Having investigated over 300 cases in San Francisco, including high-profile murders, Frank Falzon has several impressive achievements under his belt, but he is the proudest when he talks about his Maltese connection.

From hunting down the Night Stalker and the Zodiac Killer to getting a confession out of Dan White for the killing of Mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk, retired detective Falzon recalls an exciting 28-year career in the police.

“But the biggest part of my life remains my father: Frank Tabone Falzon. My dad was everything to me,” Falzon, now 80, tells Times of Malta.

Frank Senior, from Cospicua, had migrated to Detroit, US, with two of his brothers – Charlie and Lawrence – after the economic crash of World War 1. He moved to San Francisco where he met Catherine Bridget Fox, of Irish heritage, at the church of St Paul’s Shipwreck in San Francisco.

“The community of the area were I, and my three siblings, were raised in, was predominantly Maltese.

Frank Tabone Falzon. Photo provided by Frank Falzon

"My dad’s friends were all Maltese: I remember we’d stop in front of the display window of a shop selling TVs, to watch whatever was being broadcast on this new device, and all the Maltese people would gather around my dad.

“My dad was a celebrity: he was a championship soccer player for the Maltese club and eventually the San Francisco athletic club.

“My dad and I were inseparable – we did everything together and my Maltese connection lives deep inside my heart.”

Frank Senior died of melanoma when his son was just eight years old. The bond between the two was so tight that his family broke the news after some days as they feared the little boy could not be able to handle the news.

After his father’s death, there was a point when the young boy would tell his peers he was Italian, to avoid being quizzed about his nationality.

Cover of the book. Photo provided by Frank Falzon

“I don’t do that anymore – I am very proud to be a Maltese citizen and I have dual citizenship: Maltese and American, and I have since also visited my father’s hometown of Cospicua.”

Falzon’s Maltese connection features in a book he has just published, called San Francisco Homicide Inspector 5 Henry 7.

The book details Falzon’s personal inside recollections of the violent crimes that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Chinatown gang murders and the rise of a deadly underground counterculture that targeted police at the time.

L to R back: Uncle Lawrence, Frank Sr, Catherine, sister Patricia, sister Jean. L to R front Frank Jr, brother Richard. Photo provided by Frank Falzon

‘I should have been screaming for help’

One case, known as the Zebra murders, was unfolding not far from his family home. Concerned about his family’s safety, he moved his family out of San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County.

Still, he remained involved in homicide investigations for another couple of decades.

Police photo of Frank Falzon taken in 1975 for the SFPD memory book. Photo provided by Frank Falzon

“I worked over 300 murder cases. I was fascinated by the work… to me it was paramount to make sure I did a thorough job, arrested the right person, and proved to a jury of 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt that the person I had arrested was behind the crime they were being charged with. I was catching more high-profile cases than any other team in the homicide detail.”

Did he ever fear for his life?

“Looking back now I should have been screaming for help, but I was caught up with the fact I had sworn to do my duty. I was surrounded by fine men who were pretty much like me – trying to do a good job for the city of San Francisco that meant so much to them.

“At the time, it was my responsibility to be the best homicide inspector I could be… Did I feel fear? Never. I felt almost invincible. I felt like nothing could happen to me – looking back it was silly thinking – but it was my mental capacity not to confront the fear and dangers we were going up against on a daily basis.”

Moscone and Milk murder that haunts Falzon

One case that he carries with him every day since it happened on November 27 of 1978, remains Dan White’s murder of mayor George Moscone and human rights campaigner Harvey Milk.

Frank Falzon (L) taking Dan White (R) to prison following his emotional confession. Photo provided by Frank Falzon

White and Falzon had grown up in the same neighbourhood, attended the same schools and played on the same softball field. White eventually became a police officer and was based at his same police station.

“Dan White and I had a very solid bond,” he said, recalling how after shooting and killing Moscone and Milk, White had walked over to a diner from where he called his wife Mary Ann to tell her he was going to kill himself.

“She pleaded with him, begging him to go to St Mary’s Cathedral, telling him she’d head there herself. She turned him in at the Northern Station – the same station that only years earlier he had been working at. 

“I got word that White was in custody. He had already said he didn’t want to give a statement to officers who arrested him. But when I walked into the interrogation room, he took one look at me and saw the face of a man he respected and had grown up with.

Dan White and Frank Falzon while they were still both on the police force. Photo provided by Frank Falzon

“I asked: what were you thinking Dan? He was like a pressure cooker whose lid blew off. He said: Frank I want to tell you the whole truth. He started crying and convulsing. I left the interrogation room, got a tape, asked fellow Inspector Edward Erdelatz to sit in with me and we took the now famous confession of Dan White for the murder.”

The entire ordeal was shocking for him.

“I don’t know how I survived that day – later that night I had the responsibility to go to his home, approach his wife – one of the nicest people I’ve ever known – and serve her a house search warrant. I couldn’t ask for anyone to be more understanding than Mary Ann.”

All Star team - L to R middle row Dan White and Frank Falzon. Photo provided by Frank Falzon

Frank with his two sons. L to R: Dan (retired FBI agent) and Dave (SFPD Captain). Photo provided by Frank Falzon