SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A California parole board denied granting freedom this week for a man who helped a serial killer murder a woman in Burlingame four decades ago.
Inmate Michael Anthony Francis appeared with his attorney at a parole hearing held at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, Calif. Francis has served 39 years in state prison for first-degree murder. On Wednesday, the parole board denied the inmate’s request to be released.
Francis was friends with Anthony Sully, a former Millbrae police officer-turned serial killer, in the early 1980s.
Sully beat, raped, and killed women inside his Burlingame warehouse. His victims included: Barbara Searcy, 22; Gloria Jean Fravel, 24, Brendan Oakden, 19; Michael Thomas, 24, and Phyllis Melendez, 20.
Francis stabbed a young woman, 24-year-old Kathryn “Kathy” Barrett, inside the warehouse on August 18, 1983. The victim was still breathing after Francis her stabbed several times in the chest, according to court documents.
“Disgusted with Francis’ inability to kill Barrett … (Sully) hit Barrett in the mouth with a sledgehammer. He could hear her bones cracking,” court documents state.
Francis later dumped Barrett’s naked body in a South San Francisco street. He was convicted of murdering Barrett following a 1986 trial prosecuted by San Mateo County’s current district attorney, Steve Wagstaffe.
Sully died from natural causes in San Quentin prison in 2023 at the age of 79.
Francis, now 61 years old, will remain locked in High Desert State Prison until his next parole hearing in 2028.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A California parole board denied granting freedom this week for a man who helped a serial killer murder a woman in Burlingame four decades ago. Inmate Michael Anthony Francis appeared with his attorney at a parole hearing held at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, Calif. Francis has served 39 years […]
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