Family faces 18th parole hearing for killer of Frank Carlson, asks for public's help

In 1974, Carlson was brutally murdered and his wife raped, beaten, tortured, and left for dead after attacker Angelo Pavageau set house on fire

On the evening of April 18, 1974, in San Francisco, Calif., Angelo Pavageau broke into the Portero Hill home of Frank Carlson, and his wife, Annette, a young, recently married couple. Pavageau, who was a neighbor, climbed up a trellis and through the couple’s second story bedroom window, causing Annette to scream. Frank ran upstairs, where Pavageau was holding a knife. He ordered the couple downstairs and into the kitchen where he demanded money (a word that would later become key to the investigation).

According to a 2020 column in the San Francisco Chronicle, Pavageau “tied Frank Carlson to a chair with an electrical cord and began beating him as Annette Carlson watched in horror. Pavageau bludgeoned her husband with a hammer and then a wooden chopping block — breaking both on Frank Carlson’s head — before continuing to beat him with a vase and a jar of change.”

The scene still plays over and over in her head “like a nonstop film,” Annette told then-columnist Evan Sernoffsky in her first interview about the incident in decades. “Seeing me pinned against the refrigerator, paralyzed, screaming — I could not stop my screaming and yelling,” she said. “He would run over to me and put his knife against me and say, ‘Shut up or I’ll kill you.’ All I could do was put both hands over my mouth. I could not stop screaming. I could not save my husband.”

After killing Frank, Pavageau dragged Annette back upstairs to the bedroom, were raped her and beat her, smashing her head with a rocking chair and a glass paperweight, which he was calculating enough to wrap in a towel. He then slashed her wrists and left her for dead, again showing he knew what he was doing by wiping his fingerprints from the crime scene prior to dousing the room in paint thinner and setting the bedroom on fire.

Miraculously, after Pavageau left, Carlson found her way out through the bedroom window and onto a lower roof where neighbors came to her rescue. She survived despite major wounds, including broken arms and fingers, and a fractured jaw and shoulder.

Homicide Inspectors Jack Cleary and Frank Falzon broke the case when Annette’s stolen ring was discovered at a pawnshop and traced back to Pavageau, a postal worker from New Orleans. “In my time in homicide, I received some terrible cases. That was the worst one I ever worked,” Cleary told Sernoffsky.

Despite her horrific wounds, Annette picked Pavageau out of a police lineup without even hearing his voice, but when Cleary had each man say, “I want your money,” Pavageau’s French-Creole pronunciation of “mon-ay” sealed his fate. In August of 1974, a jury found Pavageau guilty and he was sentenced to death.

In 1976, the Supreme Court held the California death penalty statute was unconstitutional. Following this ruling, 67 inmates had their sentences commuted, including Pavageau, whose sentence was commuted to life in prison — shockingly, with the eligibility of parole. Hearings for Pavageu’s release began in 1980. Every time, Annette and the rest of the Carlson family are forced to relive the event as they petition the board to keep him behind bars.

California would yet again change its penal code to include life without the possibility of parole, but the Pavageau sentence has remained intact — even after the brutal murder of Frank and the horrific torture and attempted murder of Annette; despite a jury’s guilty verdict and a death sentence, parole is still on the table.

KILLER SAYS HE’S UNFIT FOR RELEASE — PAROLE HEARINGS CONTINUE

In October 2012 and 2013, Pavageau signed one-year waivers of his parole hearings. In April of 2017, on the last day permissible, he signed a three-year waiver of parole hearings. This was the last waiver allowed by law.

In 2008, the California Victims’ Bill of Rights Act, or Marsy’s Law, was passed to allow the California Parole Board to extend the time between hearings for inmates with life sentences up to 15 years, but Pavageau has cagily dodged any such denials.

On April 15, 2020, at Pavageau’s 16th parole hearing, he chose not to attend and stipulated through his state-appointed attorney that he was unsuitable for release. He offered to defer the next hearing for three years. The parole board could have imposed a longer deferral period at that time, but instead accepted Pavageau’s offer, meaning the family faces yet another hearing next month.

Frank’s family, including his mother, Elizabeth “Betty” Carlson and his father Sten, attended every parole hearing, and their presence, persistence and continued protests contributed to parole denial on every occasion. Friends, family members, and the public have written letters expressing their outrage, and the Carlsons have been able to channel those sentiments to support their cause.

After five decades of parole hearings, on April 25, 2023, the family will face their 18th hearing, where they will relive the heinous crimes all over again — and once again, they are asking for the public’s help.

The California Department of Corrections is presently accepting public comment on the upcoming hearing, and public once again has the opportunity to speak up for Frank, Annette, and their families. You can send an email, either with the family’s pre-written content or in your own words, to the Board of Parole Hearings, or write a letter of correspondence. As proven three years ago, the public’s opinion has an impact and could make the difference in whether a murderer — who has himself admitted that he is not suitable for parole — is released back into the community.

Click here for the email link to the pre-populated email, or delete it and create your own statement. (As the family points out, personally crafted statements have the most powerful impact.)

For instructions on how to take a stand and for links to either a pre-written email objection or contact information to the California Department of Corrections Parole Board, please visit the Justice for Frank website.

You can also write and mail a letter to the Board of Parole Proceedings:

ATTN: PRE-Proceeding CORRESPONDENCE
P.O. Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036

You must include the inmate's CDC Number: B58812

Mark the letter “CONFIDENTIAL” if you do not want your letter shared with the offender or his attorney.

To ensure the letter is processed correctly and timely, please include the following information:

Offender’s name: Angelo Pavageau

CDC Number: B58812

Hearing Date: April 25, 2023

Submit your written statement three weeks before the proceeding to ensure it is considered. 

To review a template or example of a letter to the parole board, please click here to start your letter.

Frank’s mother Elizabeth spent her remaining years as a homicide victims’ advocate and congressional aide, constantly seeking to uphold justice for her son and daughter-in-law. Though she and Frank’s father have passed away, Frank’s brother Eric and his wife continue their legacy.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Frank received a journalism degree from San Francisco State University and was trying to break into the field of music journalism while working to support himself and Annette as the assistant manager of a Safeway store in San Mateo.

Frank and Annette dated during the Summer of Love and enjoyed the Bay Area music scene, fine arts, ethnic food, and spending time with their families. They belonged to St. Peter’s Episcopal church in the Richmond District where Frank grew up, having attended George Washington High School. The couple purchased their home, a Victorian “fixer upper” on the corner of Kansas and 24th Streets in 1973. The home was their first, and they eagerly began renovation work as soon as they moved in. Potrero Hill was an ethnically diverse neighborhood, the kind of place they enjoyed as they discovered local eateries and patronized small businesses in the area.

Frank’s parents lived in Millbrae, having moved there in 1966 after Frank graduated from high school. Frank’s brother Eric attended Mills High School and would go on to graduate from Stanford University in 1979.

TIMELINE OF THE CASE

April 1980
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole.

1980
Elizabeth “Betty” Carlson (mother of Frank and Eric) is named Millbrae Woman of the Year. Her work on behalf of crime victims is cited as one of the reasons.

May 1981
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole.

May 1982
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole.

Elizabeth Carlson joins the staff of Congressman Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo). She will retain this position until 2008 when Congressman Lantos passes away. Elizabeth works primarily with U.S. military veterans and crime victims who need advocacy or assistance from the Congressional Office.

March 1983
Elizabeth and Annette Carlson testify at a presidential commission on violent crime. Elizabeth is cited by U.S. President Ronald Reagan (view citation) for her work on behalf of crime victims.

June 1983
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the crime victims for the first time. His duration for consideration is extended to two years (from the previous one year) thanks to a new law passed in part due to the Carlsons’ hard work in this area.

June 1985
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the victims.

Elizabeth Carlson co-founds “Justice for Murder Victims,” an organization that serves as advocates for people who have lost loved ones through violent crime.

June 1987
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the victims. Pavageau elects not to appear at the last minute, thus forfeiting his opportunity.

June 1989
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the victims.

1990s and 2000s

August 1991
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the victims.

September 1993
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the victims.

November 1995
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the victims. His duration for consideration is extended to five years (from previous one) thanks to new law passed in part due to the Carlsons’ hard work in this area.

October 2000
Elizabeth contributes to Dead Man Walking, an opera in two acts by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally. Based on the narrative book by Sister Helen Prejean, it tells the journey of a Louisiana nun who became the spiritual advisor to inmates on death row at the Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary.

June 2001
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the victims.

June 2006
Angelo Pavageau is denied parole; Sten and Elizabeth Carlson appear at hearing to testify on behalf of the victims.

2007
Elizabeth Carlson added to San Mateo County Hall of Fame, in part due to work on behalf of crime victims.

2010 through the present

October 2010
Elizabeth Carlson passes away at the age 93 (The Mercury News).

February 2011
Sten Carlson passes away at the age of 98.

October 2012
Angelo Pavageau signs one-year waiver of parole hearing.

October 2013
Angelo Pavageau signs three-year waiver of parole hearing.

April 2017
Angelo Pavageau was once again scheduled for a parole hearing on April 25, 2017. On the last day permissible he signs a three-year waiver of parole hearing. This is the last waiver he is allowed by law.

January 2020
Angelo Pavageau is once again scheduled for a parole hearing (his 16th) to be held on April 15, 2020. The Carlson family seeks support from family, friends, law enforcement, and political figures to ensure that Pavageau is never released from jail and spends the rest of his natural life behind bars.

April 2020
On April 15, 2020, at the parole hearing conducted via Skype due to the COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions, Pavageau chooses not to attend and stipulates through his state-appointed attorney that he was unsuitable for release. He offered to defer the next hearing for three years. The California Parole Board took the path of least resistance and accepted his offer when they could have imposed a longer deferral period of time.

April 2023
The Carlson family faces the 18th parole hearing for Pavageau, despite the fact Pavageau himself has said he is not suitable for release.

For more information, visit: www.justiceforfrank.org

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