Dorothea Puente

Dorothea Helen Puente (née Gray; January 9, 1929 – March 27, 2011) was an American convicted serial killer. In the 1980s, Puente ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California and murdered various elderly and mentally disabled boarders before cashing their Social Security checks.[1] Her total count reached nine confirmed murders, and six unconfirmed. Newspapers dubbed Puente the "Death House Landlady".[2]

Dorothea Puente
Dorothea Puente at her murder trial
Born
Dorothea Helen Gray

(1929-01-09)January 9, 1929
Redlands, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 27, 2011(2011-03-27) (aged 82)
Chowchilla, California, U.S.
Other namesDeath House Landlady
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment without parole
Details
Victims9 confirmed (possibly as many as 15 total)
Span of crimes
1982–1988
CountryUnited States
State(s)California
Date apprehended
November 11, 1988
Imprisoned atCentral California Women's Facility

Background

Puente was born Dorothea Helen Gray on January 9, 1929, in Redlands, California, to Trudy Mae (née Yates) and Jesse James Gray.[3] She had a traumatic upbringing; her parents were both alcoholics and her father repeatedly threatened to commit suicide in front of his children. Her father died of tuberculosis in 1937, and her mother lost custody of her children in 1938 and died in a motorcycle accident by the end of the year. Puente and her siblings were subsequently sent to an orphanage, where she was sexually abused.[4]

In 1945, Gray was married for the first time, at the age of 16, to a soldier named Fred McFaul, who had just returned from the Pacific Theater of World War II. Gray had two daughters between 1946 and 1948, but she sent one to live with relatives in Sacramento and placed the other child for adoption. She became pregnant again in 1948, but suffered a miscarriage. In late 1948, McFaul left her.[5][6]

In spring of 1948, Gray was caught purchasing women's accessories using forged checks In Riverside. She was arrested and pled guilty to two counts of forgery and served four months in jail. As it was her first offense, she was given three years' probation. Six months after her release, she left Riverside.

In San Francisco 1952, she married merchant seaman Axel Bren Johansson. She created a fake persona, calling herself "Teya Singoalla Neyaarda", and claiming Egyptian and Israeli descent, as well as the Muslim religion. They had a turbulent marriage, where Gray would take advantage of Johansson's frequent leaves from home by inviting men over and gambling his money. [6]

In 1960, Gray was arrested for owning and operating a brothel under the guise of a bookkeeping firm in Sacramento.[5] Gray claimed innocence and was eventually sentenced to only 90 days in the Sacramento County Jail. In 1961, Johansson had Gray briefly committed to DeWitt State Hospital after a series of drinking, criminal behavior, lying, and suicide attempts. There, doctors diagnosed her as a pathological liar with an unstable personality. [6]

Gray and Johansson divorced in 1966, although she would continue to use Johansson's name for years following their separation. Gray assumed the identity of "Sharon Johansson", and hid her delinquent self by portraying herself as a kind Christian woman. She established her reputation as a caregiver, providing young women with a sanctuary from poverty and abuse without charge. [6]

In 1968, Gray married Roberto Jose Puente. After sixteen months, they separated, with Gray citing domestic abuse as the main cause. In 1967, she attempted to serve him, but Puente fled to Mexico, and the divorce wouldn't be finalized until 1973. In the following two years, the two would continue to have a turbulent relationship, and Gray filed a restraining order against him in 1975. Gray would go on as Dorothea Puente for more than twenty years. [6]

Following her divorce, Gray would focus on running a boarding house at Twenty-First and F streets that catered to alcoholics and the homeless mentally ill. She established herself as a genuine resource to the community She held AA meetings and directed individuals to receive Social Security benefits. She also established herself as a respected member in Sacramento's Hispanic community, funding charities, scholarships, and radio programs. She eventually met and married Pedro Angel Montalvo, though Montalvo walked out of the relationship a week later. [6]

In 1978, she was caught and convicted of illegally cashing 34 federal checks that belonged to her tenants. She was given five years probation and ordered to pay four thousand dollars restitution. [6]

Murders

In April 1982, 61-year-old Ruth Monroe began living with Puente in her upstairs apartment, but soon died from an overdose of codeine and acetaminophen. Puente told police that the woman was very depressed because her husband was terminally ill. They believed her and ruled the incident as a suicide.

A few weeks later, the police were back after a 74-year-old pensioner named Malcolm McKenzie (one of four elderly people Puente was accused of drugging) accused Puente of drugging and stealing from him. She was convicted of three charges of theft on August 18, 1982, and sentenced to five years in jail, where she began corresponding with a 77-year-old retiree living in Oregon, named Everson Gillmouth. A penpal friendship developed, and when Puente was released in 1985 after serving just three years of her sentence, he was waiting for her in a red 1980 Ford pickup. Their relationship developed quickly, and the couple was soon making wedding plans.

In November 1985, Puente hired Ismael Florez to install some wood paneling in her apartment. For his labor and an additional $800, Puente gave him a red 1980 Ford pickup in good condition, which she stated belonged to her boyfriend in Los Angeles who no longer needed it. She asked Florez to build a 6-by-3-by-2-foot box to store "books and other items". She then asked Florez to transport the filled, nailed-shut box to a storage depot. Florez agreed, and Puente joined him.[7]

On the way, she told him to stop while they were on Garden Highway in Sutter County and dump the box on the river bank in an unofficial household dumping site. Puente told him the contents of the box were just junk. On January 1, 1986, a fisherman spotted the box sitting about three feet from the bank of the river and informed police. Investigators found a badly decomposed and unidentifiable body of an elderly man inside. Puente continued to collect Everson Gillmouth's pension and wrote letters to his family, explaining that the reason he had not contacted them was because he was ill. She maintained a "room and board" business, taking in 40 new tenants. Gillmouth's body remained unidentified for three years.[8]

Puente continued to accept elderly tenants and was popular with local social workers because she accepted "tough cases", including drug addicts and abusive tenants. She collected tenants' monthly mail before they saw it and paid them stipends, pocketing the rest for "expenses". During this period, parole agents went and visited Puente, who had been ordered to stay away from the elderly and refrain from handling government checks, a minimum of fifteen times at the residence. No violations were ever noted.

Suspicion was first aroused when neighbors noticed the odd activities of a homeless alcoholic known only as "Chief", whom Puente stated she had "adopted" and made her personal handyman. Puente had Chief dig in the basement and cart soil and rubbish away in a wheelbarrow. At the time, the basement floor was covered with a concrete slab. Chief later took down a garage in the backyard and installed a fresh concrete slab there as well. Soon afterward, Chief disappeared.

Arrest and imprisonment

On November 11, 1988, police inquired after the disappearance of tenant Alberto Montoya, a developmentally disabled man with schizophrenia whose social worker had reported him missing. After noticing disturbed soil on the property, they uncovered the body of tenant Leona Carpenter, 78. Seven bodies were eventually found on the property.[9]

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.[9]

During the initial investigation, Puente was not immediately a suspect, and she was allowed to leave the property, ostensibly to buy a cup of coffee at a nearby hotel. Instead, after buying the coffee, she fled immediately to Los Angeles, where she befriended an elderly pensioner whom she had met in a bar. The pensioner, however, recognized her from police reports on television and called the authorities.

Her trial was moved to Monterey County, California, on a change of venue motion filed by her attorneys, Kevin Clymo and Peter Vlautin III. The trial began in October 1992 and ended a year later. The prosecutor, John O'Mara, was the homicide supervisor in the Sacramento County District Attorney's office.

O'Mara called over 130 witnesses. He argued to the jury that she had used sleeping pills to put her tenants to sleep, then suffocated them, and hired convicts to dig the holes in her yard. Clymo concluded his closing argument by showing a picture commonly used in psychology that can be viewed in different ways and saying "Keep in mind things are not always as they seem." The jury deliberated over a month and found Puente guilty of three murders. The jury was deadlocked 11 to 1 for conviction on all counts, and the lone holdout finally agreed to a conviction of two first degree murder counts including special circumstances, and one second degree murder count. The penalty phase of the prosecution was highlighted by her prior convictions introduced by O'Mara.

The defense called several witnesses that showed Puente had a generous and caring side to her. Witnesses, including her long-lost daughter, testified how Puente had helped them in their youth and guided them to successful careers. Mental health experts testified of Puente's abusive upbringing and how it motivated her to help the less fortunate. At the same time, they agreed she had an evil side brought on by the stress of caring for her down-and-out tenants.

O'Mara's closing argument focused on Puente's acts of murder:

Does anyone become responsible for their conduct in this world? ... These people were human beings, they had a right to live-they did not have a lot of possessions-no houses-no cars-only their social security checks and their lives. She took it all... Death is the only appropriate penalty.

Clymo responded by evoking Dorothea the child and caregiver. Peter Vlautin addressed the jurors in confidential tones, contrasting with O'Mara's shouting:

We are here today to determine one thing: What is the value of Dorothea Puente's life? That is the question. Does she have to be killed?" Vlautin spoke gently about Puente's childhood touching on the traumatic aspects that shaped her life and urged the jurors to see the world through her eyes. "You have heard of the despair which was the foundation of her life, the anger and resentment...If anyone in the jury room tells you it was not that bad, ask them would you want that to happen to yourself? Would you want that to happen to your children? ... I am led to believe if there is any reason for us to be living here on this Earth, it is to somehow enhance one another's humanity, to love, to touch each other with kindness, to know that you have made just one person breathe easier because you have lived. I submit to you ladies and gentlemen that is why these people came to testify for Dorothea Puente ... I think you can only truly understand why so many people testified and asked you to spare Dorothea's life only if you have ever fallen down and stumbled on the road of life and had someone pick you up, give you comfort, give you love, show you the way. Then you will understand why these people believe Dorothea's life is worth saving. That is mitigating. That is a human quality that deserves to be preserved. It is a flame of humanity that has burned inside Dorothea since she was young ... That is reason to give Dorothea Puente life without the possibility of parole.

Conviction

She was convicted of three of the murders, though the jury could not agree on the other six. After several days of deliberations, the jury was deadlocked 7–5 for life. The judge, Michael J. Virga, declared a mistrial when the jury said further deliberations would not change their minds. Under the law, Puente received life without the possibility of parole. She was incarcerated at Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, California. For the rest of her life, she maintained her innocence, insisting that all her tenants had died of "natural causes".

Death

She died on March 27, 2011 in prison in Chowchilla at the age of 82 from natural causes.[10]

Media

Puente has been featured on numerous true crime television shows including Crime Stories,[11] Deadly Women,[12] A Stranger In My Home[13] and World's Most Evil Killers.[14]

The 1990 film Evil Spirits starring Karen Black is loosely based on the Dorothy Puente murders.

In 1998, she began corresponding with Shane Bugbee.[15] The result was Cooking with a Serial Killer (2004),[16] which included a lengthy interview, almost 50 recipes, and various pieces of prison art sent to Bugbee by the convicted murderer. Jodi Picoult mentions Puente's crimes and cookbook in her novel House Rules.

The house at 1426 F Street was included in the 2013 home tour held by the Sacramento Old City Association.[17] 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.[18]

In 2015, the Ghost Adventures crew investigated the house due to reports of hauntings by the victims and Puente herself.

In April 2020, the house and current owners were showcased in the Quibi series Murder House Flip.

In June 2020, the house was featured in a 10-minute documentary with 60 Second Docs about the purchase and renovation of the house by the current owners.

See also

References
  1. Stone, Michael H.; Brucato, Gary (2019). The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. pp. 104–106.
  2. Ellis, Virginia; Wolinsky, Leo (March 25, 1989). "Death House Landlady Got Drugs From Doctor, Prosecutors Contend". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California: Tronc. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  3. Kulczyk, David (2013). California Fruits, Flakes, and Nuts: True Tales of California Crazies, Crackpots and Creeps. Fresno, California: Linden Publishing. pp. 153–155. ISBN 978-1-61035-213-0.
  4. Connell, Rich (2011-03-28). "Dorothea Puente dies at 82; boarding house operator who killed tenants". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  5. Kulczyk, David (2013). California Fruits, Flakes, and Nuts: True Tales of California Crazies, Crackpots and Creeps. Linden Publishing. pp. 153–155. ISBN 1610351940.
  6. Norton, Carla (1995). Disturbed Ground. Avon Books. pp. 128–129. ISBN 0380711885.
  7. "Dorothea Puente and the Boarding House of Death". Absolute Crime. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  8. "Dorothea Puente and the Boarding House of Death". Absolute Crime. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  9. Hayden, Kim (2018). "Guide to the California Superior Court (Sacramento County) case files for The People v. Dorothea Montalvo Puente (criminal case #18056) CNTY0004". Online Archive of California. Sacramento, California: Center for Sacramento History.
  10. Connell, Rich (March 28, 2011). "Dorothea Puente dies at 82; boarding house operator who killed tenants". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California: Tronc. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  11. "The Boarding House Killer". Crime Stories. Season 4. Episode 4. January 19, 2007. truTV.
  12. "Predators". Deadly Women. Season 1. Episode 6. November 13, 2008. Investigation Discovery.
  13. "House of Horrors". A Stranger in My Home. Season 1. Episode 1. October 13, 2013. Investigation Discovery.
  14. "Dorothea Puente". World's Most Evil Killers. Season 2. Episode 3. November 6, 2018. Sky Witness.
  15. Jepsen, Cara (November 26, 1998). "In Print: Dorothea Puente's killer cookbook". Chicago Reader. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  16. Fox, James Alan; Levin, Jack (2014). Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4833-5280-0.
  17. Bienick, David (August 29, 2013). "Sacramento serial killer's former home renovated, ready for visits". KCRA Channel 3 Sacramento. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  18. Lillis, Ryan (September 1, 2015). "Tours, documentary focus on Sacramento house of murderer Dorothea Puente". Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California: The McClatchy Company. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

Further reading
  • Blackburn, Daniel J. (1990). Human Harvest: the Sacramento Murder Story. New York: Knightsbridge Pub. Co. ISBN 1-877961-10-8.
  • Norton, Carla (1994). Disturbed Ground: the True Story of a Diabolical Female Serial Killer. New York: W. Morrow and Co. ISBN 0-688-09704-9.
  • Wood, William P. (2004). The Bone Garden: the Sacramento Boardinghouse Murders. New York: IBooks. ISBN 0-7434-8693-5.
  • Bugbee, Shane (2004). Cooking with a Serial Killer: Recipes from Dorothea Puente. Raleigh, NC: Lulu.com. ISBN 1-4116-1544-1.
  • Stone, Michael H., M.D. & Brucato, Gary, Ph.D., The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books), pp. 104-107. ISBN 978-1-63388-532-5.
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