Francisco Acevedo
A New York serial killer whose dormant crimes were finally solved two decades later by a routine DNA sample taken for a drunk driving parole.
Born 1968 (age 58)·American serial killer·Birthday: September 2·Generation X
Biography
Francisco Acevedo's life is a chilling study in the delayed mechanics of justice. For years, he lived in plain sight while the unsolved murders of three women in New York City from 1989 to 1996 grew cold. His path to exposure was not a dramatic manhunt but a bureaucratic procedure: a 2009 parole condition for a drunk driving conviction required him to submit a DNA sample. That sample, entered into a criminal database, provided a match that closed cases spanning nearly a decade. His 2012 sentencing to 75 years to life brought a grim resolution, highlighting how modern forensic technology can exhume secrets long buried. His story underscores a dark reality where violent offenders can slip through the cracks, only to be caught by the very systems they assumed had forgotten them.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Francisco was born in 1968, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Francisco Was Born
The biggest hits of 1968
#1 Movie
2001: A Space Odyssey
Best Picture
Oliver!
#1 TV Show
The Andy Griffith Show
Francisco's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1968Born
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1973Started school
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1981Became a teenager
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1984Could drive
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1986Could vote
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1989Turned 21
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1998Turned 30
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 40
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 50
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 58 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Convicted of the murders of three women in New York City between 1989 and 1996.
- His case was solved in 2009 after a DNA match from a sample given as a parole condition for an unrelated offense.
- Received a sentence of 75 years to life in prison in 2012.
Did You Know?
He was linked to the murders after voluntarily giving DNA, a requirement for his parole on a drunk driving charge.
The crimes he was convicted for occurred over a seven-year period.
His conviction came more than a decade after the last murder was committed.
“I don't know anything about those murders.”
