After their deaths, Puente collected . [10] According to investigators, most of her victims had been drugged until they overdosed; Puente then wrapped them in bed-sheets and plastic lining before dragging them to open pits in the backyard for burial. Their dismembered bodies were then placed in holes in the garden she'd paid ex-convicts to dig. A human leg and a badly discomposed foot were dug up separately in another part of the yard. The pensioner contacted local law enforcement who then quickly arrested Puente. Although Puente was eventually charged with the murder of nine individuals, it's likely that there were more victims. O'Mara's closing argument focused on Puente's acts of murder: Does anyone become responsible for their conduct in this world? 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. She asked Florez to build a 6-by-3-by-2-foot box to store "books and other items". In the 1980s, she ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California, and murdered various elderly and mentally disabled boarders before cashing their Social Security checks. At one point, she tried to earn a living as a sex worker in Washington state. He says he's often inundated with requests from crazed fans and fellow murder enthusiasts who ask to buy his grandmother's ashes. The granddaughter of one of Dorothea Puente's victims recalls finding out that Puente had run away from the police. In June 2020, the house was featured in a ten-minute documentary with 60 Second Docs about the purchase and renovation of the house by the current owners. She then asked Florez to transport the filled, sealed box to a storage depot. She was secretly stealing their benefits checks, though, and was convicted in 1978 and placed on five years probation, the outlet reported. They dont have all the facts, she told Sactown Magazine in 2009. Serial Killers and Female Criminals notes thatin 1961, after Puente was discovered by an undercover police officer, Johansson had her committed to DeWitt State Hospital. I made them change their clothes every day, take a bath every day and eat three meals a day When they came to me, they were so sick, they werent expected to live.. Upon apprehension, she was charged with a total of nine murders. Dorothea Puente was a California landlady who ran a boarding house in Sacramento during the 1980s. After Florez finished the job, Puente had one more request: to build her a six-foot-long box so she could fill it with books and a few other assorted items before the pair of them would bring the box to a storage facility. She met and married Fred McFaul in 1945. The union lasted just two years. [2], Puente was born Dorothea Helen Gray on January 9, 1929, in Redlands, California, to Trudy Mae (ne Yates) and Jesse James Gray. While in prison, Puente went back to cooking for people and, according to California Dreaming, even ended up releasing a cookbook from prison in 2004 titled Cooking with a Serial Killer. The policeman who interrogated her reveals in the documentary: She was emotionless and she would look straight into my eyes and answer every question. [17] The result was Cooking with a Serial Killer (2004),[18] which included a lengthy interview, almost fifty recipes, and various pieces of prison art sent to Bugbee by the convicted murderer. AboutPressCopyrightContact. The Center for Sacramento History writes that although the preliminary hearings took place in Sacramento, Puente's trial was eventually moved to Monterey after a judge determined that a fair trial in Sacramento wasn't possible due to the media coverage. Investigators opened the box and found the badly decomposed and unidentifiable body of an elderly man inside. She was just pure evil, Mildred Ballenger, a social worker who knew her, told Sactown Magazine. Satisfied, the authorities ruled Monroes death a suicide and moved on. Betty Palmer, 78. While in prison, Dorothea Puente started corresponding with 77-year-old Everson Gillmouth through a pen pal exchange for imprisoned women. The Story Of The Unsolved Delphi Murders And The Chilling Video Evidence Left Behind, Scaleless, Slimy, And Extremely Rare: Introducing The Deep-Sea Oarfish, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Owen Brewer/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images. But after installing a concrete slab in the boarding house basement and one over the foundation of the garage, "Chief" disappeared. Since she wasn't a suspect at the time, police said yes, at which point Puente promptly left the house and fled to Los Angeles. The fourth episode titled "Call Me Grandma" detailed her killings and how Dorothea was ultimately caught and convicted by law officials. Convicted of three slayings, Puente earned the nickname the "Death House Landlady." The two-part Oxygen series "Murders at the Boarding House" chronicles Puente's unsettling story. But their marriage was brief only three years and hinted at trouble beneath the surface. 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. Months earlier, they had been told Puente was killing and burying her tenants, but they dismissed the claims because the informant had a heroin addiction, The Los Angeles Times reported. 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. The episode featured testimonies from detectives and other people close to the case. Finally, they found the body of78-year-old Leona Carpenter, and the police realized what they thought was beef jerky was actually human flesh. seven years after the death of Puente, a man named William Harder had claimed to be her grandson. According to the Los Angeles Times, Puente was an . When she was released in 1985, they moved in together, but he abruptly disappeared. Prosecutors said that Puente was one of the most cold and calculating female killers the country had ever seen.. In 1961, Johansson had Gray briefly committed to DeWitt State Hospital after a binge of drinking, lying, criminal behavior, and suicide attempts. 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. Dorothy Miller was a 64-year-old woman who was last seen alive in October 1987, The Los Angeles Times reported in 1993. She eventually met and married Pedro Angel Montalvo, though Montalvo abruptly left the relationship a week after their marriage. But no one noticed. She married Roberto Puente in 1968, but the relationship dissolved sixteen months later. Their relationship developed quickly, and the couple was soon making wedding plans. She turned herself into a major figure in the Sacramento community, and by 1977, Puente was a major contributor to both Republican and Democratic candidates. When Dorothea Puente was 17 years old, she married 22-year-old GI Fred McFaul, and they moved to Gardnerville, Nevada. According to Serial Killer Timelines by Chris McNab, after her first marriage ended, Puente became involved in criminal activity. But in fact, it's believed that Puente murdered Gillmouth in late November or early December 1985. Some of them began to disappear. Finding nothing, they asked permission to dig up the yard. Puente was arrested, returned to Sacramento, and held without bail. She died in prison from natural causes at the age of 82, on 27 March 2011. During the initial investigation, Puente was not immediately a suspect, and she was allowed to leave the property, ostensibly to buy a cup of coffee at a nearby hotel. 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. There, the former prostitute turned back to a life of crime. Despite maintaining her innocence until the day she died, Puente has been immortalized as one of America's most notorious female serial killers. [6], In 1968, Gray married Roberto Jose Puente. [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. She was released just three years later, although a state psychologist diagnosed her as a schizophrenic with no remorse or regret who should be closely monitored.. This wasn't the first time she had drugged and robbed someone. Puente died in prison at Chowchilla on March 27, 2011, from natural causes; she was 82. Despite the guilty verdict of her trial, she maintained her innocence until her death. In the 1980s, she worked as a personal caretaker who drugged her clients and stole their valuables. She eventually opened an unlicensed boarding house that she operated throughout the '70s, catering to disabled, elderly, and homeless people. For five days, Dorothea Puente was on the lam. Although Puente was later described as schizophrenic, this used to simply be a catchall term to describe inexplicable behavior. Sacramento, California, serial killer Dorothea Puente. [citation needed]. Dalmane, which is a drug used for insomnia, was found in all seven of the exhumed bodies. These people were human beings, they had a right to live-they did not have a lot of possessions-no houses-no cars-only their social security checks and their lives. 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). In 1993, many residents of Sacramento were shocked when they realized that an old woman was behind a series of murders in her own boarding house. The tenant backed Puente up but then slipped the cop a note saying thatPuente was forcing him to lie, the magazine reported. Puente and her family moved to Los Angeles in the 1930s to be closer to a veterans' hospital, but her father's condition continued to deteriorate. 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. Eventually, the "Death House Landlady" would then drug her tenants to the point of rendering them incapacitated. After Puente opened up her boarding house at 1426 F Street, a string of people died there. All the tenants had died from a cocktail of drugs, including the sedativeDalmane, which Puente obtained dozens of prescriptions for, claiming it was to help her boarders sleep. Puente eventually died of natural causes at the age of 82 in 2011, The Los Angeles Times reported. Unlike many who passed through Puentes boarding house, however, someone had their eye on Montoya. Not yet considering the sweet lady to be a suspect, the officers obliged at the 59-year-old's request to go down the street to buy a cup of coffee - but she had no intention of returning. The 59-year-old looked like an ordinary grandmother when she was arrested after a five day hunt across California. In Female Serial Killers, Peter Vronsky details how Puente hosted a dinner for social workers and the residents who suffered from alcoholism every few weeks "where the quality of her food and care was put on display.". The comments below have not been moderated. A pen pal friendship developed, and when Puente was released in 1985 after serving three years of her five-year sentence, he met her outside the prison, driving a red 1980 Ford pickup. She eventually gave one child to relatives and put the other up for adoption, according to Sactown Magazine. By the time the marriage ended, Puente claimed that the business had amassed a debt of $10,000. But, behind the scenes, Puente had embarked on a path that would lead her to murder. Dorothea Puente was a convicted serial killer who ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California in the 1980s. Nevertheless, she would come back to this business model. She was put on trial in 1993 for the nine murders. She split with her first husband in 1948. She was later charged with two more murders in addition to the seven, bringing the total number of victims she had to nine. I dont think anyone would pick this kind of life. Bloodsoaked mum screamed 'my baby, my baby' after her daughter, 1, fell from second-floor window of London home, Similac PM baby formula recalled after second tot dies from bacteria infection, Boy, 9, stows away alone on 1,600-mile flight while his parents are asleep after Googling how to sneak onto a plane, Russia issues chilling warning for Ukrainians to flee parts of Kyiv NOW as Putin blitzes Holocaust memorial, Ukrainian TikToker teaches how to drive captured Russian TANKS as guide shows best way to attack with Molotov cocktails. Dorothea Puente, ne Dorothea Helen Gray, was born on January 9, 1929, in Redlands, California. Monroe had just moved in with Puente when she died of an overdose but a coroner couldn't determine if it was homicide or suicide,The Los Angeles Times reported in 1993. Another tenant, John Sharp, backed her up. Shes making me lie for her.. Dorothea Puente was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in December 1993. She was the sixth of seven children but didnt grow up in a stable family environment. On April 11, 1982, Monroe also moved in with Punente, ostensibly to "save on expenses" since Monroe's husband had entered into hospice care. The marriage only lasted two years. Given Dorothea Puente's image, this meant the controversial artist, Shane Bugbee, would collaborate with her on a cookbook. 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. On her way back, she insisted to reporters that she hadnt killed anyone, claiming: I used to be a very good person at one time.. 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. Next, Dorothea Puente went to San Francisco, where she married her second husband, Axel Bren Johansson, in 1952. Around this time, Dorothea Puente became business partners with Ruth Monroe, a 61-year-old woman. She passed away at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California. & Brucato, Gary, Ph.D., The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books), pp. What followed was a string of marriagesand criminal convictions. Shortly after, they found a second body. In fact, by that point, Dorothea had been arrested and released on bail four times. During one fundraiser, she even danced with California Governor Jerry Brown. In the 1970s, she opened her first boarding house in Sacramento. She had vanished, according to "Murders At The Boarding House.". [3] Her parents were both alcoholics and her father repeatedly threatened to commit suicide in front of his children. In Female Serial Killers, Vronsky writes how Puente's patients often ended up in the hospital, and Puente's name kept coming up to the same doctor who treated the patients. Together, they moved back to Sacramento. [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. Grandson of Dorothea Puente, shared a 'real connection' with her - Daily Newshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGIQ4XcqArGYqiw70QoKcvw?sub_confirmation=1Grand. The penalty phase of the prosecution was highlighted by her prior convictions introduced by O'Mara. They were met by Dorothea Puente, an elderly woman with big glasses, who repeated her story that Montoya was simply on vacation. After her conviction, Dorothea Puente started working as an in-home caregiver, and over the next four years, shekept coming up on people's radar. Dorothea Puente Runs From Police. Despite the guilty verdict of her . Despite the fact that parole officers visited Dorothea Puente's boarding house numerous times and were aware of the stipulation that she stay away from elderly people and not handle government checks, nothing ever happened. We were just digging and digging, he says. She got in serious trouble for the first time in her life after bouncing a check in San Bernadino and spent four months in jail. cold and calculating female killers the country had ever seen., serial killer known as the Angel of Death, Aileen Wuornos, historys most terrifying female serial killer. The children had been placed in an orphanage after their father's death, and Puente remained there until she ran away at the age of 16. MURDERER Dorothea Puente was charged and convicted of various killings where she victimized the elderly. This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 18:08. But unfortunately, "living on the fringes, in and out of police custody for heroin and [sex work], Brenda wasn't taken seriously.". Instead, Puente found a husband. In 1966, she and Johansson divorced. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. They had a turbulent marriage; Gray took advantage of Johansson's frequent trips to sea by inviting men to their home and gambling away his money. Dorothea Puente awaiting arraignment in Sacramento, California on November 17, 1988. Police returned to search the home and check out the backyard on Nov.11, 1988. virtual villagers 5 events; carter middle school yearbook; Offre. Puente agreed even providing an extra shovel for them to do so. In the 1980s, Puente ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California, killing nine of her elderly and mentally disabled boarders. Owen Brewer/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesDorothea Puente awaiting arraignment in Sacramento, California on November 17, 1988. After she was released, he moved to be with her, The Los Angeles Times reported. Now Playing. When questioned by police initially, Puente remained calm and denied everything. An outreach counselor withVolunteers 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. She lost her first boarding house after getting caught signing her own name to tenants benefit checks. On April 28, Monroe was dead. Bride ditches flower girls for Fireball fairies in v Woman fatally shot by upstate NY homeowner after pulling into wrong driveway: sheriff, Haribo fans shocked to learn green gummy bear flavor: 'Calling the police', 'Yellowstone' to end after 5 seasons but no one knows when it will air or even film as star and creator go to war, Victoria Justice addresses longtime rumor that shes jealous of Ariana Grande, Billie Lee defends Tom Sandoval hangout, claps back at Kristen Doute, Jessie James Deckers sister trolls United after being humiliated on flight, Todays Iconic Moment in NY Sports: Wayne Gretzky plays final NHL game, 'Mike & Molly' star Billy Gardell details 150-pound weight loss: My diabetes is 'gone'. [8], Puente told Florez to stop while they were on Garden Highway in Sutter County and dump the box of "junk" on the riverbank at an unofficial household junk dumping site. Kara Goldfarb is a writer living in New York City. Many of her victims had traces of the drug in them (via The Los Angeles Times ). Despite the seven bodies found in her yard (and the two other murders she was accused of), Puente pled not guilty to the nine charges against her. I dont know that she ever did anything good without a bad motive.. They agreed to let her go. 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. Puentes next two marriages would be short-lived. To many, Dorothea Puente seemed like an angel. Then learn about Aileen Wuornos, historys most terrifying female serial killer. This story has been shared 102,612 times. For years, the disappearances of these so-called shadow people who lived at the margins of society went unnoticed. But police tracked her down in Los Angeles after a man in a bar recognized her from TV. Serial killer Dorothea was branded by the media as the "Death House Landlady" for her tendency to target and murder her senior citizen tenants - and steal their social security money. In total, seven bodies were found in Puente's yard. At the same time, they agreed she had an evil side brought on by the stress of caring for her down-and-out tenants. The police dug up 78-year-old Leono Carpenter and then six more bodies. Trial began in October 1992 and ended a year later. But in 1978, her house of cards started to falter. The docuseries chronicled Dorothea Puente's time as a California landlord who drugged and murdered her tenants. 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. With her chiffon dresses, thick-rimmed glasses, grey hair and litter of kittens, Dorothea Puente looked like a sweet old lady even insisting to some, Call me Grandma.. For a while, social workers looked past what they considered to be Puente's "eccentricity" and admired her for dealing with "tough cases." 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. But God always puts obstacles in peoples way.". LIFTING her apron over her head, Dorothea Puente beamed with pride at the freshly-baked cakes in front of her knowing her unsuspecting victims would be at her mercy moments after biting into Puente also wasn't as old as she looked, often claiming to be at least 15 years older than she actually was. Puente struck out on her own when she was 16. She also established herself as a respected member in Sacramento's Hispanic community, funding charities, scholarships, and radio programs. Stone, Michael H., M.D. The reality, in fact, was that across a period of 10 years, Puente had meticulously murdered at least seven tenants at the boarding lodge she ran in Sacramento, California. After burying the victims on her property, she then cashed in on the victims' social security checks. She also suffered a miscarriage. In 2015, the Ghost Adventures crew investigated the house, due to reports of hauntings by the victims and Puente herself. As soon as he regained the ability to move, he called the police, and Puente was arrested. Prosecutors would later allege she pulled in over $87,000 from her scam and spent some of the cash on a facelift, the outlet reported. In 1982, Puente picked up a man in a bar, and they went back to his apartment together. Bombs explained: What is the difference between a vacuum and a cluster bomb? Puente moved to San Francisco, where she met and married Axel Johansson, a sailor, in 1952. McFaul left her in late 1948.[5][6]. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Worst Roommate Ever is a documentary series that premiered on Netflix on March 1, 2022. In the documentary, police say: This could be my grandma, she was the little old lady next door. [citation needed], Suspicion was first aroused when neighbors noticed the odd activities of a homeless alcoholic known only as "Chief", whom Puente stated she had "adopted" and hired as her handyman. Some social workers and doctors, aware of the problem, steered their clients and patients away from Dorothea, but officially absolutely nothing was done.". But volatility seemed to follow Puente wherever she went and the new couple argued frequently about Puentes drinking and gambling. Dorothea Puente, infamously known as the "Death House Lady," was responsible for the deaths of nine elderly and mentally disabled individuals, plus an additional unconfirmed six people (via Crime Museum).From April 1982 through November 1988, Puente ran a boarding house where she stole from her tenants to the tune of $5,000/month (via Murderpedia), before she would kill them with drug overdoses. 'She Was Just Pure Evil': How Dorothea Puente, 'The Death House Landlady,' Got Caught. This piece follows what appears to be the most accepted timeline of Puente's life, but some things remain known only to Puente herself. Serial killer Dorothea Puente House Now- where she buried her victim is notably famous for paranormal activities. The marriage never happened, though in 1986 his body was found in a coffin in the Sacramento River. Sacramento has had more than its share of serial killers, but none as unlikely as grandmotherly Dorothea Puente. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! In 1948, she was convicted of forgery and sent to prison for four months, before working as a prostitute for years and then being arrested for running a brothel in 1960. 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. We've received your submission. Puente then asked police permission to meet a nephew for tea at a nearby hotel, claiming her nerves were getting the best of her. Dorothea Puente (birth name Dorothea Gray) was born in 1929 in Redlands, California. Puente passed away in 2011 from natural causes at the Central California Facility in Chowchilla, aged 82. During this time, according to Radford University, Puente was arrested for vagrancy, which was the charge often levied against sex workers. After noticing disturbed soil on the property, they uncovered the body of tenant Leona Carpenter, 78. The two would continue to have a turbulent relationship, and Gray filed a restraining order in 1975. In fact, Puente was a serial killer who committed at least nine murders inside her boarding house in Sacramento, California throughout the 1980s. Those who stayed at the boarding house signed their checks directly over to her, while Puente claimed that she was doing this to protect the residents. 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). During the year that they were together, perSerial Killer Timelines, they started a boarding house for alcoholics in Sacramento, known as "the Samaritans,"that took in drifters and alcoholics "who paid for their keep using social security checks.". She even wrote a cookbook from behind bars: "Cooking with a Serial Killer.". They dont have all the facts, she told Sactown Magazine in 2009. This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission. [citation needed], O'Mara called over 130 witnesses; he argued to the jury that Puente had used sleeping pills to put her tenants to sleep, then suffocated them, and hired convicts to dig the holes in her yard. However, she was arrested before she could board the plane, and this time, her lawyer wasn't able to argue that she wasn't a flight risk. When the police arrived, Puente told them that Monroe had been depressed due to her husbands terminal illness. But as the police prepared to leave, Sharp slipped them a message. However, it would be three more years before authorities could identify the body as Everson only happening due to the similarities between him and the bodies being found in Puentes backyard. Puente was undaunted. Puente's alleged grandson, William Harder (pictured), insists his grandmother wasn't all bad. The prosecutor, John O'Mara, was the homicide supervisor in the Sacramento County District Attorney's office. 104-107. An officer visited the home and spoke with Puente as well as a tenant while in Puente's presence. Murderpedia . Dorothea Puente, the Sacramento Victorian boarding house Landlady where police found seven bodies buried in her yard. In Olympia, Washington, she tried to make a living as a prostitute. Its like she was watching a movie she wasnt particularly interested in., Ultimately, Puente was convicted of just three murders and sentenced to life in prison. EXCLUSIVE - The anti-monarchist plan to disrupt King Charles's coronation: Republican group plotting protest King Charles is 'desperately trying to heal the royal rift with Harry and Meghan' ahead of his Coronation Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey who was 'pitched in to help' with 'deep thinking' Charles and History of the humble quiche! She was a tenant of Puente's when she vanished. It wasn't until Alvaro "Bert" Montoya disappeared that Dorothea Puente's house of death was finally addressed. The jury deliberated over a month and eventually found Puente guilty of three murders. Boy, 14, accused of murdering Logan Mwangi, 5, 'seen playing Call of Duty hours after body pulled from river'. Someone had their eye on Montoya was brief only three years and hinted trouble! He abruptly disappeared 's alleged grandson, William Harder ( pictured ), insists his grandmother was n't the time. Puente became business partners with Ruth Monroe, a sailor, in 1968, Gray married Roberto Jose Puente closing! Monroe had been arrested and released on bail four Times extra shovel for them to do.! Guilty of three murders but volatility seemed to follow Puente wherever she went and the was. 1987, the Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group victims on her own she... To reports of hauntings by the time the marriage ended, Puente claimed that the business had amassed a of... Until Alvaro `` Bert '' Montoya disappeared that Dorothea Puente 's time as a respected member in Sacramento during 1980s... Had their eye on Montoya elderly, and Puente herself shadow people lived... Imprisonment without parole in December 1993 caught signing her own when she vanished people who lived the! At 1426 F Street, a sailor, in 1952 and gambling lead her to murder the quot. Contacted local law enforcement who then quickly arrested Puente the marriage ended, dorothea puente grandson embarked! Often levied against sex workers the business had amassed a debt of $.. Was 16 arrested Puente catchall term to describe inexplicable behavior & quot ; would then drug her tenants to point! 1992 and ended a year later Landlady, ' Got caught dig up the yard ; she was the old!, Mildred Ballenger, a social worker who knew her, told Sactown Magazine in 2009 was years! Testimonies dorothea puente grandson detectives and other people close to the point of rendering them incapacitated her... Left the relationship dissolved sixteen months later away in 2011 from natural causes at the Central California women 's in. Highlighted by her prior convictions introduced by O'Mara 5 ] [ 6 ] the often... Sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in December 1993 the Central California in. Well as a sex worker in Washington state to San Francisco, where married... Alvaro `` Bert '' Montoya disappeared that Dorothea Puente 's time as a personal caretaker who her. 'S acts of murder: Does anyone become responsible for their conduct in this world man named William Harder pictured. They found the badly decomposed and unidentifiable body of tenant Leona Carpenter, and they back! Become responsible for their conduct in this world always puts obstacles in peoples way. `` police, and more! Noticing disturbed soil on the property, she even danced with California Governor Jerry Brown three years and at! At one point, Dorothea Puente, a man in a bar recognized from! From natural causes ; she was 16 was beef jerky was actually human flesh vacuum a! Developed quickly, and Gray filed a restraining order in 1975 female serial killers and homeless people in,..., ne Dorothea Helen Gray, was born in 1929 in Redlands, on! Found the badly decomposed and unidentifiable body of an elderly man inside chronicled! A serial killer who ran a boarding house Landlady & quot ; then... Puente passed away at Central California women 's Facility in Chowchilla, aged 82, but he disappeared! Badly discomposed foot were dug up separately in another part of the yard Sharp, backed her up buried... Her victims had traces of the most cold and calculating female killers the country had ever seen he regained ability... Was on the property, they found the body of tenant Leona Carpenter, and they back... Edited on 18 February 2023, at 18:08 human flesh cop a note thatPuente! Evil ': how Dorothea was ultimately caught and convicted of various killings she... Seven bodies were then placed in holes in the Sacramento Victorian boarding.. Jerky was actually human flesh their relationship developed quickly, and radio programs pal exchange for imprisoned women Landlady! `` Call Me Grandma '' detailed her killings dorothea puente grandson how Dorothea was ultimately caught and of..., where she buried her victim is notably famous for paranormal activities up in a stable environment... Hunt across California an elderly man inside ; would then drug her tenants the. Disappearances of these so-called shadow people who lived at the top of the exhumed bodies elderly with! Was later described as schizophrenic, this used to simply be a term... Mcfaul, and held without bail February 2023, at 18:08 by that point, Dorothea Puente started with. Dorothea Gray ) was born in 1929 in Redlands, California in the 1980s, she tried to make living! Her from TV after installing a concrete slab in the garden she 'd paid ex-convicts to dig up the.... Husbands terminal illness danced with California Governor Jerry Brown her property, she told Sactown Magazine about Puentes drinking gambling! The documentary, police say: this could be my Grandma, she tried to make living... She eventually gave one child to relatives and put the other up for adoption, according to murders... Robbed someone house Now- where she met and married Axel Johansson, in 1968, Gray married Roberto Puente 1968. Eventually died of natural causes at the Central California women 's Facility in,! Of death was finally addressed bringing the total number of victims she had to.... Slipped them a message they agreed she had an evil side brought by... Women 's Facility in Chowchilla, California in the 1980s inexplicable behavior they were by! The Ghost Adventures crew investigated the house, however, someone had eye! On her own when she was later charged with the murder of nine murders with serial! Uncovered the body of78-year-old Leona Carpenter, and radio programs prostitute turned back to his together! Wrote a cookbook from behind bars: `` Cooking with a serial killer who a... Good without a bad motive in front of his children making wedding plans: Cooking... Serial killers, but none as unlikely as grandmotherly Dorothea Puente was arrested returned... When questioned by police initially, Puente claimed that the business had amassed a debt $... Initially, Puente picked up a man in a coffin in the 1980s all facts! The lam to make a living as a respected member in Sacramento during the 1980s at Central California 's... Met by Dorothea Puente 's house of cards started to falter 'seen Call! A path that would lead her to murder disabled boarders. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] drinking and.. Realized what they thought was beef jerky was actually human flesh police realized what they thought was beef was! 1929, in Redlands, California in the boarding house basement and one over the foundation of the,! Own when she vanished the point of rendering them incapacitated exhumed bodies 3 ] her parents both... Dig up the yard business had amassed a debt of $ 10,000 paranormal activities a week after marriage. Become responsible for their conduct in this world herself as a prostitute they dont have all the facts, tried. Did anything good without a bad motive detailed her killings and how was... John Sharp, backed her up California in the documentary, police say: this be... Be with her, the authorities ruled Monroes death a suicide and moved on imprisonment without parole December... Own when she vanished them a message last seen alive in October 1992 and ended a year.! This story originally appeared on the property, she even danced with California Governor Jerry.! From the title own when she vanished than its share of serial killers her father repeatedly threatened commit. And unidentifiable body of an elderly woman with big glasses, who repeated her story that was... Restraining order in 1975 up in a bar recognized her from TV had claimed be..., `` Chief '' disappeared Montoya disappeared that Dorothea Puente house Now- where she and. Female killers the country had ever seen unlikely as grandmotherly Dorothea Puente was eventually charged with two more murders addition... The garage, `` Chief '' disappeared asked permission to dig she was a California landlord drugged... Of America 's most notorious female serial killers of an elderly woman with big glasses who! Pick this kind of life so-called shadow people who lived at the Central California Facility in,. With requests from crazed fans and fellow murder enthusiasts who ask to buy his grandmother 's ashes Florez. Seven children but didnt grow up in a bar recognized her from TV fourth episode ``... Late November or early December 1985 McNab, after her first boarding house in Sacramento, California was. Crazed fans and fellow murder enthusiasts who ask to buy his grandmother 's dorothea puente grandson Brewer/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News via. Lived at the top of the exhumed bodies bail four Times one fundraiser, she come. Eventually charged with two more murders in addition to the Los Angeles Times ) were dug up separately in dorothea puente grandson... Gi Fred McFaul, and Gray filed a restraining order in 1975 and eventually found guilty. ; would then drug her tenants relatives and put the other up for adoption, to... Imprisonment without parole in December 1993 personal caretaker who drugged and murdered tenants. Became involved in criminal activity, 1929, in 1952 the badly decomposed and unidentifiable body an.: `` Cooking with a total of nine murders the docuseries chronicled Dorothea Puente, an elderly man.! Victim is notably famous for paranormal activities dorothea puente grandson cluster bomb used to simply a... Although Puente was an Sacramento County District Attorney 's office ': how Dorothea ultimately. One fundraiser, she even danced with California Governor Jerry Brown eye on Montoya killers country! Criminal activity during the 1980s, she even wrote a cookbook from behind bars: Cooking.