the killer granny NO ONE suspected | Mystery makeup
Summary
TLDRThis chilling video script narrates the disturbing true crime story of Dorothea Puente, an unassuming elderly woman who committed a series of horrific murders in her Sacramento boarding house. As the details unfold, the script delves into Puente's troubled childhood, her manipulation tactics, and the shocking discovery of multiple bodies buried in her backyard. Despite her grandmotherly appearance, Puente emerges as a remorseless serial killer who preyed on vulnerable tenants, forged checks, and evaded justice for years, leaving a trail of deception and death in her wake. With a blend of macabre intrigue and insightful commentary, this script promises a gripping exploration of one of America's most unlikely and terrifying serial killers.
Takeaways
- 😲 The video discusses the life and crimes of Dorothea Puente, an American serial killer who murdered several of her tenants in Sacramento, California in the 1980s.
- 👵🏻 Puente portrayed herself as a caring elderly woman who ran a boarding house, but secretly drugged and killed her tenants, burying their bodies in the backyard.
- 💰 Puente's main motivation was financial gain, as she continued to cash the Social Security checks of her victims after their deaths.
- 👮♀️ After a lengthy investigation, police discovered seven bodies buried in Puente's backyard, leading to her arrest and conviction for three of the murders.
- 🍽️ While in prison, Puente bizarrely released a cookbook titled 'Cooking with a Serial Killer'.
- 🏡 The house where Puente committed her crimes, located at 1426 F Street, became a morbid tourist attraction, with the new owners leaning into its notoriety.
- 🤥 Puente maintained an unremarkable demeanor and refused to discuss or acknowledge her crimes, leading some to find her 'terrifying' in her lack of remorse.
- ❓ The video raises questions about whether Puente had accomplices who helped her move and bury the bodies, as well as the reasons behind her brief marriages.
- 💀 One victim's body was discovered with missing limbs, suggesting dismemberment, but the details were never fully explored.
- 🧓🏻 At the age of 82, Puente died in prison in 2011, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Q & A
What was Dorothea Puente's background and upbringing like?
-Dorothea Puente had a very rough upbringing. She came from a large family, with anywhere between 6 to 17 siblings. Her parents were neglectful and abusive, with her mother working as a sex worker and her father being an alcoholic who would threaten suicide in front of the children. Both her parents passed away when she was young, leaving her an orphan who was moved from foster home to foster home.
Why was Dorothea often able to avoid suspicion and consequences for her criminal activities?
-Dorothea was able to charm and manipulate people with her friendly and unassuming demeanor as a sweet elderly woman. She would present herself as a devoted Christian woman dedicated to serving her community, endearing herself to social workers who saw her as a reliable and caring figure for taking in tenants.
How did Dorothea target and exploit her victims?
-Dorothea targeted vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly, mentally ill, or those struggling with addiction or homelessness. She would take them in as tenants at her boarding house, collect their Social Security checks and other benefits, and then eventually kill them, often by overdosing them with prescription drugs.
What was the extent of Dorothea's criminal activities and the evidence found against her?
-Investigators found seven bodies buried in the backyard of Dorothea's boarding house, along with evidence that she had cashed over 60 benefit checks belonging to the deceased tenants after their deaths or disappearances. One body was found dismembered, with the head, hands, and lower legs missing. A handyman also testified to helping Dorothea construct a custom box for disposing of a body.
How did Dorothea's trial and conviction unfold?
-After a lengthy trial with over 150 witnesses and extensive evidence, Dorothea was found guilty of three counts of murder, but the jury couldn't reach a verdict on six other murder charges due to the decomposed state of the bodies. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at the age of 64.
What was Dorothea's demeanor and attitude towards her crimes?
-Dorothea never showed much remorse or opened up about her crimes. She maintained an ordinary, unremarkable demeanor and insisted that she was once a good person. Interviews suggested she was wrapped up in her own fantasy world and didn't place much value on human life, which made her terrifying.
How did the infamous boarding house at 1426 F Street become a notorious landmark?
-The boarding house where Dorothea committed her crimes became a notorious landmark, with the new owners leaning into its infamy by putting up signs and a mannequin dressed as Dorothea. People would often come to gawk at the murder house, prompting mixed reactions from the public.
Were there any unanswered questions or mysteries surrounding Dorothea's crimes?
-One unanswered question was whether Dorothea had help from her tenants in burying and potentially dismembering the bodies, as it seemed unlikely she could have done it all on her own as an elderly woman. Additionally, the motivations behind her numerous short marriages remained unclear.
What was unusual about Dorothea's background and behavior?
-Dorothea had a history of constantly changing her name, backstory, and persona, often presenting herself as someone completely different. She had a penchant for telling conflicting stories about her family and background, making it difficult to determine the truth about her early life.
How did Dorothea's case shed light on the challenges of investigating and prosecuting serial killers?
-Dorothea's case highlighted the challenges faced by prosecutors in cases without direct eyewitnesses or clear physical evidence tying the suspect to the crimes. The decomposed state of the bodies and lack of concrete proof made it difficult to secure convictions on all counts, despite the circumstantial evidence pointing to her guilt.
Outlines
👋 Introduction to Bailey Sarian and her Murder, Mystery & Makeup Monday series
Bailey Sarian introduces herself and her weekly series where she discusses true crime stories while doing her makeup. She mentions that this week's story is about Dorothea Puente, an American serial killer who defied typical serial killer profiles. She provides some background on Dorothea's difficult childhood, with neglectful and abusive parents, and her transition into adulthood as a troubled individual.
🔪 Dorothea's Early Life and Criminal Beginnings
The summary covers Dorothea's early life, including her frequent name changes, marriages, and criminal activities such as working as a sex worker, operating a brothel, and writing bad checks. It highlights her tendency to lie about her background and her first criminal conviction for writing bad checks, leading to a probation violation and relocation to San Francisco.
🏠 Dorothea's Unlicensed Care Home and Manipulation
This paragraph details Dorothea's establishment of an unlicensed care home called 'Samaritans,' where she charmed social workers and authorities with her hospitable demeanor. It also reveals her exploitation of the residents, pocketing portions of their Social Security checks and subjecting them to poor living conditions. Her third marriage and subsequent bankruptcy are also mentioned.
💊 Dorothea's First Known Drugging and Theft
The summary outlines Dorothea's first known instance of drugging and robbing an elderly man named Malcolm. It describes how she incapacitated him with drugs and stole his valuables. It also mentions her encounter with another elderly woman, Irene, whom she drugged and robbed under the guise of being a nurse.
🚨 Dorothea's Continued Crimes and Near Misses with Authorities
This paragraph chronicles Dorothea's ongoing criminal activities, including drugging and robbing Dorothy Osborne, her neighbor. It also highlights her narrowly avoiding arrests and charges due to lack of evidence or authorities failing to connect the dots, despite multiple reports and complaints against her.
☠️ The Suspicious Death of Ruth Munroe and Dorothea's Manipulation
The summary details the suspicious death of Ruth Munroe, one of Dorothea's tenants, and the inconclusive coroner's report indicating an overdose of Tylenol and codeine. It also reveals Dorothea's manipulation of Ruth's family and her plans to flee to Mexico with Ruth's money from their joint account.
🕵️♀️ Dorothea's Disappearance and the Discovery of Bodies
This paragraph covers Dorothea's encounter with Everson Gillmouth, her fourth husband, and his subsequent disappearance. It also describes the discovery of his body, initially labeled as a 'John Doe,' and the eventual identification of seven bodies buried in Dorothea's backyard, leading to her fleeing and eventual arrest.
💸 Dorothea's Exploitation of Tenants and Fraudulent Activities
The summary outlines Dorothea's systematic exploitation of her tenants, including pocketing their Social Security checks, forcing them to behave in ways that led to their arrests, and profiting from their absence. It also mentions her fraudulent activities, such as forging benefit checks and collecting money from deceased tenants.
👮♀️ The Investigation and Discovery of Dorothea's Crimes
This paragraph details the investigation into the disappearance of Bert Montoya, one of Dorothea's tenants, and the subsequent search of her property, leading to the discovery of seven buried bodies. It also covers the authorities' pursuit of Dorothea after she fled and her eventual arrest in Los Angeles.
⚖️ Dorothea's Arrest, Trial, and Conviction
The summary outlines Dorothea's arrest, her demeanor during questioning and trial, and the challenges faced by the prosecution due to lack of eyewitnesses. It also covers the key evidence presented, including the testimony of the handyman who helped her dispose of a body, and her eventual conviction for three counts of murder and life sentence.
📘 Dorothea's Life in Prison and Legacy
This paragraph discusses Dorothea's life in prison, including her release of a cookbook titled 'Cooking with a Serial Killer' and her refusal to discuss her crimes or show remorse. It also mentions the legacy of her former home at 1426 F Street, which became a local attraction, and the opinions of those who interviewed her regarding her ordinary demeanor masking her lack of regard for human life.
🤔 Unanswered Questions and Final Thoughts
The final paragraph poses unanswered questions about Dorothea's crimes, such as whether she had assistance in burying and disposing of bodies, the reasons behind her short marriages, and the dismemberment of one victim's body. It also expresses the narrator's belief that Dorothea likely coerced or manipulated her tenants into assisting her and her apparent lack of remorse or concern for others' opinions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Serial Killer
💡Boarding House
💡Social Security Checks
💡Manipulation
💡Persona
💡Antisocial Personality Disorder
💡Forensics
💡Remorse
💡Unsuspecting
💡Motive
Highlights
Dorothea Puente was an American serial killer who murdered multiple elderly and vulnerable people for financial gain by cashing their Social Security checks.
Puente had a rough upbringing with neglectful and abusive parents, which may have contributed to her lack of empathy and disregard for human life.
Puente operated a boarding house for the elderly and those struggling with addiction, gaining the trust of social workers and presenting herself as a caring figure.
Puente would drug her tenants with prescription medications and bury their bodies in the backyard of her boarding house.
Seven bodies were unearthed from Puente's backyard, but she was convicted of only three murders due to lack of evidence for the others.
Puente showed no remorse for her crimes and insisted she was a good person, living in a fantasy world that made her terrifying.
The narrator questions how Puente, as an older woman, could have moved and buried the bodies alone, suggesting she likely had help from tenants.
Puente's short marriages and frequent name changes may have been attempts to evade detection or gain financial benefits.
While in prison, Puente released a cookbook titled 'Cooking with a Serial Killer,' showcasing a lack of remorse for her crimes.
The house where Puente committed her crimes became a local attraction, with the new owners embracing the notoriety and displaying a mannequin dressed as Puente.
Puente's victims were often vulnerable individuals with no family or close connections, making it easier for her to exploit them without raising suspicion.
Puente was known for her charming and motherly persona, which helped her gain the trust of social workers and authorities.
Puente would cash the Social Security checks of her victims long after their deaths or disappearances, amassing significant financial gain.
Puente was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, marked by deceit, manipulation, and a lack of remorse for her actions.
The narrator ponders the nature of Puente's marriages and whether they were motivated by financial gain or a desire for a new identity.
Transcripts
- Hi, friends, how are you today?
I hope you are having a wonderful day so far.
My name is Bailey Sarian.
And today is Monday, which means it's murder mystery
and Makeup Monday.
If you're new here, hi, my name is Bailey,
and on Mondays I sit down, and I talk about true crime story
that's been heavy on my knock in.
And I do my makeup at the same time
just to keep myself busy.
If you're interested in true crime and you like makeup, hi.
I would say subscribe,
'cause I'm here for you every other Monday,
and I do this, the products I'm using down below.
YouTube has this new thing,
where it's like it pops up on the side.
Let me know if you like that or not.
Trying it out, it's new, I don't know.
But other than that,
I will shut up and get into today's story.
Today, we're talking about an American serial killer
who nobody would've thought would be a serial killer,
'cause she does not check any of the boxes
of a fricking serial killer.
These are the ones you gotta watch out for, okay?
Today, we're talking about Dorothea Puente, you know her?
I thought I knew her story.
I'm always surprised every time.
I learned so much.
So let me tell you about Dorothea and her story.
She's got a lot going on and I left some stuff out,
because it was like, dude,
it was just a lot, it doesn't matter.
Dorothea was born January 9th, 1929
in San Bernardino, California.
San Bernardino was like just east of Los Angeles,
and at the time, when she was born there,
'cause now, it's like it's pretty well developed,
but when she was born it was like new,
and upcoming, and becoming a major metropolitan area.
You know, it's just starting off.
San Bernardino, little fun fact
was where the first McDonald's was built,
so there's that fun.
Now, record keeping at this time, not the best.
So there's like a lot of things that we don't really know
for sure about like Dorothea's upbringing,
but what we do know was that her upbringing was rough,
as I'm sure you can imagine, right?
Well, maybe you don't, but let me tell you.
So it was said that Dorothea,
she was a part of like a really big family.
She had anywhere between 6 to 17 siblings.
Now, it's unclear, nobody knows what the real answer is.
Dorothea would tell conflicting stories
about her background and her family,
so no one ever really got clarification.
So she either had 6 siblings or 17.
Just go with it.
So Dorothea's parents were not ideal.
Dorothea's mom was young when she had children,
and to make money, she worked as a sex worker.
But then when she was home,
it was said that she was just like very abusive.
She was uninterested, she's like, "Children where not mine."
And she loved the alcohol.
It was said, it was clear to the kids that like,
their mom did not like them or even wanna be around them.
She would take off her work,
she wouldn't say anything, okay?
And she wouldn't be gone for like just a few hours.
She would like go missing for days.
Yeah, everyone's like, "Where's mom?"
No idea, then she would just reappear one day and be like,
"What?
What?"
It just would be days, whatever, whatever.
When she did leave for long periods of time,
her answer was like, what to do with the children,
was to just lock them in one of the closets,
so they'd be safe.
Yeah, so she'd locked them in the closet.
Dorothea's father wasn't any better.
He, too, loved to just numb out with alcohol.
And when he was home with the kids, it was quite dramatic.
I guess he would get like real soft stop,
and he would announce to everyone in the room
that he was gonna kill himself, like, in front of the kids.
He's like, "I'm gonna kill myself."
So then he would literally bring out his gun,
he would press it against his head,
and tell them that he was going to pull the trigger.
Well, he was a big, old lying bitch,
because he never did it, but like I'm sure it's safe
to assume here that that was probably a traumatic thing
to witness for the kids or anyone, really, right?
Your dad doing that.
So rough.
Dorothea's father was physically sick a lot, too.
He had served in like in World War I,
and when doing so, at some point,
he was exposed to mustard gas,
which just destroyed his lungs and had lasting effects.
In 1927, when Dorothea was 8,
her dad ended up passing away from tuberculosis.
And then not even a year later,
Dorothea's mom ends up passing away in like a horrible,
horrible motorcycle accident.
She sounded wild, right?
'Cause I guess at this time,
her mom was like hanging around a motorcycle gang,
causing trouble, doing her thing,
but yeah, she got into an accident, and she died.
Dorothea was now an orphan,
and was being moved around from like place to place,
foster home to foster home,
and just no longer had that stable home life.
I'm not even sure if it was stable to begin with.
You know, obviously, tragic for anyone.
It was said during this time is when Dorothea
became quite the storyteller.
Like, she would tell like a lot of little lies
about anything and everything.
When she turned 16, she decided to get out of her situation,
and move out on her own to Olympia, Washington.
When she gets to Olympia, Washington,
she tells everyone that her name is Sherri.
She's like, "Hey, I'm Sherri."
And she quickly finds a job working at a milkshake shop,
and starts also working as a sex worker
to make some extra money.
Working at a milkshake shop, though, that would be my dream.
Okay, but she's working there and she's making,
but, you know, she's gotta pay the bill.
So she does sex work on the side,
so she could actually make money.
So 1945, Dorothea is 16 years old,
and this is when she meets a World War II vet,
his name is Fred McFaul.
The two of them seem to hit it off,
and after knowing each other for just like a few months,
they decide, "Hey we should get married," and they do.
Ah, marriage, yes, so quickly,
but it's pretty normal back then I guess, right?
Well, still now, people get married.
Whatever, they get married.
Now, Fred, he thought he knew who he was marrying,
but he had no idea.
Fred knew her as Sherriale Riscile.
And not only that, he thought,
he thought she was 30 years old.
Which I was like, okay, listen.
Either she must have been like a rough looking 16-year-old
to pass as a 30-year-old, or this Fred guy was dumb, blind?
I don't know, but he thought she was 30 allegedly.
So later on when Fred had learned the truth,
he would say that he thought Dorothea
genuinely just wanted to be a different person.
Like, she was probably running from her past.
As Sherriale, she could be whoever she wanted to be.
not that sad Dorothea with the shitty upbringing,
you know, probably, yeah.
Well, Dorothea and Fred, they're married,
and they end up moving to Nevada together.
The two of them would go on to have two daughters.
One in 1946 and another in 1947, but get this.
Both children would end up being removed from the home.
Now, I couldn't find out why,
because like they don't just come in
and remove children, right?
There has to be something wrong, but they were removed.
One daughter was taken to live with relatives
and the other was placed in adoption.
I don't know what was going on in that house,
but something obviously was not right, right?
More concealer makes me feel safe.
1948, Dorothea and Fred, they end up getting a divorce.
It wasn't working out.
Don't know.
Okay, when the divorce was final,
Dorothea, she would go around telling everyone
that her first husband had died.
I guess it's better than saying she got divorced.
So everyone for a long time,
believed that her first husband had indeed died.
Poor Dorothea.
So with her first husband dead now,
she ended up moving back to San Bernardino.
You know, she's familiar with it,
it's where she lives, whatever.
She didn't have any money,
she didn't have anyone to help her.
So this is when she picks up
her first criminal conviction.
Dorothea, she started writing bad checks,
which she got caught for, and would end up spending
four months in jail for writing bad checks.
She was also placed on three years probation,
which she kind of took as like a suggestion,
because she broke the probation in like month six,
because she ended up or she decided
she wanted to move to San Francisco instead.
So she moves to San Francisco, finds a man,
quickly marries him, changes her name.
All of this, I'm assuming to avoid the probation officers
from finding her.
She also started claiming to be an Israeli Muslim woman.
Like a, just a rebrand, if you will.
Also a side note, I don't wanna like give
all the husband's names and stuff,
'cause there's a ton and it's like you don't need to know
all the husband's names and stuff.
They don't, you get it?
Okay, I just don't think it matters.
Like, they end up getting divorced, like not that long.
So in 1960, Dorothea starts running
her own bookkeeping service, but really, it was a front.
She was actually running a brothel,
and she was working as the madam.
She would take care of the location and the girls,
and I'm using take care of loosely,
because I don't really know,
I don't really know if she was taking care of them.
We don't know.
But she was in charge of the brothel home,
and she was making good money doing it.
She's like, "Hell yeah, got him."
Well, the guy who was like renting the building to Dorothea.
He wasn't dumb, he caught on as to what was really going on,
and he ended up reporting her to the police.
So the police come in,
and they do this whole sting operation,
you know, undercover police work,
where I'm sure somebody got a free handy,
but it proved that Dorothea was indeed running a brothel,
and she was acting as the one in charge.
So arrested right there, she pleaded guilty,
and she was given 90 days in jail.
It was said, her husband at the time was very supportive,
but it doesn't really matter,
because as soon as she got out of jail,
the two of them got a divorce, it's her second husband.
She knew she was onto something though,
like maybe not running a brothel,
but something else, a new business venture.
She was like, "I like being in charge, you know?"
So she ended up setting up like an unlicensed care home,
and this care home would be for the elderly, the ill,
and most importantly, anyone who's struggled
with some form of like addiction, alcoholism,
stuff like that, and she called it the Samaritans.
So this new business venture,
Dorothea would be working as a 24-hour caretaker,
which would allow her to take a certain percentage
of her client's Social Security checks to fund the thing.
So she's able to have, you know,
a bit of income and keep things going.
It was said Dorothea could be quite the charmer.
She was able to get like everyone on her side.
When city inspectors would come by or like social workers,
they'd all come by like the building she was renting,
and they were always given like a warm welcome.
It was said Dorothea would offer them
some pie and coffee with every visit.
And usually every month,
she would throw a dinner for her clients
and their social workers.
And they were like always impressed with Dorothea.
They were like, "She cares so much about helping people.
It's amazing, isn't it?"
It's a shame.
The social workers, they considered her a stable
motherly figure for the people in her care.
I mean, it was just, she was a blessing.
Dorothea, now 39, gets married a third time
to a 21-year-old,
but the marriage only lasted about two weeks,
and then they divorced.
I don't know what the goal was there.
Okay, wow, with any of our marriages,
but hey, third divorce, done and over with.
But at the same time of this divorce,
she also declared bankruptcy.
I guess her business, the Samaritans was $10,000 in debt.
Yeah, I mean she didn't really have a background
in running a business,
so she had no idea really what she was doing.
She's like, "I don't know, I was just guessing."
But she took notes, okay?
She was gonna try again.
So she was like time for another rebrand, (gibbers).
That's the rebrand noise.
So Dorothea now in her 40's, transformed once more.
It was said that she had always been known
for her, quote, "brassy sexy makeup and dress", end quote.
But now suddenly or all of a sudden,
she was wearing baggy clothes, she's dressing modestly,
and she stopped dyeing her hair.
She told new acquaintances
that she was a devoted Christian woman
who was dedicated to serving her community,
which good for her, you wanna believe her?
But, you know, we're here, it's Monday.
So we know that's not really what she wants, is it?
No, it's not.
So Dorothea, she had rented a three story house
at 2100 F Street in Sacramento, California.
Sacramento, I've never been, it's the state capital.
I hear it's not that great.
Anyways, she's renting a house there, okay?
What she did was she took over the whole
like third floor of the place for her personal residence.
And then she had borders living
throughout the rest of the home.
It was said she took in homeless people,
anyone struggling with mental health issues
or substance issues.
And within the home, she also would host AA meetings.
And honestly, like the local social workers,
they were familiar with the whole thing.
And again, they considered Dorothea's services
as a reliable placement for their clients,
believing that Dorothea was taking good care of the people.
It was said that Dorothea, she had a system,
okay, she knew what she was doing.
The borders who were receiving
higher federally funded checks were put on the main floor.
While the residents who didn't have much to offer her
were kept in the basement,
where like there were, quote, unquote,
"rooms made up and separated by curtains."
Kind of like what they do at the hospital,
you know, they put up curtains, you get it,
so that's where they would stay.
And it sounds all fine and dandy, but we're here, you know.
I guess, behind closed doors, Dorothea would lose it.
Like, she would blow up on her tenants
about anything and everything.
I imagine she probably had some built up anger, huh?
Especially when it came to like the alcoholics.
It was said most likely, because they reminded her
of her own parents, which makes sense, right?
It was said that she was just a mean woman
behind closed doors.
During this time, Dorothea even developed
a drinking problem of her own.
Whoopsie.
So to keep her business afloat,
she would take Social Security checks from her tenants
to get the basics for the home.
And even sometimes, she would use that money to donate
to political campaigns that worked
towards gaining some respect within the social space.
And it worked, I mean, people left her alone.
And again, thought she was an angel helping the community,
helping the less fortunate,
and someone that they could rely on.
Kind of smart though, huh?
She was covering her book making sure no one's coming in
and like checking up on her.
Dorothea somehow managed to get a fourth husband.
No idea how she's finding them.
I know, but okay.
So the two would call it quits
after like 16 months of marriage.
Her fourth husband's biggest complaint
was that she wanted to buy new pantyhose every single day.
Not the pantyhose.
Leave the pantyhose out of this,
but that's was his reasoning.
In September of 1978,
someone over at the Social Security administration
was getting a little funny feeling about this Dorothea lady.
So they start to snoop around looking in her records,
and what really stuck out to them was how could a lady
with prior convictions be running
a reliable boarding house for recovering alcoholics?
Like, it just things, they had some questions.
So the treasury department
started looking into her finances,
and found out that Miss Dorothea had once,
again, been forging checks, oh yeah.
They stopped totaling the amount of forged checks
when the total reached $4,000,
which was enough to be charged with a felony.
So police, they find her, they approach her.
Dorothea quickly pled guilty.
And because of this, she avoided prison time.
She instead got five years parole,
and was ordered to undergo psychological counseling.
Now, because of all this hot mess,
she ended up losing her house at 2100 F Street,
and her position as a civic leader.
This was devastating to her.
And it was said, this led to her suffering
from a complete nervous breakdown.
Her psychiatrist diagnosed her
with a broad personality disorder.
In his words saying that she was a,
"schizophrenia, chronic undifferentiated type", end quote.
Noted, you know, okay.
Well, when she lost this place, you know,
she had to like start over.
So Dorothea, she got some odd jobs just to really get by,
but she was really looking for a place
to once, again, provide that personal approach.
You know, one-on-one time, she really liked that.
She was good at it, I think.
I'm not sure, no, she's not.
So she's working some odd jobs,
and once she was able to get enough money saved up,
she rented another apartment.
Well, it was like a, it was a house,
but she rented it, and it was on F Street.
She seemed to really like F Street.
So her new residence was 1426 F Street.
And let me tell you, it's so cute, so cute.
She's renting like this cute Victorian bungalow,
$200 a month, ah, wow, I know.
1426 F Street, the house was perfect,
because it had eight rooms, pretty big, right?
A bit of a yard, it was built in the 60's.
Had some cute personality.
It looked like a cute little dollhouse.
Cute porch, nice little gate out front to keep people out.
Kind of perfect for like this sweet older woman.
Well, she's got her new place,
and she's definitely on the prowl.
So Dorothea goes out to a local bar in the area,
it's called the Zebra Club.
I love an animal theme.
And she ends up meeting a 70-year-old man named Malcolm.
I guess at the bar, the two of them were quite flirty.
You know, getting to know one another, being all cute.
And then he invited Dorothea to his apartment
to see where the night takes them.
It was said by the time
the two of them got back to his place,
he really wasn't feeling well.
So he was like apologizing to her and like,
"Sorry, but I'm gonna lay on the couch for a little bit."
So he goes and he lays on the couch,
and he is just not feeling right.
When he's laying there, he's starting to realize
that like he couldn't move his body.
He could still hear and see everything,
but he could not speak or move anything, okay?
He was like just frozen, which must've been terrifying.
But mind you, he's awake.
So he's like looking around watching Miss Dorothea
go around his place, see her, grab one of his suitcases,
she's moving around the apartment,
searching for anything of value.
She loaded up the suitcase with like cash, jewelry,
whatever she could, she's like, "This vase, great."
Put it in there, you know, like, and then she left.
Poor Malcolm, stuck there until about an hour went by
when he said that the drug finally wore off.
When he was able to like regain control of his body,
he gets up and the first thing he does
is pick up the phone, and calls the police.
Luckily, he was able to give police her first and last name,
because she didn't think to use a fake name.
And the police would catch up with Dorothea
a few days later, coincidentally trying to cash a check
that she had stolen from Malcolm.
So it was like, well, all just lined up,
they're like, the checks, Malcolm, blah, you know?
But when she got caught, she had excuses.
She told police, she was like, "Look, listen,
listen, I have a reason.
Let me think of one first.
The first reason is he gave me the checks.
He wanted to go steady with me,
but I didn't like him like that."
That was her first excuse, that he gave him to her.
Her next excuse was, "I have a psychiatric disorder
that occasionally causes my memory to lapse.
So I don't really know how I got these checks.
I'm sorry."
And with both of those excuses,
she's like, "Which one are you buying?"
And the police were like, "All right, you know you can go."
And they made a note to keep an eye on her.
I know, that I was like, "But, huh?"
I don't know, she's getting a lot of chances.
So she's let go, whatever, she keeps doing her thing.
Not long after, Dorothea was at a beauty salon,
where she met 82-year-old, Irene.
Now, there was some kind of discussion happening,
where Dorothea had learned that Irene wasn't feeling well,
or that she was like looking for a doctor,
but Dorothea hears this, and she chimes in.
She's like, "Oh my god, that's crazy,
because I'm actually a nurse,
and what's even more crazy is that I work for your doctor.
What a small world," you know?
And Irene, mind you, mind you, mind you, mind you, mind you.
Dorothea is like this nice more mature looking woman.
Why would she lie, you know?
So Irene was like splendid,
and she asked Dorothea to come over to her house
for a house call.
Dorothea shows up to Irene's home.
She's got like one of those doctor bags in hand
looking pretty legit.
She takes Irene's blood pressure,
and tells her that her body is holding too much water,
but not to worry, because she had the perfect medication
that would help.
So Dorothea goes to her little doctor bag,
and pulls out a bottle of pills.
She tells Irene to just take a few,
and then lay down, you know, not a big deal.
So Irene, she remembers taking a few laying down,
and then that's it, she loses consciousness.
Irene would come two hours later when she wakes up,
she realizes that like some of her valuables were missing,
like her jewelry,
and also her prescription medications were missing.
So she calls the police, tells 'em what happens,
but she was only able to give a description of the woman,
because Dorothea had told Irene that her name was Betty.
So not great, but my thought here
was like, "Oh, police are probably making a connection here,
'cause it's like a similar story to that guy.
Very similar story."
Maybe they're making a connection,
but I was asking too much,
'cause they certainly were not, nay nay.
But get this, 'cause Dorothea is dumb as hell.
A few days later, Irene goes back to the beauty salon,
and guess who is there?
Fucking Dorothea, AKA Betty.
Like what an idiot, why are you going back?
Maybe she thought she killed her, whatever, she's back.
And Irene is like, "That's her."
You know, Irene tells her hairdresser to call the police,
but she does it in a really low, low key way.
So, you know, Dorothea won't spook and run.
She's like call the (gibbers).
By the time police arrive, Dorothea had left.
But luckily, the hairdresser that was talking with Dorothea
knew her real name.
So she went over, gave the police her real name, Dorothea.
Do something with it, geez.
So police go on over to Dorothea's place.
She maintained that she did nothing wrong.
And because they couldn't find like Irene's jewelry
or anything that linked Dorothea
to Irene in the first place,
she couldn't be charged with anything.
Dorothea's like, "I have no idea what you're talking about.
That's crazy."
She is just getting away and away and away
with more and more stuff.
Dorothea was taken to court after two more women in her care
came forward and reported that their checks were missing,
and that thousands of dollars worth of valuables were gone.
But nothing came from it.
And like, the judge who would see Dorothea
would always release her.
She would just end up skipping her way
right back to 1426 F Street, you know?
So at this point, she's getting a little nervous,
like police have kind of like been involved a little bit.
So she's trying to think of ways,
you know, what can I do now?
Like, she wanted to get a better source of income,
that way, she could just get out, flee the country.
So with this in mind, she's like,
"I need to make money fast, like good money, fast."
So in her mind, the best option here
would be to just kill people for profit.
Makes sense, right?
She's like, "Yeah, great, that's my new plan."
Big jump, big jump, but okay, Dorothea.
So Dorothea, she had met this woman,
her name was Ruth Munroe,
and she met her through Ruth's husband
who was terminally ill.
Not quite sure how this all came to be,
but they met, they hung out,
and Dorothea and Ruth had really hit it off.
During the evening together, Dorothea had convinced Ruth
that she should go into business with her.
Now, I read that like they were gonna go
into business together as caterers.
I don't know if that's true or not,
but they're gonna go into business together and Ruth agrees.
So they get like a joint account,
and they're gonna put their money in there,
and that's gonna be for the business.
Ruth is really liking this idea.
Her marriage, it was on the rocks,
and she was like ready for her own business venture.
So Dorothea's like, "Girl, move in with me," right?
Ruth is like great and she does.
So Ruth moves in, and it wouldn't take long
for Ruth to start feeling off.
Ruth would go around telling her friends and family
that she was like feeling sick,
and she was often getting confused.
Like, she couldn't remember anything it seemed like.
And at one point, she even told her family
that she felt like she was going to die.
Pretty troubling, right?
So, you know, Ruth's son,
he stops by to see how she's doing.
And the first thing that he remembered was that his mom
was drinking alcohol.
Now, this was weird,
because his mom like rarely drank alcohol,
especially the drink she was drinking,
which I can't pronounce, it's creme de menthe.
I know that's not how you say it, 'cause it's French.
And I looked it up, it's like a mint cocktail situation.
And I was like, "What the hell did she learn about this?"
I never heard of this before,
because when you look it up, this creme de menthe,
sorry, it's straight up, it's green,
it looks like battery acid or like antifreeze,
but people were drinking it and they liked it, I guess.
It's popular, because I did some more Googling.
I was very curious, and this drink was like popular.
We don't need a whole history about this drink,
but in the 70's and 80's, it was popular with cognac.
People liked it, okay?
Anyways, point being, she didn't drink much
according to her family, so it was weird.
So her son came back over the next two days to check in,
and like same thing, she was sipping on that green juice,
the creme de menthe.
In April of 1982, Ruth's other two children
came by to visit.
The first daughter, Rosie came in the early morning,
and she went to her mom's room,
and found her in like a really deep sleep,
and was unable to wake her up.
So Rosie goes to Dorothea and is like, "What is going on?
Like, is my mom okay?
I can't wake her up."
And Dorothea is like, "Oh my god, yeah, don't worry.
The local a ER, they came by,
they gave her a shot to calm her down,
because she was really agitated.
So they gave her this shot,
and it kind of like, you know, sedated her."
Now, her daughter didn't question it,
because she trusted that Dorothea was an experienced nurse,
and was caring for her mother, you know?
This older woman, Dorothea, later that evening,
Ruth's son, his name's Bill, he came by but,
and he was met with Dorothea like at the door.
She was kind of like blocking it.
Huh, she's like, "What do you want, what are you doing?"
She told him that he shouldn't go upstairs,
and check on his mom, because she was sleeping,
and she really needed the sleep.
But Bill was like, "That's okay, I'm gonna go upstairs,
and check on my mom anyways," you know?
So he goes up there, when he gets inside her room,
he finds his mom in bed.
She's lying kind of stiff on her side
with like her eyes wide open.
She was completely unresponsive.
And to her son, she seemed to be drugged.
So like, she was still alive, but she was drugged.
So Bill is like talking to his mom,
and he tells her like not to worry.
Everything's gonna be all right,
and that Dorothea is going to take care of you.
That's what he's saying to her.
And then Bill said he saw a single tear fall
from his mom's eye when he said this.
Oh, could you imagine?
She's screaming inside like, "Please, no."
But again, the family trusted that she was in good hands,
and they said their goodbyes.
The next morning, Ruth's daughter received a phone call
from Dorothea telling her
that something was wrong with her mother,
and that the paramedics were called.
So her daughter freaking out, rushes over there,
and when she gets there,
she's told by Dorothea that her mom had died.
When first responders show up to the house,
Dorothea told them that Ruth had a heart condition,
and was under a lot of stress,
'cause she was having issues with her husband.
And she was telling authorities that,
"Oh, most likely, Ruth committed suicide,
because she was so stressed out over this."
That's what she says, but the coroner's report said,
"Hmm, something ain't right here, ma'am.
Because on the report,
it said that Ruth's liver was enlarged,
and showed signs of toxicity."
She also had no signs of food in her stomach,
which led them to believe
that she hadn't eaten in several days,
but they found a large amount of the alcohol,
creme de menthe in her system.
So maybe she was just drinking herself to death.
That's what, right?
But then the toxicology report came back
showing that Ruth actually died
of an overdose of Tylenol and codeine.
Ruth's death was listed inconclusive.
Ruth's family was feeling all sorts of ways,
you know, thinking maybe Dorothea was a little suspicious.
Maybe she actually had like done something,
something as horrible as like killing their mom, right?
So they went to the DA's office,
but were told that there just wasn't any physical evidence
or anything really linking Dorothea to her death
to build a solid case.
So yipitty skippy for Dorothea, with Ruth out of the way,
she was able to take out money
from her and Ruth's joint account
with the full intentions to flee to Mexico,
which she should have, because she had the money,
but I guess she wanted more.
Dorothea had a neighbor she was friendly with.
Her name was Dorothy, Dorothy Osborne.
And, you know, they would do the neighbor thing.
Wave, hey, nice two lips, love your yard,
gorge, how are you?
Did you get the mail?
Love that, gor... you know, neighbor stuff.
Well, one night, Dorothea came over to the neighbors
to have a little girl's night.
She's like, "I brought the booze."
So Dorothea like goes into the kitchen,
and prepares both of them an adult beverage.
Dorothea comes back, it gives the drink to Dorothy.
Dorothy takes a sip,
and baby, that's the last thing she remembers.
She completely knocked out.
And when Dorothy came, too, finally,
she was looking around realizing that her checkbook
and valuables were missing
just like everybody else, you know?
And the first thing she did was call the police.
So the police, they come over,
and they find evidence of the mixed drink
that Dorothea had made, but not only that,
right next to it was some kind of like loose white powder.
This is great, because this is something.
So the police, they took this into evidence,
and Dorothea was quickly arrested.
From there, she was sentenced to five years in jail,
but she would only serve three, why?
I don't know.
Well, good behavior and stuff, but like, I don't know.
But she also had the money to be able to keep her
the place that she was renting.
So she didn't lose that this time.
I guess, that's good.
While in prison, Dorothea began writing love letters
to a 70-year-old widower.
His name was Everson Gillmouth.
No idea how they me, you guys.
No idea, don't know, don't ask, okay?
But she had the ability to get a man quick.
She didn't give her secrets away, but she's in prison.
They stayed in touch writing little love letters,
and when she was released,
the two of them decided to move
into Dorothea's apartment on F Street.
This Emerson guy, originally,
he was living in Oregon on his sister's property.
So him moving to a new state with like a woman
that she had never met made her worried about her brother,
but like there wasn't much else that she could do,
because Everson was an adult after all, you know?
So after he moved and his sister hadn't heard from him
in quite some time,
she called the police to like check on him,
and do like a wellness check.
And this was in September of 1985.
So the police go by and do a wellness check,
and Everson was alive and well,
but most of all, he was pissed, the F off,
that his sister even had called
the police in the first place.
So once the police had left, he called up his sister,
and told her like, "Don't ever contact me again."
Click, you know, she was shocked, like, geez, okay, bye.
So after that confrontation, the only time the sister
would hear from Everson
was when she received a letter in the mail.
She would receive letters stating that,
you know, everything was fine and dandy, loving life,
but the letters were always signed by Dorothea.
The whole thing was weird,
and it was clear none of the letters
were coming from her brother.
But again, like what was she gonna do, you know?
He's an adult, maybe she's buttoned in, I don't know.
So she just kind of stood back, and it is what it is.
Everson had been with Dorothea since mid-August of 1985.
And he was staying with her and also I failed to mention
that the landlord was also living at this property.
The landlord would like come and go,
wasn't really around much, you know,
but they lived on like the first floor,
and the landlord remembered seeing Everson around the house,
and the last time he saw Everson,
he noticed that he was like grabbing his chest.
Like, something was obviously like going on,
but he made a note to himself like,
it must be manageable, because he's doing fine.
You know, he's holding his chest, he's complaining,
but it seemed manageable.
Well, the landlord ended up leaving.
He left town for like a few weeks,
and when he came back, he realized that Everson was gone.
So the landlord was like, "Hey, Dorothea,
what happened to that guy Everson?"
And she told him that he didn't like Sacramento,
so he decided to move back to Oregon.
I'm like, "That was that," it's like nobody really asked
follow up questions, you know.
I'm so nosy, I'd be like, but why, when, how?
What park?
Family down there?
Meanwhile, Dorothea had reached out to a friend
who was like also a handyman, carpenter, Jack of all trades,
you know, she reached out to this friend,
and she's like, "Hey, can you help me with some work
around the house?"
She's like, "I don't have a lot of money,
but I can pay you, you know, vehicle."
So it was a red pickup truck
and she's like, "I could give it to you for $800
if you will do work for me."
Now, the red pickup truck was Everson's,
but the carpenter, he didn't know that.
He didn't know the full story.
He just thought, "Hey, cool, what a deal."
So the carpenter agrees, he's like, "Sure."
Comes out, starts doing some handy work for her.
Eventually, Dorothea gets to the real point.
She's like, "Hey, will you built me a box?"
She tells the carpenter, she's like,
"I really want this six foot by three foot box
to store old things in."
And he's like, "Sure."
He's like, "I'll make you that box."
And she's like, "Oh, and I also need a lid for the box."
Now, if you didn't have questions,
then you would just, you know, you're dumb.
But this guy just wanted to stay out of it again.
He's like, "I don't know what this is,
but I'm just gonna do it."
So he makes this box for her, and he drops it off.
And then a few days later,
he comes back and he noted that the box
was now nailed shut and extremely heavy.
He didn't ask questions, allegedly, he didn't wanna know.
Instead, he helped Dorothea, he helped her out,
loaded it into the truck, and he drove the box across town.
When Dorothea told him to pull over,
and it was like in this secluded part of town
next to a river, there is when she asked him
to help her move the box into the riverbank,
and then they left.
The box would be discovered
in January of 1986 by like two men
who were just minding their own business.
They come across this box.
They thought it smelled a little funky.
So they opened it up, found a body wrapped in garbage bags.
There were like moth balls inside and a deodorant stick
in hopes to like hide the smell.
The body itself was set to be so badly decomposed
that investigators had a hard time identifying who it was.
So at first, he was tagged as John Doe.
Sadly, three years would go by before anyone came forward
and helped ID the body as a person
who had lived with Dorothea Puente.
So nobody's putting the pieces together.
Dorothea's been getting away with everything
for her whole life.
And like during those three years,
Dorothea was still taking in people completely unchecked.
She had brought in 40 new tenants
over the course of three years.
And yeah, no one was catching on,
no one was saying anything.
It was said though that she ran like a really tight ship.
The residents would pay $350 a month for a room,
which also included two meals.
Breakfast, which took place at like 6:30 AM,
and then dinner at 3:30 PM.
If you missed it, that was your own damn fault, okay?
Nobody was allowed to enter the kitchen.
Nobody was allowed to open mail,
or even think about touching the phone.
Alcohol was prohibited except for Dorothea.
She was allowed to drink.
With all these like paying guests in the home,
she devised a plan.
Well, she had this plan, she would collect all of the mail,
and open it before any of the tenants got to it.
She would give them small amounts of money to spend,
which normally, like lasted as far as the nearest bar.
And that's not me being mean, that was her plan.
She wanted them to go to the bar and like come back drunk,
because when the tenants would come back drunk,
and be like out of control or something,
she would call the police, where they would arrest them
for being disorderly.
She liked this, because sometimes,
they'd be locked up for like 30 days,
which was just beautiful to Dorothea,
because while they were away,
she could just pocket any of their money that was coming in.
This woman in 1988, there was another social worker
who was getting that bunky feeling
that something wasn't right with Dorothea.
I mean, yes, within the social workers' conversations,
Dorothea was known for like having the best the system
had to offer, especially in that area, but was it?
Was anyone actually following checking up, you know?
There was an outreach counselor
who helped place a man named Bert Montoya with Dorothea.
And Bert had gone missing, so it was odd, right?
Bert struggled with schizophrenia,
and was also living on the streets.
But his counselor would like really worked closely with him
to turn it all around.
They were able to like set him up
with Social Security checks,
and were looking to place him in a home
where he could be cared for.
And that's when the counselor
was like, "Oh my God, duh, Dorothea, perfect."
Like, let me place you with her, which she did.
When Bert was first placed with her,
it was said that his condition was improving.
Like, he was staying showers on the reg,
he had clean clothes,
he was staying consistent with his medication,
and things were like really looking up for him.
In March of 1988, Dorothea took Bert down
to the Social Security office,
and told them that Bert was developmentally disabled,
and that he was incapable of managing his own finances.
Because of this, his benefits should be transferred to me,
Dorothea.
And the workers were like,
"Yeah, totally makes sense, sure."
Dorothea listed herself as Bert's cousin,
which made her the payee
of Bert's monthly Social Security check.
It was like six something, 600 something dollars.
And it wasn't long after that, nobody saw Bert again.
Other tenants were there, right?
And they would ask Dorothea like what happened to Bert?
And she would tell them that he decided to leave,
and go stay with family in Mexico.
They're like, "Weird, he didn't even speak Spanish,
but okay."
But the counselor who was in charge of Bert's account,
she did not believe this at all.
Instead, she filed a missing persons report
with the police stating that Bert
was not the type to run away, like no.
So police go down to 1426 F Street to question Dorothea
about this Bert guy, right?
They scope out the place.
They also asked some of the other tenants
what they thought like happened to Bert.
One resident told the officer that Bert had left for Mexico,
like Dorothea had told them to say this,
and he was all serious, "He had left for Mexico."
But then like low key,
the guy slowly handed over a note to the officer.
Don't tell anyone.
The officer looks at the note and the note said,
"She's making me lie for her."
This was enough for the police
to get a warrant to search the property.
So investigators, they returned to the property
like four days later, which I was like, damn,
like she could have ran.
This lady, she didn't wanna run though, she's tired.
But they returned four days later with a search warrant
to, obviously, search the house, and also dig up the garden.
You see, there were complaints coming in from the neighbor,
and I think even the landlord, too,
but there was a stench coming from the property,
you know, an off putting stench.
And they had been complaining about it for quite some time.
So I think this is why they came with the intentions
to dig up the garden from my understanding.
But on the first day,
investigators began digging in the yard,
and they kept coming across scraps of cloth
and some other stuff.
They were coming across scraps of cloth.
But also, they came across what they thought
was beef jerky and a tree root.
So they realized, it was not beef jerky or a tree root
when they found a shoe with a foot still inside of it.
So it was a body, it was a body, yes.
They're like, "That is not beef jerky, all right."
The next day, the officers decided to drill
under the concrete patio, 'cause there was a concrete patio.
So Dorothea's at the house and when she sees this happening,
she just goes right up to the detective,
and just asked straight up if she was under arrest.
And the detective told her no at this time.
So she was like, "Okay, I'm gonna go down the block,
and get myself a cup of coffee."
And they're like, "Yeah, go ahead."
I know, no comment, I think you know,
just how stupid everything is, right?
While away getting her coffee,
investigators,
they found three more bodies that were buried,
hidden under that concrete.
Then they found another that was buried under a gazebo.
That was like on the side yard,
os it was five bodies being found so far.
Yeah, and they just let the killer go, get some coffee.
So now investigators are looking around
like, "Hey, where's Dorothea?"
It's been four hours since some bozo told her
to go get some coffee.
Four hours and she's now hundreds of miles away.
After the search of Dorothea's home was complete,
police had unearthed seven bodies total.
51-year-old Bert Montoya, 64-year-old Dorothy Miller,
55-year-old Benjamin Fink, 78-year-old Betty Palmer,
78-year-old Leona Carpenter, and 62-year-old James Gallop.
They were all buried in the backyard.
When it came to Betty Palmer's body,
it was noted that the head, hands, and lower legs
were missing, never found them.
After all, this police began to investigate
into the disappearances of Everson Gillmouth
and also the death of Ruth Munroe.
Everson, who was found in the box and labeled a John Doe,
he was identified by hospital X-rays,
but no cause of death was ever determined.
When post-mortem examination of the seven bodies was done,
it showed that they all had large concentrations
of the drug, Flurazepam, Dalmane as it's commercially known.
But this drug can be lethal,
especially if taken with alcohol or other sedatives,
and it's super potent in elderly people.
So Dorothea like knew what the she was doing, huh?
During the search of Dorothea's Place,
they found dozens of prescriptions
for the drug in Dorothea's personal papers.
On top of that, they realized that she had cashed
over 60 benefit checks that had belonged to the deceased,
and she had kept cashing them long after
their deaths or disappearances, but she was cashing.
Well, investigators knew Dorothea was their girl,
but where was she, where in the world was she?
You see, when Dorothea had left the house to go get coffee,
she had pocketed $3,000 headed over to a local hotel,
where she got herself an adult beverage.
I'm sure she needed it.
And then from there,
she took a cab to another hotel across town,
where it was said she drank four vodka grapefruits.
She's feeling nice, a little tingly inside.
She then flags down another taxi,
and asked them to take her to Stockton, California,
where she could board a bus
that was heading for Los Angeles.
So maybe she gets on that bus, and bye-bye, she goes.
I guess at this point, the news had been running,
you know, their thing on TV, like,
if you've seen this woman, please contact police.
And it was Dorothea's picture asking for anyone
who had information to come forward.
Where's her location, you know?
Now, I'm not sure if she was aware that this was happening,
that she was like on TV, but it was happening.
So when Dorothea makes it to Los Angeles,
the first thing she does, 'cause this is what she does,
she goes to a bar.
She goes to a bar where she meets a man named Charles.
She tells Charles that her name is Donna.
She's like, "I'm Donna, I'm just a small town lady
whose husband just died,
and like I'm looking to start life all over again."
The two of them, they ended up spending the day together.
She's telling them like, "We're too lonely people
just looking for company.
We should move in together."
But this guy was like, "Slow down, okay?
I had fun, but not that much fun."
But he does me make plans to get with her the next day.
Now, this Charles guy, he kept asking himself like,
"Where do I know this woman from?
She just looks so familiar."
That's when he has his light bulb moment,
and realizes that he saw her image on TV
and police were looking for her.
Thank God for Charles, huh?
So he picks up the phone, he calls police.
Hello.
They move in quick.
Find the hotel that she was staying at.
And by 10:40 PM, Dorothea was placed under arrest.
They got her good.
So they had a flyer back to Sacramento,
where I guess during the whole ride,
she kept telling the officers
that she had not killed anyone.
She was like, "The checks, yes, I cashed.
I cashed the checks,
but I used to be a very good person one time."
- I used to be a very good person at one time.
- "I'm just a little old woman,
how could you think I would do such a thing?
You guys are nasty."
And when you see pictures of her,
you're like, "Yeah, she's a little old woman."
Like, I don't know.
You're like, "Yeah, okay, I can see that.
She looks like a nice mature grandmother."
During her questioning and interrogation,
it was said that Dorothea was just a, quote,
"ordinary woman, that she was pleasant, socially intact,
and intelligent, far removed from the media caricature
that was depicting her
as the embodiment of evil," end quote.
Okay, the psychiatrist who was working with her
before the trial diagnosed Dorothea,
is suffering from antisocial personality disorder,
which is a condition marked by deceit and manipulation
of others without any remorse.
The psychiatrist speculated that running a boarding house
most likely began for her as a humane endeavor,
rooted in a desire to undo painful childhood memories.
Like, she wanted to rehabilitate her tenets
as she couldn't for the people in her own family.
But, and there's a very big but, on the other hand,
when these people would, quote, unquote, "act up",
Dorothea would act up, too,
and she would snap, decide to kill them.
Dorothea showed up to court on March 31st, 1989,
and she showed up so cute.
Oh my God, she was leaning into granny.
She was wearing like this nice blue dress, a pearl necklace,
just looking like a nice grandma who sent you birthday cards
and probably knits things for you,
but she was there to plead not guilty.
Well, she would end up sitting in jail
for another four years.
Her trial finally began in like February of 1993.
The prosecutor was blunt in his summary to the court
saying, quote, "She wanted people who had no relatives,
no friends, no family, people who when they're gone,
won't have others coming around and asking questions,"
end quote.
And I think we can all agree on that one, right?
It sounds about right, but her defense team,
they were putting in, they were working hard.
Her defense team came back
saying that the tenants died of natural causes.
How dare you accuse poor Dorothea?
The only reason Dorothea didn't call paramedics
to retrieve the bodies was because she was in charge
of operating the boarding house,
which was in violation of her parole,
and didn't want to get sent back to prison, (babbles).
Natural causes, everyone,
they just happened to be buried back there.
They wanted to be buried back there.
So the trial would go on for five months.
They brought in like 153 witnesses,
3,100 pieces of evidence,
and even a scale model of the Victorian boarding house.
I love that, I know.
But that was placed in front of the courtroom.
It was so cute.
I love a cute looking dollhouse,
especially a Victorian looking dollhouse.
Yay, it was cute, propped up, mention, okay.
It was noted that during trial,
she fully leaned into sweet little grandma persona.
During her testimony she, you know, poke her face,
grandma face, not giving any signs that she could be capable
of doing any of these atrocious things,
like burying people in your backyard, ma'am.
Cash and checks, what was that about?
Now, the prosecution's main problem
was that there were no eyewitnesses
to these alleged murders.
I mean, yeah, there were people who lived with Dorothea
who came forward and said like that she was always
giving them medication,
practically, like shoving it down their throats.
And that helped, because in the case of Ruth Munroe's death,
the toxicology test revealed that there were high traces
of that prescription strength sleeping pill in her system.
So it was like, "Okay, you know, oh, that's something."
Then there was a handwriting expert
that confirmed that Dorothea had signed the names
of seven dead tenants on 60 federal and state checks
that were sent to her address in like 1987, 1988,
making around $5,000 a month from the forgeries.
Now, the prosecution brought in the handyman.
Oh, I was like the handyman.
The one who helped Dorothea
make the custom box to dump in the river, him.
Yeah, so he told the court that he did,
indeed, help her build this box,
but no charges would be brought against him.
The statute of limitations on the crime had expired.
So that was a bummer, but his testimony was really helpful,
and played a big role in like getting Dorothea locked up.
I can't say statute, statute,
statute of limitations, whatever.
But this testimony played a major role,
because it gave jurors a glimpse into her sick little lies.
So after a year of weighing the testimony,
the jury found Dorothea Puente guilty
of murdering Dorothy Miller, Benjamin Fink,
and Leona Carpenter.
The jury, they couldn't reach a verdict
on the six other murder charges
as they were declared a mistrial.
It's believed, because the bodies were so badly decomposed,
there was really nothing found linking her
directly to their deaths.
You think being buried in the yard would be enough,
you know, but it's just not.
I know, who would've thought?
On December 10th, 1993, Dorothea was sentenced to prison
for life without the possibility of parole.
She was 64 years old,
and would be spending the rest of her life
at the Central California Women's Facility.
It's near Chowchilla, California.
It's like the largest women's prison in the country.
While she was in prison, not kidding.
Dorothea released a cookbook, looked it up,
had to know if it was true.
It was true, it's called "Cooking with a Serial Killer
Recipes from Dorothea Puente" came out in 2005.
I don't know what she was cooking.
I didn't even know if she liked to cook.
Maybe she picked it up in like prison,
but she came out with this book as 230 ratings,
4.5 out of 5 stars.
Geez, let me know if there's anything good in there.
Look, Dorothea like,
she never really opened up about much of anything.
It's not like she denied, but she never talked about it.
And that's fine, she doesn't have to.
There was one interview where she just pretty much said,
"I don't give a shit what anyone thinks."
And it was like, "All right, that's it, you know."
Dorothea died in prison on March 27th, 2011
at the age of 82, rip.
So the home itself at 1426 F Street,
it has become pretty famous.
The home sold at a public auction for pretty cheap.
The couple who lived slash lives there,
I don't know if they still live there,
but like they knew people were gonna come to the house,
gawk, it was known as this murder house.
People were coming regardless,
and they felt that they might as well
just lean into the whole,
a serial killer used to live here thing, you know?
So they had a sign or they have a sign hanging outside
that says "Trespassers will be drugged,
and buried in the yard."
Also, there's like a mannequin of an older woman
dressed up like Dorothea.
She gets moved around, but last I looked it up,
she was on the porch.
People have lots of mixed feelings there.
I don't know what to say, I wouldn't go look,
but like, I get what they're doing, you know?
They're not making money off of it.
I don't know, I, you know, I don't give a shit.
As long as it's like, they're not like putting up
the victims or something, right?
I don't know.
I don't know, don't ask me.
But there was this one guy, his name was Martin Kutz,
and he conducted a series of interviews with Dorothea
for a Sacramento magazine called Sactown Magazine.
In the interview, he said that she appeared
and behaved like an ordinary old lady.
Of course, he was like, "I'm smart enough to know better,
but she's utterly ordinary."
She was not out hunting for victims
or saving, quote, unquote, "tokens"
like many serial killers do, you know?
Plus she never like bragged,
or opened up, or talked about any of the crimes.
She didn't care for anyone to know or even know who she was.
He goes on to say that Dorothea
was wrapped up in her fantasy world
and her insistence that she was a good person.
And according to Martin,
that's what made Dorothea so terrifying.
She's an, otherwise, unremarkable woman
who simply just didn't place value on human life.
The fucking end.
I know, Dorothea, obviously unhinged, absolutely unwell.
Here are my closing thoughts,
'cause I had a couple of unanswered questions.
Dorothea, bad, yes, prison.
Go to prison, bad, don't do that.
You can't do that.
No, but bodies were found buried in the backyard,
so I was like, who helped her, right?
She's an older woman, there's no way she could do that
all on her own.
You're telling me she's upstairs or something,
and like kill someone and then drags them outside,
shoveling and burying a, no,
there's no way she's doing that on her own.
I don't believe that.
Also, it was noted that one of the victim's bodies,
there were several limbs that were missing.
What was that about?
Where did that take place, the dismemberment?
Like, was it in, like, what was that about?
There had to be like physical evidence or something, right?
Tools, something, and this made me think,
maybe we can all agree here that most likely,
the tenants were helping, I would think so, right?
She probably told them they had to help
or she would report them, get them removed from the house,
sent to jail or something, maybe she threatened them.
Maybe she just didn't tell 'em what she was doing,
but like, "Hey, go dig a hole
in the backyard over there," you know?
But still, she would have to get help to carry the bodies.
She wasn't buff, I saw the pictures, no buffness, okay?
so she had help, we just know don't know who,
and maybe like she, it was a power play though.
In my mind, she was using them to do
like most of the dirty work.
She had all the power, but you can't convince me
that this woman was lifting and moving bodies on her own.
You know, I got hung up on that.
Maybe it was the carpenter guy.
I really don't think she gave a shit
about what anyone thought, and that's a fact.
Also, what was with the short marriages and stuff?
Was it just for a quick name change you think?
Probably.
Did they see something and bounce?
Was there some sort of financial gain?
Did they help, I just don't know, but probably never know.
And no one's ever spoke up or spoke out, and that's okay.
Yeah, I guess that's okay.
I would love to hear your guys' thoughts down below.
Do you think, what do you think?
She got some help, didn't she?
She's a little only, she probably, she couldn't do that.
You know, she's probably watching and directing everybody
to do what they needed to do.
I bet, anyways, let me know what you guys think down below.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day so far.
Leave me down in the comment section.
Who you want me to talk about next time?
I'm always collecting a list, but I really like this look.
I hope you do, too, I really like this, came out cute, huh?
Look at me, oh my God, okay, cute.
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
Please be safe out there, make good choices,
and I'll be talking to you guys later.
Bye.
(tense suspenseful music)
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