About Frank

This website is dedicated to the memory of Frank Carlson, who was viciously beaten and killed by Angelo Pavageau in 1974.

It is also dedicated to the memory of Betty and Sten Carlson, who fought tirelessly to seek and preserve justice for Frank and his wife in keeping Pavageau behind bars forever.

In 1974, a senseless and brutal attack occurred.

San Francisco residents Frank and Annette Carlson, a young and recently married couple, were attacked without provocation in their own Potrero Hill home. Angelo Pavageau, a neighbor who was later convicted and imprisoned for his crimes, broke into their home, overcame Frank, tied him to a chair and proceeded to beat him over the head with multiple blunt objects until the victim succumbed from his injuries. During the heinous attack, according to police records Pavageau actually broke a claw hammer over Frank's head. The pain and anguish Frank clearly endured is unimaginable. First responders found his head had been “completely destroyed.”

After killing Frank, he then proceeded to rape and torture Annette, eventually leaving her for dead shortly before setting the house on fire. She was repeatedly sexually assaulted, then beaten with a wooden chair. Nearby Good Samaritans discovered a naked and severely scarred Annette after she miraculously escaped with her life through a window. Pavageau was soon captured, tried and convicted for his crimes.

Though initially sentenced to death, the State of California later invalidated the death penalty, thereby commuting his sentence to life with the possibility of parole. In the years that followed, California would yet again change its own penal code to include life without the possibility of parole; however, his sentence remained intact. He has been granted parole hearings numerous times over the years, only to be soundly rejected on every occasion.

In part due to the tenacity of Frank's family, including his mother, Elizabeth “Betty” Carlson and father Sten, through every parole hearing, the presence, persistence and continued protests of Frank's loving parents greatly contributed to parole denial on every occasion. Thanks to the support of friends and family members who have written letters expressing their outrage at the possibility this person should ever be released from jail, the Carlsons have been able to channel public outrage to support their cause. (Please refer to a complete timeline of events on this website.)

Elizabeth Carlson 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, it is now Frank's brother Eric and his wife that now carry Frank's torch.

Eric, his family, friends, those that knew Frank and Annette all need your help. The prisoner's next parole hearing is April, 2027. We ask that you email or download, print and mail a protest letter to help keep him in prison so that he continues to pay for his unspeakable acts, once we are closer to the confirmed parole hearing. This can help:

keep peace of mind for Frank's family;
keep a convicted murderer, torturer and rapist behind bars where he belongs;
keep the Bay Area, the streets of San Francisco and all of California safe; and
assure victims and their loved ones everywhere that good souls like you care…and care enough to act.

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Frank's life in brief

The early years

Frank was a child of San Francisco. He grew up in the city, received a Journalism degree from San Francisco State University and was trying to break into the field of music journalism as he worked to support himself and his wife as the Assistant Manager of a Safeway store in San Mateo.

Frank and his wife were two of the most peace loving individuals ever placed on Earth. They dated during the Summer of Love and enjoyed the Bay Area music scene, fine arts, ethnic food and their families. They belonged to St. Peter's Episcopal church in the Richmond where Frank grew up, having attended George Washington High School. Frank loved his wife, his parents, his brother, his guitar, KSAN-FM and his green BMW.

Frank and Annette 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 mixed neighborhood, the kind of place they enjoyed as they discovered local eateries and retail outlets. They were planning to travel as soon as their circumstances would allow, looking forward to trips to Europe and across the US.

Frank's parents, Elizabeth and Sten Carlson 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.

Newspaper clipping featuring Frank Carlson

The Frank M. Carlson Memorial Collection at the de Young Museum — Carlson Memorial Collection, de Young Museum

Betty Carlson, Frank's mother and a victims' advocate — Betty Carlson, homicide victims' advocate

An unspeakable ending

The events of April 18–19 are horrible beyond words.

Suffice it to say, the world was robbed of a good person who wanted only to do good things. The world is a worse place for having lost Frank Carlson. Frank's wife and the extended Carlson family have been changed forever for having gone through this event. They are forced to relive it every time the killer is given a parole hearing. It is only through the help provided by loving friends and a growing number of interested individuals who reach out to help that they can endure the parole process.

View the full timeline