Retired social worker Mildred Ballenger first met Puente in the late 1970s. Puente claims she spent time in the 70s with California governors Pat Brown, Jerry Brown and Ronald Reagan. No one else would want that name., Prison protocol bans inmates from talking to each other in the hall apart from brief exchanges. Cops hauling away body bags. 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. The Victorian on F Street. has sold out to audiences at the California Stage, Wilkerson Theatre, UC Davis, and in January 2023 at Saramento Theatre Company. 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. In April 2020, the house and current owners were showcased in the Quibi series Murder House Flip. Her body shapeless under a long-sleeve T-shirt and dungarees, she has pulled back her snowy plume of hair with a pink scrunchie. He ferried Puente to police headquarters and grilled her for two hours. Despite the guilty verdict of her . Everybodys heard of me. The next spring, with her husband hospitalized by terminal cancer, the 61-year-old Munroe moved in with Puente to save money. (Courtesy of The Sacramento Bee/Genaro Molina). A year later her mother died in a motorcycle accident. Shes got everything she needs, her life is taken care of. Some lauded the tireless advocate whose charitable work benefited the Hispanic community. She sits erect, legs crossed at the ankles and tucked beneath her chair. I have read books and hundreds of news articles and file after file of court records related to her crimes. Some of the bodies were mummified in cloth, bed sheets and duct tape. Dorothea - Dorothea (also spelled Dorothe, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Drotha) meaning "God's Gift". ), Puente relates that, as a Rockette, she met John Kennedy, then a U.S. senator, and his wife, Jackie, and befriended actress Rita Hayworth. Her escape brought coast-to-coast ridicule of Police Chief John Kearns and his department while authorities chased dead-end leads from Las Vegas to Mexico. Satisfied, the authorities ruled Monroes death a suicide and moved on. But in the 1980s, their residence was a boarding house owned by Dorothea Puente, who killed her elderly and disabled tenants to steal their Social Security checks. We break the ice. Pathologists testified that they hadnt been able to fix the cause of death for any of the corpses. After I cleared the prisons background check, we arranged a date in mid-October; an early riser, she told me she preferred to meet in the morning. I started working her, Cabrera says, but all along, she was working me. Then learn about Aileen Wuornos, historys most terrifying female serial killer. McFaul left her in late 1948.[5][6]. (Courtesy of John Cabrera). Her escape intensified interest in a lurid tale that for a time made Sacramento the center of the media universe. But God always puts obstacles in peoples way. Puente, meanwhile, was a model prisoner, often cooking for the other prisoners and guards her tamales, in particular, were much loved. Dorothea Montalvo Puente might seem like "a grandmotherly figure," says prosecutor John O'Mara. Between 1982 and 1989, Puente would take in the vulnerable and homeless people. How did I know where they were? Absolving herself, Puente fingers McCauley and another former tenant as the possible murder suspects. The serial killer shuffles into the room with a chickens hitched gait. [3] Her parents were both alcoholics and her father repeatedly threatened to commit suicide in front of his children. My question about the incident draws an explanation akin to the one Puente gave a county judge nearly a half century earlier: I was there visiting a friend when the cops came. She refuses to elaborate. Dorothea was convicted of three out of nine murder counts and sentenced to life in prison in August of 1993. The two talked through the afternoon, with Willgues both attracted to and wary of the well-dressed stranger who sipped screwdrivers. I wonder if she ever wishes she had received the death penalty. Hed been referred to Dorothea Puentes house because of her sterling reputation welcoming people like him. Many of them found dead and buried in the boarding house's yard. 104-107. The four women and three men, ages 52 to 79, had boarded at the two-story, powder-blue Victorian. The jury deliberated over a month and eventually found Puente guilty of three murders. At the time, she was serving two life sentences and a concurrent 15-year-to-life sentence. Puente got the second-degree charge for Carpenter's death, as. Prosecutors said that Puente was one of the most cold and calculating female killers the country had ever seen.. At 39, she was 16 years older than Roberto Puente, a Mexican migr whose interest in his heavyset bride concerned money and American citizenship, as chronicled in Disturbed Ground, a 1994 book about the Puente murder case. Puente was charged with a total of nine murders: Puente's boyfriend, Everson Gillmouth, 77; and eight tenants who lived at the boarding house: Ruth Munroe, 61; Leona Carpenter, 78; Alvaro "Bert/Alberto" Gonzales Montoya, 51; Dorothy Miller, 64; Benjamin Fink, 55; James Gallop, 62; Vera Faye Martin, 64; and Betty Palmer, 78. She did not strike me as a person who had a major mental illness. That is a human quality that deserves to be preserved. Dorothea Puente awaiting arraignment in Sacramento, California on November 17, 1988. The discovery prompted Cabrera to summon Puente to the backyard. I am waiting for Dorothea Puente. Dorothea Puente was a convicted serial killer who ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California in the 1980s. She folds the towel several times into a tight square before clasping her hands together on her lap like a child attending Mass. In November 1992, the same month jury selection started, she rejected a plea deal that would spare her the death penalty if she pleaded guilty to all nine murders. For William Clausen, by contrast, the bodies buried in Puentes yard confirmed what he already considered fact: she killed for profit. At the time of her 1988 arrest on murder charges, photos of Puente with Jerry Brown, former California Gov. She also suffered a miscarriage. Be Careful of the Quiet Ones 45m When college student Maribel Ramos goes missing, detectives turn their focus to her roommate, K.C. [citation needed]. "Someone. She would flee the city that morning. Puente sah aus wie die Gromutter aus der Nachbarschaft, aber in Wirklichkeit war sie eine kaltbltige Mrderin. She steams the tamales in plastic bags placed in a pan of water warmed with two electric immersion coils. A few wander over to a colorful mural of Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet, who prance beneath a banner reading Family Is Love, Love Is Family. None of the kids acts bothered that mom or grandma or big sister is doing time. '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. Puente offered a place where they could hang on. The 9/ . Still, prison has changed Puente in one profound aspect, reforming her into an obedient citizen. Frequent quarrels and separations marred the marriage, with much of the discord brought on by Dorotheas appetites for drinking, gambling and other men. She does not smile, laugh or joke much in my presence, but nor does she betray malevolence. The wanted bulletin for Dorothea Puente. She created a fake persona, calling herself "Teya Singoalla Neyaarda", a Muslim woman of Egyptian and Israeli descent. I dont know that she ever did anything good without a bad motive.. The Victorian on F Street. After several days of deliberations, the jury was deadlocked 75; Judge Michael J. Virga declared a mistrial when the jury said further deliberations would not change their minds. 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. The forensic psychiatrist, assigned to evaluate the alleged serial killer as her case proceeded toward trial, would spend 12 hours talking with her over the next four years. A woman known as Dorothea Puente runs a boarding house for those less fortunate, but her seeming benevolence belies motives that are much darker. Six months after her release, she left Riverside. 31 of the Royal Viking. Police soon figured out why, uncovering the remains of six more bodies. If you lived anywhere else, theres still a good chance you recognize it, or at least the rough outline of her crimes. Explaining away the corpses in her yard, she says, Not one person who worked for me saw me doing anything wrong. I leave through a different door and make my way out of the prison, stepping into the cool afternoon air. Genaro Molina/Sacramento Bee/MCT/Getty ImagesThe boarding house made infamous by Dorothea Puentes murders. Wearing purple pumps and a long red coat over a pink dress, Puente carries a large maroon purse and pink umbrella, her eyes cast downward to watch her step. The pensioner contacted local law enforcement who then quickly arrested Puente. It is late March and after midnight, the hour when shepossibly with the help of an unsuspecting Montoya or another accomplice, a mystery police never solvedburied bodies in the yard. With age and health concerns relieving her of work duty, she considers her self-assigned morning chores, attending chapel and other diversions a means of survival. Several were swaddled in bed sheets that matched linens found in the house. [6], In 1968, Gray married Roberto Jose Puente. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. She inflated her age by 10 to 15 years to further disarm her elderly clients, whom she set about exploiting under the guise of ministering to them. Her evasive answersfirst claiming he had traveled to Mexico, then that he had returned and moved to Utahtripped Moises suspicion. In turn, I know that when she receives my letter telling her as much, shell cut off contact. Dorothea Helen Gray, ms conocida como Dorothea Puente, naci el 9 de enero de 1929 en Redlands (California, Estados Unidos), en el seno de una familia trabajadora. The detective had yet to realize that, in the 59-year-old Puente, he had another serial killer on his hands. But their marriage was brief only three years and hinted at trouble beneath the surface. I think they needed somebody and I was the easiest one around., Yet the most illuminating aspect of talking with Puente in prison arises from her silence about the dead. We lapse into a short silence, and in that span, the incredible feats of a younger Dorothea diminish in the distance. Dick Schmidt/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesDorothea Puente after her arrest in Los Angeles, en route back to Sacramento. Her past crimes belied her pose of pure benevolence, yet she had submitted to the house and yard searches without protest. Its about a mile from my building to here, she says. A gentle bear of a man, the 52-year-old Montoya suffered from untreated psychosis, a condition that for years had consigned him to the streets and homeless shelters. Puentes vanishing ignited a manhunt that stretched to Mexico. A year earlier, he had probed the case of Morris Solomon, a Sacramento handyman who would be convicted of murdering six women across the city. Montoya struggled with mental health issues and had been homeless for years. She declines to disclose the fathers name, when and where they were born and died or the circumstances of their deaths.). Her passivity subdues suspicion. She tells me they appreciate the advice she provides them, whether informal legal counsel on their cases or how to traverse the social services network after their release. It occurs to me that if I were unaware of her past and talking with her outside of prison, she could come across as the little old lady next door. The police bulletin sent out after Puentes escape (Courtesy of John Cabrera), Throughout our meetings, Puente furtively points out inmates and comments on their crimes. In late 1981, his mother, Ruth Munroe, went into business with Puente, leasing and running the restaurant side of the Round Corner Tavern in midtown. A lot of people saw your running away as a sign of guilt. Her goodwill earned her the honorific title la doctora and flattering write-ups in local Spanish publications. Discovery posts $217 MILLION loss in its streaming business after adding just 1.1M subscribers last quarter - despite HBO Max debuts like White Lotus and House of the Dragon, $113 BILLION on a war with no end in sight: DailyMail.com breaks down Joe Biden's enormous military package for Ukraine on the first anniversary of Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion, DAILY MAIL COMMENT:Make this Ukraine's last year of horror, 'Before the war, we saw Russians alive. I now see them as tokens of loneliness, trifles to mark the time. The truth about this notorious woman serial killer's spree finally emerged in October of 1954 after her fifth husband Samuel Doss died in a hospital in Oklahoma. Dorothea Puente war eine feste Gre in ihrer Gemeinde - sie kmmerte sich um ihre Nachbarn, spendete hufig fr wohlttige Zwecke und nahm diejenigen auf, die die Gesellschaft beiseite geschoben hatte. (AP Photo/Walt Zeboski). The noise inside the prisons visitors hall amplifies on Valentines Day. 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 . After noticing disturbed soil on the property, they uncovered the body of tenant Leona Carpenter, 78. Dorothea Puente, ne Dorothea Helen Gray, was born on January 9, 1929, in Redlands, California. I watch as she pushes away the empty plastic container of fried chicken strips and french fries that she finished eating earlier. Going to church every day. She settled her nerves not with coffee but a few vodkas with orange juice while he drank beer. (To the question of which verse most resonates with her, she shrugs and replies, All of em.) She then quietly gathers the clothing of her slumbering roomies to wash later in the morning, when prisoners are allowed out of their cells. Artifacts from the Dorothea Puente case splay out before him: a faded article published in a local Spanish newspaper with a black and white photo of a younger Puente; a pair of her mug shots, blue eyes dimmed and weary in both; a prescription label in her name for diazepam, a tranquilizer sold as Valium; the original wanted bulletin from Nov. 12, 1988, the day she went on the lam. The inmates know who she is, the official says. That is mitigating. Slight and demure, with her ivory-white hair and solicitous demeanor, the landlady resembled any other elderly woman with a kitchen full of pots and pans and a cat calendar hanging next to the stove. The house at 1426 F Street, now painted a shade of gingerbread, appears occupied on the first floor and empty on the second, where she used to sleep. A man identifying himself as a talent scout for the Radio City Rockettes, the famed New York City dance troupe, sized her up and, on the spot, invited her to fly east for an audition. Procedural wrangling moved the trial to Monterey, after a judge ruled that the intense media coverage of Puente in the Sacramento region would preclude her from receiving a fair trial here. She answers with a look of mild reproach that pulls taut her soft fist of a face. 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. It doesnt fit., At least three peopledefense attorneys Kevin Clymo and Peter Vlautin and their clientharbored scarce empathy for the prosecutor. A pair of Christmas ornaments made by Puente in prison. It was always moving. She had breached her federal probation by running a boardinghouse, yet admitted to the offense when asked. Seven bodies were eventually found buried on the property.[10]. I dont know what to tell you, she said. Puente claims she spent time in the 70s with California governors Pat Brown, Jerry Brown and Ronald Reagan. Isabel Vincent. Police found seven bodies. Puentes next two marriages would be short-lived. Grandson of Dorothea Puente, shared a 'real connection' with her - Daily Newshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGIQ4XcqArGYqiw70QoKcvw?sub_confirmation=1Grand. Been here 27 years. It was a human leg bone, he recalls. At the age of 64, Puente - who was born Dorothea Helen Gray - was tried in 1993 for the murders of nine people after police found seven bodies buried in the garden of her home and two more. 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. After learning about the murders inside Dorothea Puentes house, read about the serial killer known as the Angel of Death. As the others begin to stir, she tidies up the space, a boardinghouse landlady to the last. A well-researched play by Mark Loewenstern entitled "Dorothea Puente Tells All!" Puente told them that they were welcome to do so, and even provided an extra shovel. [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]. Sacramento Bee Two more murders She'd. She recalls the future president and his first wife, Jane Wyman, as her good friends. When I mention the Gippers second wife, Puente frowns. A lot of women shouldnt be here., She counts herself among them, even while conceding few people believe in her innocence. And it was so counter to her strenuous effort all her life to be somebody who was respected, somebody important., Puente received a prison term of life without parole after the jury deadlocked on whether to give her the death penalty, an ending that deepened William Clausens bitterness. Subscribe to Sactown Magazine . Common sense says that if youve got [seven] people who have died in your house, somethings gone wrong, says Vlautin, who retired from the Sacramento Public Defenders Office in 2005. So when I wrote to Puente last summer, nearly 20 years after the discovery of her victims, I had little expectation she would respond, let alone agree to talk. An alarmed Ballenger urged fellow counselors to steer clear of Puente. He was good to me. (Johansson did not respond to interview requests.). The only time [the boarers] were in good health was when they stayed at my home, Puente insisted from prison. It is a wistfulness that lays bare the depth of chaos that defined Puentes status quo long before they married in 1952. World's Most Evil Killers - Season 2, Episode 8 - Dorothea Puente - Full Episode FilmRise True Crime 676K subscribers 160K views 1 year ago #truecrime #famous #truecrimedocs In 1988, Puente had. Released after three for good behavior, she returned to Sacramento, with her federal probation extended to 1990 due to the state conviction. Unlike many who passed through Puentes boarding house, however, someone had their eye on Montoya. Or about the white-haired woman who turned the yard into a mass grave. Puente was charged for seven murders, but her trial wouldn't begin for another four years. As police exhumed corpse after corpse, TV crews jammed F Street while gawkers scaled trees to peer into the yard. 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.. She gasped at sight of the remains, hands bracketing her cheeks. Police later accused Puente of lacing food or drinks she served her victims with a lethal mix of prescription drugs, poisoning them to collect their Social Security checks, a scheme that netted more than $5,000 a month. Shes making me lie for her.. One of the bodies was missing its head, hands and feet, Body parts were also found scattered across the property. 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). Thats when the gray door clanks open once more. . On New Years Day, a fisherman spotted the box, noticed that it looked suspiciously like a coffin, and informed the police. Though born in Redlands, Puente, who speaks passable Spanish, claimed Mexico as her birthplace, a ruse she perpetuated by alternately using the surnames of her last two ex-husbands, Roberto Puente and Pedro Montalvo. The three men carried shovels as they fanned out across the backyard of the two-story Victorian at 1426 F Street. I ask why the cops targeted her. Puente was born Dorothea Helen Gray on January 9, 1929. I dont feel like confessing my sins to anyone, she says sharply. Then, she asked if it would be ok if she went to buy a coffee. When police arrived at 1426 F Street, Puente told the cops Montoya was on vacation, but they noticed some undisturbed soil among a vegetable patch in the garden. 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. She watched from her porch, and before Cabrera put spade to soil, she requested a moment of his time. If you lived in Sacramento in the late 80s, you recognize her name. Puente and McCauley had caught a cab from the Clarion Hotel to a West Sacramento bar. Their relationship developed quickly, and the couple was soon making wedding plans. During her trial, the persecution said. She parried, unwavering in her account of Montoyas departure, her voice calm as the detective pressed her. Her words return to me. Her warmth for him appears unrequitedshe hasnt heard from him for awhile nowand reflects rose-tinted nostalgia for a marriage that, despite near constant turmoil, lasted longer than her other three combined. Inmates enter one at a time at irregular intervals through a gray metal door along the rear wall. Dorothea Puente is one of the criminals whose crimes are detailed in 'Worst Roommate Ever.' Puente was known in her neighborhood for housing individuals who were homeless, elderly, or otherwise unable to care for themselves. This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 18:08. On the other hand, when these people, as could be expected, would act upat that point, she snapped and decided to kill them., The Puente trial dragged on for five months, with more than 150 witnesses, thousands of pieces of evidence and unrelenting media scrutiny. Gray would continue to use the surname Puente for more than twenty years. They share a gray cinderblock room furnished with eight metal lockers, four slender bunk beds, two sinks, a toilet and a shower.
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