Death Resides Here
Unpublished Proposal by Buddy Scalera
Unedited Draft

WARNING: This is the unedited draft of the proposal. The details of this narrative were not fact checked, as they would have been in the actual book. This was part of the proposal package for the book that eventually became "Body Dump" by Fred Rosen. It is an amazing read, and I urge you to check it out.

"Death Resides Here" is the story of Kendall Francois, the New York serial killer who had more kills than Jack the Ripper, who murdered his eight victims by viciously strangling them with his bare hand, and stashed the corpses in the home in which he and his family lived. His family claimed they didn't even know the bodies were rotting in their filth-strewn house.

The bodies of Poughkeepsie prostitutes Sandra French, Catina Newmaster, Wendy Meyers, Gina Barone, Catherine Marsh, Kathleen Hurley, Mary Giaccone and Audrey Pugliese were found in Francois' home by police. Some corpses were stuffed in the attic. Others were stashed among the clutter and filth in the basement. All were strangled by Francois’ meaty hands.

By day, Francois was a mild-mannered school custodian and hall monitor in the Poughkeepsie school system. Co-workers found him charming and neighbors regarded him as friendly; a “gentle giant” to many.

But by night, Dr. Jeckle made way for Mr. Hyde, and Francois shrugged off his wholesome fascade.. Instead of the academic elite, he brushed shoulders with prostitutes, drug addicts and drifters in the red-light district of Poughkeepsie. In this blighted area just a few blocks from his home, Francois would troll around in his red Subaru, like a shark hunting prey. And when he’d pick his victim – usually petite, white, female prositutes -- he’d bring them home to 99 Fulton Street and strangle them with his bare hands."Death Resides Here" will be told in three acts:

ACT I:

We'll get to know the reclusive Kendall Francois, a hulking 6'4", 300 pound school custodian. Kendall was a man of contradictions, who when not attending church spent his free time in the red- light district of blighted Poughkeepsie. We'll explore his history in the military, in the school system and his family. We'll also meet the main victims…and watch them disappear. Eight prostitutes vanish from the Poughkeepsie area between October 1996 and August 1998, which causes a growing panic among streetwalkers. Meanwhile, Francois quietly lives at home with the corpses in his home on 99 Fulton Street.

ACT II:

The authorities assign a task force to help locate the missing women, who lay dead in the attic and basement of Francois's low-rent house. Police would point out later that the filth in the Francois home mingled nauseatingly with the stench of rotting flesh. Francois’ lack of personal hygiene earned him the unenviable nickname “Stinky.”

We'll also see a brazen Francois skirt around the edges of a police dragnet. On several occasions, Francois blithely slips through the dragnet. Quite simply, he hides in plain sight. Like Jack the Ripper, Francois went about his regular business well enough to avoid raising undue suspicion.

Police question Francois because he's "john" known for violence on the prostitutes. With no bodies, the cops have virtually no evidence to arrest him. He even calmly sits through a routine check of his home. Again he slips through their fingers. But his success breeds carelessness, and we'll see Francois make a critical error: he lets one victim live.

ACT III:

Before and after he is captured, the story takes more twists than a pack of Twizzlers. Busily hunting for bodies, the police lack critical clues. And it's a twist of fate that leads to his capture. Francois is fingered by a prostitute whom he assaults, but doesn't kill. While in questioning for the assault, Francois calmly confesses to police. Ironically, they’re not questioning him about the missing women…he just volunteers the information. He requests to see photos of missing prostitutes and isolates photos of women he’s killed. “I did it,” he tells shocked officers. “I killed them.”

Police carefully obtain warrants for the house (they must avoid mistakes that could lead to technical mistrials) and begin making grisly discoveries. In his own handwriting, Francois sketches out maps for police to find where the bodies are stashed. Police admit that the investigation drags on because the Francois house is so filthy they have trouble sifting through the mess to isolate the evidence.

Facing his guilt, Francois waives his Miranda rights, and signs a confession. A speedy trial – and death penalty seem certain. But due to New York's capital punishment laws, only a jury can order a death sentence. If Francois pleads guilty, then he will not stand trial in front of a jury. And he will not get death, which many of the families want. In another twist, the District Attorney William Grady refuses to accept Francois’ guilty plea, a precedent in New York.

This is where the case stands now. Legal scholars are wrangling over the DA's refusal to accept the plea.

There's also still one more body missing. "Michelle Eason is still missing, and that's still an active part of the investigation,'' said Detective Bob McCready. Eason, 27, was originally thought to be connected to the other missing women, but her body was not found in Francois' home. Police have paid $500 for a billboard in the town of Poughkeepsie featuring Eason’s photo.

END.