Dorothea Puente Runs From Police. Puente was supposed to stick around to serve out her probation, but in a sign of things to come she skipped town instead. But her behavior didn't change. Puente was accused of murdering nine people between 1982 and 1988 and cashing their government support checks. Charged with a total of nine murders, Puente was flown back to Sacramento. Exploiting her appearance of the sweet old lady, Puente would lure unsuspecting tenants to their grisly deaths by baking them cakes laced with sleeping pills. While in prison, Dorothea Puente started corresponding with 77-year-old Everson Gillmouth through a pen pal exchange for imprisoned women. Dorothea Puente (birth name Dorothea Gray) was born in 1929 in Redlands, California. Dorothea Puente got married two more times after her divorce from Johansson, but neither one of those marriages lasted long. Dorothea was convicted of three out of nine murder counts and sentenced to life in prison in August of 1993. I dont think anyone would pick this kind of life. In the documentary, police say: This could be my grandma, she was the little old lady next door. This story has been shared 102,612 times. During one fundraiser, she even danced with California Governor Jerry Brown. Shes making me lie for her.. In the 1980s, she worked as a personal caretaker who drugged her clients and stole their valuables. She established her reputation as a caregiver, providing young women with a sanctuary from poverty and abuse without charge. The jury was deadlocked eleven to one for conviction on all counts, and the lone holdout finally agreed to a conviction of two first-degree murder counts, including special circumstances, and one second-degree murder count. Then aged 63 (above), 103 witnesses were called to testify against her in the trial, Suspicion arose in 1988 when Alberto Montoya, a mentally disabled and schizophrenic tenant, was reported missing by a social worker, Puente's victims: (left to right)Everson Gillmouth, 77. This wasnt the first time Puente had been in trouble with the law. James Gallop, 62. For five days, Dorothea Puente was on the lam. Prosecutors said that Puente was one of the most cold and calculating female killers the country had ever seen.. For years, the disappearances of these so-called shadow people who lived at the margins of society went unnoticed. Afterward, she gave Gillmouth's red pickup truck to Ismael Florez, a carpenter she'd hired, and got him to unknowingly dispose of Gillmouth's body in a river. Does she have to be killed?" An officer visited the home and spoke with Puente as well as a tenant while in Puente's presence. That is mitigating. Under the law, Puente received life without the possibility of parole. Instead, after buying the coffee, she fled immediately to Los Angeles, where she befriended an elderly male pensioner whom she had met in a bar. Vera Martin, 64. Vlautin spoke gently about Puente's childhood touching on the traumatic aspects that shaped her life and urged the jurors to see the world through her eyes. During the 1992 proceeding, investigators revealed that Puente - who was then 63 - had been killing the tenants for money, making $4,000 a month from cashing their social security checks. In 1993, after several days of deliberations and a deadlocked jury (due in part to her grandmotherly disposition), Dorothea Puente was ultimately convicted of three murders and received back-to-back life sentences. They agreed to let her go. Social workers in the 1970s looked upon Dorothea Puente and her boarding house with admiration. An extensive five-day search for the elderly fugitive ended when a stranger she'd befriended in Los Angeles recognized her face from the news and turned her into police. By 1982, Puente was sent to prison for her thefts. Preview. Here's what you need to know about Dorothea Puente, the subject of the new two-partOxygenspecial "Murders At The Boarding House," airing on Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18 at 7/6c on Oxygen. Puente struck out on her own when she was 16. Dismembering their corpses, she threw their remains into a mass grave in her garden, telling neighbors the foul smell emanating from the ground was sewage and dead rats, rather than dead residents. Benjamin Fink, 55. Dorothea Puente remained imprisoned at the Central California Women's Facility in Madera Country, California, until she died at the age of 82 in 2011. But, behind the scenes, Puente had embarked on a path that would lead her to murder. That is the question. At one point, she tried to earn a living as a sex worker in Washington state. But to the end of her life, Dorothea Puente insisted that she was innocent and that she had been taking good care of the people under her charge. Judy also questioned another of Puentes tenants, John Sharp, who told her: Something is wrong. Seven bodies were eventually found buried on the property belonging to the"Death House Landlady," and she was ultimately accused of killing nine people total. Puente told them that they were welcome to do so, and even provided an extra shovel. Grandson of Dorothea Puente, shared a 'real connection' with her - Daily Newshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGIQ4XcqArGYqiw70QoKcvw?sub_confirmation=1Grand. Due to there being no evidence to link her to the body, she was allowed to leave but managed to flee all the way to Los Angeles, where she was found five days later when a man in a bar recognized her from TV. Ruth Munroe, 61. Then you will understand why these people believe Dorothea's life is worth saving. Gray-haired landlady, Dorothea Puente, made headlines as one of the most shocking serial killers in Sacramento history. Eventually, the "Death House Landlady" would then drug her tenants to the point of rendering them incapacitated. Her father died of tuberculosis in 1937; her mother, who worked as a sex worker, lost custody of her children in 1938 and died in a motorcycle accident by the end of the year. On March 27, 2011, Dorothea died at the age of 82 from natural causes. Their relationship developed quickly, and the couple was soon making wedding plans. Puente was born Dorothea Helen Gray on January 9, 1929. Theyve never talked to me. She met and married Fred McFaul in 1945. It wasn't the first tip authorities had gotten about Puente, either. I can't eat this any more! The tenant backed Puente up but then slipped the cop a note saying thatPuente was forcing him to lie, the magazine reported. After burying the victims on her property, she then cashed in on the victims' social security checks. Throughout the trial, Dorothea Puente was portrayed as either a sweet grandma-like type or a manipulative criminal who preyed on the weak. When she was released in 1985, they moved in together, but he abruptly disappeared. Her time in prison was spent visiting the prison chapel, reading John Grisham books, and watching TV. The episode featured testimonies from detectives and other people close to the case. There, the former prostitute turned back to a life of crime. Despite the guilty verdict of her trial, she maintained her innocence until her death. [3] Her parents were both alcoholics and her father repeatedly threatened to commit suicide in front of his children. Puente was undaunted. How Did Dorothea Puente Kill Her Victims? I think you can only truly understand why so many people testified and asked you to spare Dorothea's life only if you have ever fallen down and stumbled on the road of life and had someone pick you up, give you comfort, give you love, show you the way. She established herself as a genuine resource to the community to aid alcoholics, homeless people, and mentally ill people by holding Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and assisting individuals to sign up to receive Social Security benefits. But police tracked her down in Los Angeles after a man in a bar recognized her from TV. Dorothea Puente, ne Dorothea Helen Gray, was born on January 9, 1929, in Redlands, California. Dorothea Puente awaiting arraignment in Sacramento, California on November 17, 1988. 1:29. Removed from her violent crimes, it actually makes perfect sense to use Puente's image on a cookbook, as she has the perfect visage of a kind old lady who probably knows a secret recipe or two that her tenants all would . SACRAMENTO, CA On November 11, 1988, detectives swarmed a Victorian-style home on F Street in Sacramento where guests had a habit of checking in and then never checking out. The social workers knew that Puente had a tendency to exaggerate, but they didn't realize that she was also pretending to be a doctor. The marriage only lasted two years. ", They added: "You can not judge a book by its cover and she had one heck of a cover.". Suspicions first arose about Puente in 1988, after Judy, an outreach counsellor with Volunteers of America, noticed 52-year-old Alvaro Montoya someone shed placed at Puentes house had vanished. Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Dorothea Puente's 1993 trial was heavily covered by the media. Alvaro had struggled with his mental health and been homeless for years, and Judy didnt buy Puentes explanation that hed left for a holiday in Mexico with his brother especially as she knew he didnt speak to his family. Her boarding house provided the opportunityto siphon money from those less fortunate than her and poisonthem with drugs. She eventually opened an unlicensed boarding house that she operated throughout the '70s, catering to disabled, elderly, and homeless people. Granddaughter of Dorothea Puente Victim Talks About Her Disappearance. [citation needed], Granting a change of venue motion filed by Puente's lawyers, Kevin Clymo and Peter Vlautin III, a judge transferred the trial to Monterey County. Theyd gotten so close that Puente had even told her children to Call me Grandma. 1:11. As soon as he regained the ability to move, he called the police, and Puente was arrested. She was released early in 1990, but not before a state psychiatrist evaluated her and diagnosedher with schizophrenia. Chief later dismantled a garage in the backyard and installed a fresh concrete slab there as well. Throughout the trial, Puente was portrayed as either a sweet grandma-like type or a manipulative criminal who preyed on the weak. He claims to have had a regular relationship with her, The Founder of MurderAuction, a website that sells serial killer memorabilia, Harder says he sees his grandmother as human, despite her crimes (pictured: Harder with cult leader Charles Manson). To many, Dorothea Puente seemed like an angel. The man was left conscious but paralyzed, and he watched Puente rob his apartment. Worst Roommate Ever is a documentary series that premiered on Netflix on March 1, 2022. The older woman presented herself as a caretaker, running a boarding house in Sacramento, Californiathat took in the kind of people society often abandons: the homeless, the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill. She gladly put a roof over their heads but inexchange, she stole their Social Security and disability checks and murdered them. Some of them began to disappear. Puente cashed in the Social Security checks of the elderly and disabled boarders living in her house. When they came to me, they were so sick, they weren't expected to live.". The policeman who interrogated her reveals in the documentary: She was emotionless and she would look straight into my eyes and answer every question. The grandmother would then sneak into the rooms of her incapacitated prey and smother them to death with a pillow. While staying at the Royal Viking Hotel in Los Angeles, Puente tried to go back to her old technique of picking up men at a bar and then proceeding to drug and rob them. According to All That's Interesting, in 1968, Dorothea married Roberto Puente. Puente died in prison at Chowchilla on March 27, 2011, from natural causes; she was 82. MURDERER Dorothea Puente was charged and convicted of various killings where she victimized the elderly. [6], In April 1982, 53-year-old Ruth Munroe began living with Puente in her upstairs apartment, but soon died from an overdose of codeine and acetaminophen. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! He says he's often inundated with requests from crazed fans and fellow murder enthusiasts who ask to buy his grandmother's ashes. One decomposed leg was found on one side of the garden, and a foot was found on the other (Pictured: Investigators compile miscellaneous body parts found in the ground, 1988). She'd later return to smother her incapacitated prey. [7] On August 18, 1982, Puente was convicted of three theft charges and sentenced to five years in prison; there, she began corresponding with Everson Gillmouth, a 77-year-old retiree from Oregon. She lost her first boarding house after getting caught signing her own name to tenants benefit checks. [6], Following her divorce, Gray focused on running a boarding house located at 21st and F streets in Sacramento. The prosecutor, John O'Mara, was the homicide supervisor in the Sacramento County District Attorney's office. Not everybody running them is being nefarious, but nefarious activity can crop up.. She denied everything.. Dalmane, which is a drug used for insomnia, was found in all seven of the exhumed bodies. She also suffered a miscarriage. [citation needed], A few weeks later, the police returned after Malcolm McKenzie, a 74-year-old pensioner (one of four elderly people Puente was accused of drugging), accused Puente of drugging and stealing from him. Theyve never talked to me. In 1963, after Puente found it harder and harder to secure clients herself, she transitioned into becoming a madam who ran a brothel, which led to another arrest, though she avoided a pimping charge. Walt Zeboski/AP Dorothea Puente's crimes were revealed in 1988 after homicide detectives searched for a missing man at his last known address: Puente's house in Sacramento, California. It was difficult to determine, though, whether she had poisoned the tenants or if they had taken the fatal overdoses themselves, according to Sactown Magazine. Stone, Michael H., M.D. [citation needed], On November 11, 1988, police inquired after the disappearance of tenant Alvaro "Bert" Montoya, a developmentally disabled man with schizophrenia, who had been reported missing by his social worker. Dorothea Puente right before she fled Sacramento. Between 1982 and 1988, the elderly and disabled people living in Dorothea Puentes house had no idea that was she was poisoning and strangling some of her guests before burying them on her property and cashing their Social Security checks. Trial began in October 1992 and ended a year later. Dorothea Puente, who ran an unlicensed Sacramento boarding house, became infamous for actually killing residents in the 1980s. Despite the guilty verdict of her . And since she never reported their deaths, "their social security checks continued to come in, and Puente continued to forge their signatures and collect the cash.". These were people the Salvation Army wouldn't take them. The boarding house at 1426 F Street in Sacramento was included in the 2013 home tour held by the Sacramento Old City Association. In 2015, the Ghost Adventures crew investigated the house, due to reports of hauntings by the victims and Puente herself. Then learn about Aileen Wuornos, historys most terrifying female serial killer. "Sometimes [he] held a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself in front of his children," wrote the LA Times. Ultimately, Puente was never convicted in relation to Monroe's death. Peter Vlautin addressed the jurors in confidential tones, contrasting with O'Mara's shouting: We are here today to determine one thing: What is the value of Dorothea Puente's life? In April 2020, the house and current owners were showcased in the Quibi series Murder House Flip. Kara Goldfarb is a writer living in New York City. The boarders who were found dead on her property include Dorothy Miller, a 64-year-old war veteran who died in October 1987; Benjamin Fink, a 55-year-old alcoholic who died in April 1988;Leona Carpenter, a very ill widow who died in 1987; Bert Montoya, a man with intellectual disabilities who died in 1988; Betty Palmer, 78; James Gallop, a 62-year-old with various health issues; and Vera Faye Martin, 64. First, she hung up fake medical diplomas and sat in on checkups with residents. Email us atexclusive@the-sun.comor call212 416 4552. She was given five years probation and ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution. Unbeknownst to Puente, the pensioner recognized her as the woman he saw on television news reports. Dalmane, which Puente obtained dozens of prescriptions for, claiming it was to help her boarders sleep. She took in vulnerable elderly tenants, many of whom struggled with addiction or mental illness, and targeted those "without strong social networks. For more on Puente's story, watch thenew two-partOxygenspecial "Murders At The Boarding House," airing on Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18 at 7/6c on Oxygen. Volunteers of America had placed him at Puente's boarding houseand she was alarmed to learn he had seemingly vanished in October 1988, according to Sactown Magazine. In Worst Roommate Ever, one of the policemen who worked on the case recalls digging up the garden and finding pieces of cloth, egg shells, and leather pieces that looked like beef jerky. Although Puente was later described as schizophrenic, this used to simply be a catchall term to describe inexplicable behavior. Victims . Yes, Puente may haveappeared to be sweet older lady, but her demeanor hid her true identity: acold-blooded killer in pursuit of cash. Betty Palmer, 78. Dorothea Puente was a convicted serial killer who ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California in the 1980s. Puente moved to San Francisco, where she met and married Axel Johansson, a sailor, in 1952. Serial killer Dorothea Puente House Now- where she buried her victim is notably famous for paranormal activities. Dorothy Miller was a 64-year-old woman who was last seen alive in October 1987, The Los Angeles Times reported in 1993. Puente was sentenced to five years for "drugging elderly people and stealing their benefit checks" on August 19, 1982. Bombs explained: What is the difference between a vacuum and a cluster bomb? After they started digging, they found a human leg bone and a decomposing foot, according to Sactown Magazine, Puente was brought in for questioning anddenied having anything to do with a body in the yard. Dorothea Puente was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in December 1993. Gillmouth lived in Oregon, and when Puente was released after serving three of her five years, he drove out to pick her up at her halfway house in Fresno. 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