Franco was a world-famous artist who had earned a vast fortune by photographing recreations of murder crime scenes. Crimson magazine arranged to host Franco's gallery opening in exchange for his agreement to be featured on Crimson's front page. Maxie Jones was put in charge of the project. She was also asked to persuade Franco to agree to do the photo shoot for the magazine's spread about his work. Maxie was instantly drawn to the eccentric young artist. When he invited Maxie to his studio, she readily agreed.
Franco easily convinced Maxie to pose for one of his pictures. Afterwards, Franco and Maxie made love. Maxie immediately regretted her tryst with Franco because she was in love with Damian Spinelli. Maxie was unaware that Franco had plans for Maxie and her friends, especially Jason Morgan.
Franco's story began years earlier when he had been a teen in New York City. Franco was a graffiti tagger, whose friend, Ronnie Dimestico, had robbed a liquor store. Franco had taken the fall for Ronnie. Franco went to jail at the age of 18, and while he was there, Ronnie joined the police force. In jail, Franco met numerous men who had bragged about the people that they had killed.
Franco became intrigued with the idea of killing, so shortly after he was released from jail, Franco killed someone. He wanted to see what it was like. As the man lay dying, Franco realized that he didn't feel a thing. Franco decided to turn the murder into art. He picked up a can of spray paint and sprayed "C077X" near the crime scene. C077X was the file number of Franco's arrest for the crime that his friend Ronnie had committed.
A young rookie cop by the name of Dante Falconeri caught Franco tagging near the murder crime scene. When Ronnie caught wind of Franco's arrest, he quickly took steps to eliminate Franco as a suspect for the murder. The unsolved case went cold and eventually Ronnie and Dante were reassigned to undercover work in the crime syndicate. Ronnie and Dante's assignment led them to Port Charles, where Dante went by the name of Dominic, a mid-level mobster. Dominic spotted "C077X" tags all over Port Charles. They were familiar to him, but he couldn't pinpoint where he had seen the tag before.
One night, Jason Morgan and Sonny Corinthos arranged to meet another mobster by the name of Joey Limbo, who had been hired by Anthony Zacchara to kill Sonny. Joey's plans to ambush Sonny and Jason went awry. After a brief exchange of gunfire, Sonny and Jason managed to escape unscathed. However, as they fled the scene, Jason noticed a vagrant standing on the sidewalk and waving to Jason. It was Franco. He had been awed as he watched Jason eliminate Joey's men, one by one. After Jason and Sonny were out of sight, Franco walked over to Joey, who clung to life after multiple gunshot wounds. As Joey begged for help, Franco slowly rested his foot on Joey's windpipe and then crushed it.
Worried about the witness to the shooting, Jason decided to search for the vagrant. He realized that it was Franco when he spotted Franco leaving the gallery opening with Maxie. Jason realized that it would be difficult to kill such a public figure as a famous artist. Things changed when Jason received a disturbing picture in the mail. It was of Maxie posing for one of Franco's photographs. It quickly escalated from there.
Jason received another picture from Franco; this one was of Jason standing over Claudia Zacchara's hidden grave in the woods. Weeks earlier, Michael had killed his stepmother as she had attempted to kidnap his newborn sister. Sonny and Jason had quickly covered up the incident. As Jason looked at the incriminating picture, he realized that Franco had to be dealt with.
Jason would soon discover that it was easier said than done. Franco had been watching Jason Morgan for some time. Franco viewed the mob hit man as a kindred spirit. It was soon revealed that Franco had been planning his encounter with Jason for months. Franco wanted to know what Jason would do if he were forced to choose between those he loved. With that in mind, Franco set out to kidnap Sam and then Carly. Franco snatched Sam and then locked her away in a soundproof prison. Next, Franco grabbed Carly, but his plans changed when word reached Franco that Jason had been arrested for Claudia's murder. However, it was a ruse; Jason had enlisted Lucky's help in the hopes of catching Franco off-guard.
The ploy worked. Jason managed to rescue Carly from Franco's studio. Franco was not discouraged though; he quickly nabbed Lulu and then locked her away in a warehouse with a bomb strapped to her chair. Franco lured Jason to his studio. He informed Jason that Sam and Lulu were exactly two miles from the studio, in opposite directions. Franco then revealed that Jason had eight minutes until the bombs that Franco had planted in each warehouse went off. After Franco gave Jason the address of each warehouse, Jason ran out of the studio. He called Dominic to tell him where to find Lulu, and then he raced to Sam. Jason managed to rescue Sam seconds before the bomb was to detonate.
To Jason and Sam's surprise, it turned out to be a fake bomb. However, the bomb under Lulu's chair was not. That bomb exploded. Everyone believed that Lulu and Dominic had perished in the blast, but as the dust settled, they stumbled out of the rubble, unharmed. Meanwhile, Franco slipped out of town.
Franco's obsession with Jason continued when Michael was sentenced to prison after he confessed to the murder of Claudia Zacchara. Claudia's father Anthony agreed to look after Michael in prison in exchange for Jason keeping Anthony's son Johnny alive. Jason did not trust Anthony to protect Michael so he made an arrangement with Claire Walsh, the federal prosecutor that had handled Claudia's murder. Jason pled guilty to some charges in exchange for receiving the exact sentence Michael had. The other condition was that Jason would be Michael's cell mate.
By the time Jason arrived in Pentonville, Michael had already been attacked by a man named Carter. Michael initially refused to share any details of the attack with Jason, but he later told Jason that Carter had raped him. Jason killed Carter and as Carter died, he told Jason that "Franco says hi." When the judge that had sentenced Michael learned he had been attacked in prison, he agreed to release Michael into Dante's custody. Although Michael went free, Jason remained in prison.
Franco wanted Jason released from prison so he sent Dante pictures of a murder victim. The pictures were taken before the police arrived. Claire Walsh was interested in bringing Franco to justice and she realized she needed Jason to make that happen. While Franco waited for Jason's release from prison, he posed as a homeless man and lurked around Harbor View Towers. He also sent Maxie several dozen roses anonymously and hand delivered the final flowers to her. She had received a total of sixty-six flowers. Franco asked Maxie to say "hi" to Jason and then he disappeared.
Claire secured Jason's release into Dante's custody until Franco was apprehended. Then Jason would return to prison to complete his sentence. Jason and Dante tracked down Franco's mother in Woodstock, New York and questioned her about her son, although she denied having one. Franco visited his mother after Jason and Dante left and apologized for their intrusion. His mother worried Franco had gotten into some sort of trouble, but he assured his mother "everything would be over soon." Franco did not reveal what that statement meant and his mother did not press the issue further.
When Franco returned to Port Charles after visiting his mother, he observed Jax playing with Josslyn in the park. Franco made his presence known and he presented Josslyn with a small toy monkey. He left when Jax called the police but he promised Josslyn he would see her again soon.
Franco used the number sixty-six as a hint to Jason. Sixty-six was the number of roses sent to Maxie and Franco rented a house off of highway sixty-six. Franco expected Jason to find the mansion and he left him another clue. It was a flyer promoting a singer named Kalup Ishmael. Franco paid Coleman ten thousand dollars in exchange for Kalup to perform for one night at Coleman's bar Jake's. Kalup only sang one song. He performed "Route 66" which Jason interpreted to be another hint from Franco.
While Jason was at Jake's, Franco paid Jason's girlfriend a visit. He brought Chinese take-out and asked Sam to deliver a message to Jason. The message was "I'll make it easy." Sam held a gun on Franco and threatened to kill him, but he reminded Sam that if she killed him, Jason would have to return to prison. Sam let Franco go.
The next Port Charles resident Franco visited was Lulu Spencer. He gave Lulu an envelope to give to Dante. Franco also hired a camera crew to record his actions and he viewed the confrontation he and Jason had a few months earlier in Franco's loft.
Franco's hints led Jason to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Dante accompanied Jason. They were met at the gallery by a man named Willhelm. He represented Franco and commented that Franco had described Jason as a true artist. Willhelm showed Jason and Dante a special collection of Franco's work which included replica furniture from Jason's life such as Josslyn's crib. All the furniture was tagged with Franco's signature "C077X." Franco also left Jason a television and a dvd which showed a conversation between Carter and Franco. On the DVD, Franco instructed Carter to handle Michael any way he wanted to in prison as long as Jason received the message "Franco says hi."
Franco returned to the art gallery and prepared for his new exhibit to open. He explained to Willhelm that there would be two players in the show. Franco named his exhibit "Francophrenia" and it was several large screens which played his encounters with Jason. There was a special introduction that personally welcomed Jason and warned that only one would survive the evening.
The audience believed they were witnessing performance art when Franco grabbed a woman and held a gun to her head. He then goaded Jason into shooting him while video of Carter talking about Michael played. Franco further antagonized Jason by mentioning how Carter raped Michael. Franco pushed the woman into Jason and he escaped into a stairwell. A videographer followed Franco into the stairwell and Franco strangled him to death.
As Jason hurried after Franco, Dante received a call that Elizabeth Webber's newborn son Aiden had been kidnapped from the hospital. Lucky was working on the case and suspected Franco was involved in the kidnapping since all of the hospital television monitors were wired to run a speech by Franco. In his speech, he mentioned that Aiden was a big part of the next stage of his plan. Aiden's hospital identification bracelet also ended in the number 66. Jason found Franco on a catwalk above the gallery and Franco admitted he started to understand Jason's connection to Michael since he met Josslyn. As Franco stood on the catwalk, he yelled that he knew where the baby was and then he fell from the catwalk onto a "Route 66" road sign on stage. Jason and Dante believed Franco was dead.
Franco was very much alive and he paid a surprise visit to his mother. He did not arrive alone. He had Elizabeth's son Aiden with him. Franco explained to his mother that he had privately adopted the child for his mother to raise and he arranged for his mother to start a new life in a new location. His mother questioned why he gave her an infant and Franco told his mother she deserved a chance to raise a child that was not as difficult as he had been. Franco was pleased when his mother named the baby Pablo and agreed to be the child's mother. Lucky tracked down Aiden and he was returned to Elizabeth.
Franco took off on a private jet. While Franco was on the jet he made a call to book a specific model for his next project. The model was Brenda Barrett. She refused to work with him.
Franco was gone but he wanted to make sure Jason still thought about him. He accomplished this by arranging for Carly to find a picture of him in with Josslyn's christening photographs. Carly relayed the information to Jason and they decided that Franco remained a threat. Franco was not heard from for a few months until Josslyn was recovering from a kidney transplant. Carly received a message from Franco promising that he would be keeping a closer eye on Josslyn.
Although Franco did not appear to the residents of Port Charles, he continued to monitor Jason's relationship with Sam and he watched their wedding reception through a hidden camera. When the couple honeymooned in Hawaii, he made contact with Carly inquiring about Josslyn. Carly flew to Hawaii and warned Sam and Jason that Franco had returned. Jason was unable to find any sign of Franco and Carly returned home after Jason received word that Franco had been spotted in Canada.
As Sam and Jason continued their honeymoon, Franco watched them on hidden cameras that he had planted in their villa. He drugged both Sam and Jason and locked Jason in a room with a video monitor which showed Sam and Franco in the bedroom of the villa. While Sam was drugged, Franco took her out of the shower and placed her on the bed. He covered up the camera so Jason was unable to see what happened next.
By the time Jason escaped, Franco had disappeared and Jason informed Sam that Franco had been there. Sam was unable to determine if Franco had raped her or not and the couple returned home. Franco sent a message to Josslyn again and left graffiti tags around Port Charles that referenced creation. He also sent Jason a video in which he announced that he and Jason were going to be a father. His taunt proved to be correct after Sam realized that she had conceived a child while in Hawaii and was unsure who the father was. Jason eventually tracked Franco down and killed him. It was later revealed that Jason was the child's father.
