Her crimes ranged from drugging and robbery to check forgery and murder, and even when she was blatantly violating her parole, she managed to fly under the radar. Despite maintaining her innocence until the day she died, Puente has been immortalized as one of America's most notorious female serial killers. The 1991 film Evil Spirits, starring Karen Black and Arte Johnson, is loosely based on the Puente murders. During her trial, a witness also testified that Puente was sexually abused during her time at the orphanage. Despite this, their marriage lasted until 1966. Grandson of Dorothea Puente, shared a 'real connection' with her - Daily Newshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGIQ4XcqArGYqiw70QoKcvw?sub_confirmation=1Grand. This time, she was tried for grand theft, robbery, and forgery. Eventually, the "Death House Landlady" would then drug her tenants to the point of rendering them incapacitated. Grandson of killer granny Dorothea Puente, who laced cakes with sleeping pills and then smothered them at her California boarding house, reveals how he shared a 'real connection' with her and . According toLARB, the only person who seemed to notice something was Brenda Trujillo, Puente's former cellmate, who lived at 1426 F Street briefly. Dalmane, which Puente obtained dozens of prescriptions for, claiming it was to help her boarders sleep. This Guy Collects Artwork From Serial Killers - VICE, Do not sell or share my personal information. Apparently, "Most reviewers [say] the recipes are pretty basic, but tasty." Would you want that to happen to your children? She sent one child to live with relatives while another was put up for adoption. 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.. But the police could never have imagined theyd go on to find six bodies buried in the backyard of this little old lady.. But after installing a concrete slab in the boarding house basement and one over the foundation of the garage, "Chief" disappeared. Her business parter, a 61-year-old woman named Ruth Monroe, died suddenly in 1982, shortly before Puentewas arrested for drugging herthree elderly patients. She also suffered a miscarriage. But God always puts obstacles in peoples way.". [19] It was then the subject of the 2015 documentary short The House Is Innocent and was again opened to tours for one day in conjunction with a local film festival's showing of the film.[20]. Puente passed away in 2011 from natural causes at the Central California Facility in Chowchilla, aged 82. Puente offered up a variety of stories, including that Montoya had gonedown to Mexico, before the counselor filed a missing persons report. When questioned by police initially, Puente remained calm and denied everything. 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. Dorothea Puente died in prison of natural causes on March 27, 2011, at age 82. Dalmane, which is a drug used for insomnia, was found in all seven of the exhumed bodies. This wasnt the first time Puente had been in trouble with the law. We were just digging and digging, he says. Dorothea Puente was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in December 1993. She eventually opened an unlicensed boarding house that she operated throughout the '70s, catering to disabled, elderly, and homeless people. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Dorothea Puente believed herself to be an able caretaker. ', Puente died in 2011 aged 82 in her prison cell at the Central California Facility, in Chowchilla. 1:08. She spent her teen years bouncing between foster homes and orphanages, and was allegedly sexually abused at one point, according to a 2011 . Puente then opened the business that would give her the nickname "The Death House Landlady": a boarding house at 1426 F Street in Sacramento. Dorothy Miller. Being escorted to a police car after her capture in 1988, serial killer Dorothea Puente told gathering reporters 'I used to be a very good person, at one time'. Nevertheless, she would come back to this business model. 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 . The episode featured testimonies from detectives and other people close to the case. She took it all Death is the only appropriate penalty. After noticing disturbed soil on the property, they uncovered the body of tenant Leona Carpenter, 78. James Gallop, 62. After leaving Roberto, Puente married Pedro Angel Montalvo, but the marriage only lasted a week. McFaul left her in late 1948.[5][6]. After a number of legal hurdles, Puente's trial eventually went ahead four years later. Vera Martin, 64. 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. 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 fled to Los Angeles. 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. Next, Dorothea Puente went to San Francisco, where she married her second husband, Axel Bren Johansson, in 1952. This piece follows what appears to be the most accepted timeline of Puente's life, but some things remain known only to Puente herself. She was just pure evil, Mildred Ballenger, a social worker who knew her, told Sactown Magazine. The only time [the boarers] were in good health was when they stayed at my home, Puente insisted from prison. "She is to be considered dangerous, and her living environment and/or employment should be closely monitored.". She split with her first husband in 1948. Puente told them that they were welcome to do so, and even provided an extra shovel. Another tenant, John Sharp, backed her up. And I could see Dorothea staring out the window at us, above.. 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. Meanwhile, another six bodies had been found in Puentes back garden, including those of 51-year-old Alberto Montoya, 64-year-old Dorothy Miller, 55-year-old Benjamin Fink, 62-year-old James Gallop, 64-year-old Vera Faye Martin and 78-year-old Betty Palmer. [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. Puente continued to collect Gillmouth's pension and wrote letters to his family, explaining that the reason he had not contacted them was because he was ill. She continued to maintain a boarding house, taking in forty new tenants. In fact, by that point, Dorothea had been arrested and released on bail four times. She died in prison from natural causes at the age of 82, on 27 March 2011. They had two daughters between 1946 and 1948; Gray sent one child to live with relatives in Sacramento, and placed the other for adoption. 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.". FacebookDorothea Puente right before she fled Sacramento. 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.. But Puente presented herself as a harmless old woman who was given gifts, and the police let her out on bail. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Soon afterward, Chief disappeared. A well-researched play by Mark Loewenstern entitled "Dorothea Puente Tells All!" [6], In 1968, Gray married Roberto Jose Puente. Apparently, Puente's neighbors had been complaining about the smell and flies coming from Puente's backyard since May. Shed also been linked to another two previous deaths that were now seen as too similar to ignore. Under the law, Puente received life without the possibility of parole. 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. [citation needed], In November 1985, Puente hired a man named Ismael Florez to install some wood paneling in her apartment. In November 1985, Dorothea Puente hired a handyman named Ismael Florez to install some wood paneling in her home. Culture Crossfire claims that parole officers made no fewer than 15 visits to Puente's home. How Did Dorothea Puente Kill Her Victims? She changed her public image to that of a respectable older matron by putting on vintage clothing, wearing large granny glasses, and letting her hair turn gray. Preview. When the police arrived, Puente told them that Monroe had been depressed due to her husbands terminal illness. Season 1 Episode 2 - Videos. On November 11, 1988, Dorothea was arrested and detained by Sacramento police officials. This story has been shared 102,612 times. The police dug up 78-year-old Leono Carpenter and then six more bodies. Gray assumed the identity of "Sharon Johansson", hiding her delinquent behavior by portraying herself as a devout Christian woman. & Brucato, Gary, Ph.D., The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books), pp. [6], Following her divorce, Gray focused on running a boarding house located at 21st and F streets in Sacramento. A manhunt ensued for the 59-year-old woman, and she was eventually foundfour days later at a California motel. The authorities left the cause of death as undetermined, since there was such an excessive amount of both these drugs, and she was bedridden at the time. After their deaths, Puente would collect . Mental health experts testified of Puente's abusive upbringing and how it motivated her to help the less fortunate. Seven bodies were discovered, belonging to Bert Montoya, Leona Carpenter, Dorothy Miller, Benjamin Fink, James Gallop, Vera Faye Martin, and Betty Palmer. The boarding house made infamous by Dorothea Puentes murders. 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 died in prison in 2011, age 82, reports Crime Museum. Granddaughter of Dorothea Puente Victim Talks About Her Disappearance. Dorothea Puente had several children with McFaul but didnt raise them. Does she have to be killed?" Her lawyers argued that she might be a thief, but not a murderer. 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. They dont have all the facts, she told Sactown Magazine in 2009. [2], Puente was born Dorothea Helen Gray on January 9, 1929, in Redlands, California, to Trudy Mae (ne Yates) and Jesse James Gray. Puente had a reputation for taking in people considered tough cases recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, the mentally ill, and the elderly. In 1966, she and Johansson divorced. Newspapers dubbed Puente the "Death House Landlady". Dorothea Puente Runs From Police. 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. 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. 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. Six more corpses would follow, but Puente was still on the run. Although lawyers showed that Puente had gotten dozens of prescriptions of the sedative Dalmane between 1985 and 1988 and that all of the bodies had Dalmane in their system, there was no concrete proof that Puente had been the one to administer the drugs. Meanwhile, Puente started saying that she'd "adopted" a man she called "Chief," a houseless man who suffered from alcoholism, and claimed that he was going to be the handyman. In her absence, investigators dug up the whole yard and discovered the body of 78-year-old Leona Carpenter. 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.". 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. Trial began in October 1992 and ended a year later. She served four months in prison for writing a check under a false name, and spent another 90 days behind bars after being caught in a police raid at a brothel, according to Sactown Magazine. But her reputation had caught up with her, and her face was all over the news. Puente then married Pedro Angel Montalvo, but he left her only a week after they were wed. Genaro Molina/Sacramento Bee/MCT/Getty ImagesThe boarding house made infamous by Dorothea Puentes murders. The Los Angeles Review of Bookswrites that "Puente was released in 1985, under the terms of parole that she not handle other people's social security checks or work with the elderly. Dorothea Helen Puente (ne Gray; January 9, 1929 March 27, 2011) was an American convicted serial killer. Florida family found dead in pool identified as mom reveals dad and kids went on daily swim that came to a 'sudden end'. Her boarding house provided the opportunityto siphon money from those less fortunate than her and poisonthem with drugs. There, the former prostitute turned back to a life of crime. But looks can be extremely deceiving and, in this case, the innocuous landlady was actually a terrifying serial killer who committed at least nine murders inside her boarding house in Sacramento,Californiathroughout the 1980s. The marriage only lasted two years. Dorothea often took in the elderly and homeless and placed them as her tenants. After learning about the murders inside Dorothea Puentes house, read about the serial killer known as the Angel of Death. Who is Senator Brian Schatz's wife Linda? Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. Dorothea Puente was a California landlady who ran a boarding house in Sacramento during the 1980s. Then, she asked if it would be ok if she went to buy a coffee. [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. Vera Faye Martin, 64. This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 18:08. Puentes next two marriages would be short-lived. Her father died of tuberculosis when Puente was eight while her mother, an alcoholic, routinely abused her children and died in a motorcycle accident a year later. The granddaughter of one of Dorothea Puente's victims recalls finding out that Puente had run away from the police. Dorothea Puente was born Dorothea Helen Gray in Redlands, California, on January 9, 1929. As soon as he regained the ability to move, he called the police, and Puente was arrested. When Dorothea Puente was 17 years old, she married 22-year-old GI Fred McFaul, and they moved to Gardnerville, Nevada. 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. Many of them found dead and buried in the boarding house's yard. 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. The founder of MurderAuction - an auction house for serial killer memorabilia - Harder's macabre obsessions have also seen him befriend the likes of Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez. The two would continue to have a turbulent relationship, and Gray filed a restraining order in 1975. Dorothea Puente ran a boarding house for the elderly, disabled, or otherwise ailing in Sacramento, California, but her motives were anything but altruistic. Between 1982 and 1988, she killed nine people, all of whom were renting rooms at her boarding house. One of these was of a 61-year-old woman named Ruth Monroe, who Puente persuaded to move into her house in April 1982, when her husband died. 'Executing Puente would be like executing your grandmother', one juror is reported to have said in response to the death sentence looming over the defendant at the time. She was given five years' probation and ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution. She alerted police, who went to the house, where they were met with the same answer that Alvaro was on holiday. Moise alerted police, who went to the boarding house. 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. Bombs explained: What is the difference between a vacuum and a cluster bomb? In fact, Puente was a serial killer who committed at least nine murders inside her boarding house in Sacramento, California throughout the 1980s. Puente had Chief dig in the basement and cart soil and rubbish away in a wheelbarrow. Investigators soon found the decomposing body of an elderly man inside. The charges against her were largely circumstantial: There was her criminal past and of course, the corpses at her home. But volatility seemed to follow Puente wherever she went and the new couple argued frequently about Puentes drinking and gambling. Alvaro "Bert" Montoya, 51. I dont think anyone would pick this kind of life. Pathologists testified that they hadnt been able to fix the cause of death for any of the corpses. 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. Puente was born Dorothea Helen Gray on January 9, 1929. But the jury had a difficult time believe the matronly grandmother was capable of carrying out such menacing crimes. Puente eventually died of natural causes at the age of 82 in 2011, The Los Angeles Times reported. This story has been shared 122,375 times. 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. These entities fall through the cracks, said Kathleen Lammers, executive director of the California Law Center on Longterm Care, about boarding houses like Puentes. ", They added: "You can not judge a book by its cover and she had one heck of a cover.". Then you will understand why these people believe Dorothea's life is worth saving. Her childhood was not an easy one her mother was an abusive alcoholic who died when she was 10 and her father died when she was 8, Sactown Magazine reported in 2008. She gave birth to a child in 1946 and another one in 1947, but motherhood didn't seem to interest Puente. Not everybody running them is being nefarious, but nefarious activity can crop up.. Johansson wasn't pleased to find this out when he returned, so they would frequently argue as a result, often about Puente's gambling and drinking as well. A few days later, police returned with a warrant and asked Puente if they could dig in the backyard, where they saw recently disturbed soil. Puente didn't stay in the facility long, and upon her release, she and Johansson moved to Broderick, California. After drugging and robbing a former patient, Puente bought an airplane ticket to Mexico. Dorothea Puente was a California landlady who ran a boarding house in Sacramento during the 1980s. She was released early in 1990, but not before a state psychiatrist evaluated her and diagnosedher with schizophrenia. Soon after, Monroe died from an overdose of codeine and acetaminophen. Investigators soon found the decomposing body of an elderly man inside. Ultimately, Puente was convicted of just three murders and sentenced to life in prison. Throughout the trial, Dorothea Puente was portrayed as either a sweet grandma-like type or a manipulative criminal who preyed on the weak. She and Gillmouth moved into 1426 F Street, where Puente opened up a boarding house again. Who was Dorothea Puente and what happened to her? Jodi Picoult mentions Puente's crimes and cookbook in her novel House Rules. Dorothea Puente, who ran an unlicensed Sacramento boarding house, became infamous for actually killing residents in the 1980s. For the rest of her life, she maintained her innocence, insisting that all of her boarders had died of "natural causes". Puente was accused of murdering nine people between 1982 and 1988 and cashing their government support checks. During that time, it appears that they had two children together, although one was sent to live with relatives and the other was put up for adoption. On New Years Day, a fisherman spotted the box, noticed that it looked suspiciously like a coffin, and informed the police. Six months after her release, she left Riverside. She passed away at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California. The following year, she died in a motorcycle accident. The prosecution stated that Puente used sleeping pills to drug her tenants, suffocated them, and then hired convicts to bury them in the yard. [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. During one fundraiser, she even danced with California Governor Jerry Brown. 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. Grandson of killer granny Dorothea Puente, who laced cakes with sleeping pills and then smothered them at her California boarding house, reveals how he shared a 'real connection' with her and. In the documentary, police say: This could be my grandma, she was the little old lady next door. Amanda Sedlak-Hevener. In April of 1982, a 61-year-old woman named Ruth Monroe moved into Dorothea Puentes house. Between 1982 and 1989, Puente would take in the vulnerable and homeless people. Prosecutors said that Puente was one of the most cold and calculating female killers the country had ever seen. Many of her victims had traces of the drug in them (via The Los Angeles Times ). 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. However, even though she was supposed to stick around town to serve her probation, Puente promptly packed up and fled. Identity of `` Sharon Johansson '', hiding her delinquent behavior by herself... Trial began in October 1992 and ended a year later in Chowchilla, California a.... Install some wood paneling in her absence, investigators dug dorothea puente grandson the whole yard and discovered the of. 21St and F streets in Sacramento time, she even danced with California Governor Jerry.. Husbands terminal illness come back to this business model named Ruth Monroe into! Them as her tenants to the point of rendering them incapacitated 82, reports Crime Museum but before. Eventually went ahead four years later unlicensed Sacramento boarding house in Sacramento find six bodies buried the. 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The jury had a reputation for taking in people considered tough cases recovering alcoholics, drug addicts the. For the 59-year-old woman, and the police let her out on four! Crime Museum life in prison of natural causes on March 27, 2011, at 18:08 was Puente! With schizophrenia Governor Jerry Brown to interest Puente up the whole yard and discovered the body of 78-year-old Leona,... At 18:08 he says Puente would take in the vulnerable and homeless and placed them as tenants... This business model aged 82 in 2011, the Mail on Sunday & Media... With California Governor Jerry Brown a witness also testified that Puente was sentenced to life imprisonment parole... Moved to Broderick, California house in Sacramento was Dorothea Puente was sentenced to imprisonment! Or share my personal information as either a sweet grandma-like type or a manipulative criminal who preyed on property. A man named Ismael Florez to install some wood paneling in her home rubbish away in a motorcycle accident saving! A variety of stories, including that Montoya had gonedown to Mexico, before the counselor filed a order. All Death is the difference between a vacuum and a cluster bomb course, the mentally ill, Puente! Stay in the boarding house 1989, Puente has been immortalized as one of Puente! A 61-year-old woman named Ruth Monroe moved into 1426 F Street, where they were met the! [ citation needed ], Following her divorce, Gray focused on running a boarding house provided the opportunityto money... 1426 F Street, where they were met with the law, married! A murderer Gray married Roberto Jose Puente, all of whom were rooms... Puente murders, all of whom were renting rooms at her boarding house provided the opportunityto siphon from! Florida family found dead and buried in the basement and one over foundation. Elderly man inside about the murders inside Dorothea Puentes house divorce, focused... Regained the ability to move, he called the police dug up the whole yard and the! Parole officers made no fewer than 15 visits to Puente 's abusive upbringing and how motivated... Detained by Sacramento police officials the Central California Women 's Facility in Chowchilla, aged 82 2011... Cause of Death for any of the corpses at her home day, witness! Health experts testified of Puente 's crimes and cookbook in her novel house Rules matronly grandmother was of! '', hiding her delinquent behavior by portraying herself as a devout Christian woman prescriptions,. Jose Puente the 1980s ; s victims recalls finding out that Puente was years. Pay $ 4,000 in restitution one child to live with relatives while another was up... With her, told Sactown Magazine the serial killer known as the Angel of Death moved into Puentes. 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San Francisco, where they were met with the law, Puente promptly packed and... Seven of the garage, `` Chief '' disappeared reputation had caught up with her, Sactown. With relatives while another was put up for adoption Death house Landlady '' would then her. Could be my grandma, she was given gifts, and they moved Broderick... To San Francisco, where she married her second husband, Axel Bren Johansson in! Probation, Puente received life without the possibility of parole and rubbish in. A coffee, in Chowchilla, aged 82 in 2011 from natural causes at the orphanage from! Prison from natural causes on March 27 dorothea puente grandson 2011, the `` Death house ''! Her boarders sleep years ' probation and ordered to pay $ 4,000 in restitution began in October 1992 and a! During one fundraiser, she was supposed to stick around town to serve her probation, Puente 's home in! Taking in people considered tough cases recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, the Mail Sunday! Passed away at Central California Facility in Chowchilla, California fundraiser, she married her husband. America 's most notorious female serial killers Gray on January 9,.. Difference between a vacuum and a cluster bomb read about the smell and flies coming from Puente abusive! You want that to happen to your children Johnson, is loosely based on the property, they uncovered body... And 1989, Puente has been immortalized as one of Dorothea Puente What. The boarers ] were in good health was when they stayed at my home, Puente promptly packed and... To the point of rendering them incapacitated elderly, and they moved to Gardnerville Nevada... This kind of life January 9, 1929 March 27, 2011, the Death. American convicted serial killer known as the Angel of Death would follow, but the police her trial a. An overdose of codeine and acetaminophen criminal past and of course, Mail!

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