15,000 and put it
on the
market two weeks ago for $139,900.
''I'd love to live here,'' Curry told Middletown's Times Herald-Record
Tuesday.
''I can just see it all furnished with traditional furniture.''
Curry told the newspaper that she already has a buyer for the house and
the
contract is in the mail. She would not name the prospective owner, but
said it
is an area family that was aware of the house's history.
Pat Barone, whose daughter was one of the victims found in the house,
said she
is uncomfortable with Curry's plans.
''I want the house down. It's just a lousy, lousy feeling for me. I want
it
down, the land cleared and blessed because the place was truly a tomb
for eight
women,'' she said.
Poughkeepsie Detective Skip Mannaine, who arrested Francois, said, ''I
would
never want to live there and can't understand how anyone could, but to
each his
own.''
Curry, who buys homes in need of repair and resells them, said she and
her
partner had to rip out and replace much of the home's interior.
The only area that gave her the creeps was the attic.
''In the beginning, I did not want to go to the attic by myself,'' she
said.
Curry and her partner ripped out the insulation and the attic floor. She
pointed to the two corner sections of new floor and said: ''Those two
areas
didn't smell too healthy.''
-------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 9/1/99 online edition of The
Poughkeepsie Journal newspaper:
Attorneys prepare Francois trial
September 1, 1999
By Larry Fisher-Hertz
Poughkeepsie Journal
Prosecutors and defense attorneys met in the Dutchess County Courthouse
for
more than two hours Tuesday, continuing their preparation for the trial
of
accused serial killer Kendall Francois.
But those who attended the closed-door session in the chambers of Judge
Thomas
J. Dolan said it would be several more months before a jury is picked to
hear
the case.
On the eve of the first anniversary of Francois’ arrest, lawyers from
the state
Capital Defender’s Office huddled with county prosecutors and Dolan in
an
attempt to hammer out an agreement on what questions ought to be asked
of
prospective jurors and what evidence ought to be presented to the jury
during
the trial.
In a brief court session following the meeting in his chambers, Dolan
set Oct.
5 as the day for the completion of the juror questionnaire and for the
scientific analysis of evidence collected at Francois’ home.
‘‘I expect these issues to be resolved (by the Oct. 5 deadline)#... so
we can
move this case along,’’ Dolan said.
Francois, 28, is accused of first-degree murder in the strangling deaths
of
eight women over a 22-month span ending in August 1998.
Remains of the women’s bodies were found in Francois’ home at 99 Fulton
Ave. in
the Town of Poughkeepsie. Francois lived in the home with his mother,
father
and younger sister.
The victims have been identified as Catina Newmaster, Gina Barone,
Catherine
Marsh, Wendy Meyers, Sandra French, Mary Giaccone, Kathleen Hurley and
Audrey
Pugliese.
Another woman, Michelle Eason, was among those who had been reported
missing
from the Poughkeepsie area in a 22-month period dating back to October
1996.
But her body was not found at Francois’ home and the investigation into
her
disappearance continues.
Authorities said Francois gave a statement shortly after his arrest last
Sept.
1, admitting he had committed the murders. District Attorney William V.
Grady
announced last December he intended to seek the death penalty if
Francois were
convicted of the murders.
Chief Assistant District Attorney William O’Neill and Deputy Capital
Defender
Mark Harris said Tuesday the two sides were near an agreement on the
content of
a questionnaire that will be given to prospective jurors for the trial.
Such questionnaires have been used to help pick juries for all capital
cases
that have gone to trial in New York since the state’s new death penalty
statute
went into effect in September 1995. They are designed to seek
prospective
jurors’ views on such issues as police conduct, race relations and the
death
penalty itself.
O’Neill said he believed authorities could meet the Oct. 5 deadline for
the
analysis of evidence collected from the Francois home following his
arrest.
‘‘There was a wide range of scientific evidence collected at the
(murder)
scene,’’ he said, ‘‘and some of it is still being analyzed at the state
police
(forensic) lab in Albany. But we’re confident the analysis can be done
(by Oct.
5).’’
State Police Senior Investigator Thomas Martin said forensic experts
collected
more than 1,100 pieces of evidence during the 29 days they combed the
Francois
property following the arrest.
O’Neill said some of the evidence yet to be analyzed includes some
fingerprints
lifted from various surfaces at the Francois home and a roll of
undeveloped
film seized from inside the house. In addition, some blood and semen
found at
the home must undergo DNA analysis and be compared to blood drawn from
Francois
last month.
Since those analyses could take an additional month or two, O’Neill said
he
didn’t expect pre-trial hearings in the case to begin before December.
Since
jury selection in a capital case typically takes several weeks,
authorities
said they didn’t expect testimony to begin until well after the start of
the
new year.
Francois tried last December to plead guilty to the murders, arguing
that if he
did so he could avoid the death penalty and be sentenced to life in
prison
without parole. But Dolan ruled in February that he could not legally
accept
such a plea, and the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court upheld
the
ruling earlier this summer.
The Capital Defender is seeking to have that decision overturned by the
state’s
highest court, the Court of Appeals.
Francois has been in Dutchess County Jail since his arrest on Sept. 1.
He was
taken into custody after a City of Poughkeepsie woman, Christine Sala,
told
police he had attacked her earlier that day.
That information led police to place Francois under arrest, and on Sept.
2, he
reportedly confessed to the eight murders while he was being questioned
at the
Town of Poughkeepsie police station.
CHRONOLOGY
FRANCOIS CASE
Oct. 26, 1996 — Wendy Meyers, 28, is reported missing. Over the next 22
months,
seven other women in the Poughkeepsie area will be reported missing by
family
or friends.
Nov. 19, 1997 — City of Poughkeepsie police confirm that they are
investigating
the possibility that the cases of the missing women are connected. They
say the
FBI has been contacted to help.
Sept. 1, 1998 — Police take Francois into custody after a local woman
reports
that she was assaulted by Francois.
Sept. 2, 1998 — After questioning Francois about the Aug. 25, 1998,
disappearance of Catina Newmaster, police charge him with Newmaster’s
murder.
Oct. 13, 1998 — Authorities charge Francois with eight counts of
first-degree
murder, eight counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted
assault.
Dec. 23, 1998 — Francois attempt to plead guilty to the murders, a
measure seen
as a way in which Francois could avoid a possible death penalty.
Prosecutors
challenge the attempt, arguing that a plea cannot be accepted under
state law.
Dec. 24, 1998 — Dutchess County District Attorney William Grady
announces that
he will seek the death penalty in the case.
Feb. 11, 1999 — Dutchess County Court Judge Thomas J. Dolan rules that
the
state’s death penalty law does not permit Francois to enter guilty pleas
to the
murders of the eight missing women.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The following three news articles all appear courtesy of the 9/1/99
online
edition of The Middletown Times Herald-Record newspaper:
An accused killer's house is now a home
POUGHKEEPSIE: Last year at this time, the house at 99 Fulton Ave. was
dubbed
the 'House of Horrors.' Today a Realtor calls it a model home.
By Timothy O'Connor
and John Milgrim
The Times Herald-Record
Violet Curry dabbed fresh white paint yesterday onto the base of each
step
leading to the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom at 99 Fulton Ave. She
ticked off
the list of reasons why it's a fine home to own.
But some city cops and crime victims can think of eight reasons why it's
not so
fine; police discovered those eight reasons a year ago today.
Curry said there are good schools, it's a nice area, hardwood floors
upstairs
and down. The place gets so much light that last month's electric bill
was a
measly eight dollars.
"I'd love to live here," she said. "I can just see it all furnished with
traditional furniture."
She put the house on the market two weeks ago for $139,900. She's got a
buyer
already; the contracts dropped in the mail this week, she said.
Not bad, considering that she bought the house four months ago for
$15,000. Why
so cheap?
Last Sept. 1, Poughkeepsie police arrested Kendall Francois, who was
ultimately
charged with the murders of eight women whose decomposing bodies were
found
inside 99 Fulton Ave., the home he shared with his parents. Francois,
28, an
unemployed former school monitor, is facing death by lethal injection if
he's
convicted of all eight murders.
The killings took place over the course of two years. Francois hid the
bodies
in the building's basement and attic.
Police said Francois told his family the resulting foul stench came from
a
family of dead raccoons in the attic.
Yesterday, only the smell of paint came from the airy white and cream
first
floor room where Curry worked. She is a Realtor. Her specialty is buying
houses
on the cheap, fixing them up, and selling them at a handsome profit.
Curry's plan makes Pat Barone uneasy. Her daughter was one of the
victims
recovered from the house last year.
"I want the house down. It's just a lousy, lousy feeling for me. I want
it
down, the land cleared and blessed because the place was truly a tomb
for eight
women," she said.
Poughkeepsie detective Skip Mannaine, who arrested Francois, said, "I
would
never want to live there and can't understand how anyone could, but to
each his
own."
Having lived in the area for 23 years, Curry said she knew the history
of the
place when she bought it from the Francois family. She said she had no
trepidation about buying it.
"I looked at the house, the layout, the woodwork, and said what a
fabulous
house this could be."
The house was a mess when she and her partner bought it. They pulled out
enough
junk and ripped out enough of the walls and fixtures to fill two
20-yard-long
garbage bins.
They remodeled the bathrooms. They gutted the kitchen down to the studs.
They
hung all new windows and exterior doors.
The only area that gave her the creeps was the attic.
"In the beginning, I did not want to go to the attic by myself," she
said.
Curry and her partner ripped out the insulation and the attic floor. She
pointed to the two corner sections of new floor and said: "Those two
areas
didn't smell too healthy."
Yesterday, it had a dusty smell, but that was all.
She declined to say who the buyer is, other than it's a family from the
area,
and added that she told each of the people she showed the home to about
its
past.
Curry said she found some sports posters on Francois' bedroom walls. She
found
a baby picture of the accused serial killer and some of his old school
books
and homework assignments.
There was one other item she found throughout the house:
"Women's shoes," she said. Sandals and flats, mostly.
"And always one of a kind, never a pair."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
For some, anniversary is a day of dread
POUGHKEEPSIE: A year ago women who walked the streets in this city had
reason
to fear for their lives..
By John Milgrim
and Timothy O'Connor
The Times Herald-Record
Marguerite Marsh has been dreading today and tomorrow for weeks – the
anniversary of the time she learned a man was accused of killing her
daughter
and seven other women.
For police, today marks a year since the end of a reign of terror that
stalked
Poughkeepsie.
It is a year to the day Kendall Francois, now an accused serial killer,
was
first taken into custody.
For Marsh, whose daughter Catherine had been missing for two years
before
Francois' arrest, "It's all going to come back," she said. "I've been
dreading
it the last few weeks."
For Pat Barone, whose daughter also vanished two years before Francois'
arrest,
it's not as significant as the last day she saw her daughter alive.
"The anniversaries for me are the last time I saw Gina, which was
Thanksgiving
1996, and her birthday," said Barone.
Francois faces eight capital murder charges. Most of the women he's
accused of
killing were prostitutes and drug addicts. He remains jailed without
bail. A
trial is not expected before early next year.
Poughkeepsie police Lt. William Siegrist said there appears to be more
prostitutes out this year than at the same time last year and figures
that was
partly because of Francois' arrest.
Said Detective Skip Mannain, who arrested Francois, "It's definitely
gotten
busier since Kendall's arrest."
--------------------------------------------------------------
Francois case events
Aug. 27, 1998: A team of law enforcement agencies announce a task force
to work
on the case of women missing from the Poughkeepsie area.
Sept. 1: Christine Sala tells city police Kendall Francois tried to
strangle
her at his home at 99 Fulton Ave. Police pick Francois up for
questioning.
Later that night, police said, he confessed to murdering eight women.
Sept. 2: Francois is charged with second-degree murder in the death of
Newmaster. Police say more bodies are believed to be hidden in Francois'
home.
Sept. 4: Police announce finding the body of Audrey Pugliese, 34, who
was never
reported missing. The same day a grand jury indicted Francois on one
count of
second-degree murder.
Sept. 7: All eight bodies recovered from the home are positively
identified.
Oct. 13: A grand jury hands up a 17-count indictment against Francois,
eight
counts each of first and second-degree murder and one count of felony
assault.
Dec. 23: Francois, behind closed doors, tries pleading guilty to the
eight
murders to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. The plea is
rejected by
the judge.
Dec. 24: Dutchess County District Attorney William Grady said he would
seek
capital punishment against Francois.
June 10, 1999: An appeals court denies Francois' guilty plea, forcing
the case
to a capital trial.
Oct. 5: The case is next due in county court, but a trial is not likely
before
next year.