H2H 3. 121. Dorothea Puente. The Death House Landlady
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H2H 3. 121. Dorothea Puente. The Death House Landlady

In the 1980’s, a Victorian boarding house in Sacramento, California was known as a place of healing for those who were weak, downtrodden or fighting off the demons of addiction. The well-regarded woman who ran the home had earned respect in political circles for her charity work. Scattered about the house were photos of her with the likes of California Gov. Jerry Brown, who once danced with her at a fundraising ball. But this grandmotherly woman was so much more. She was a killer. Murdering her elderly and mentally disabled tenants, she would cash not only their social security checks, but the checks of everyone who lived in her house. When she was caught, there were seven bodies in her backyard. One by the river, and another that's ruled a suicide. This Dorothea Puente. The Death House Landlady.



Sources used for this Podcast:

Sacramento Bee | 11.18.1988 | Peter Hecht

KCRA NBC Channel 3 | Hilda Flores

All That's Interesting | Kara Goldfarb

San Francisco Examiner | 10.14.1993 | Wayne Wilson

LA Times | 11.16.1988 | Paul Jacobs and Virginia Ellis

SFGATE.com | Katie Dowd

SACtown Magazine | Martin Kuz

LA times | 3.25. 1989 | Virginia Ellis and Leo Wolinksy

The Bone Garden | William P. Wood

The Big Book of Serial Killers | Jack Rosewood & Rebecca Lo

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