Dorothea Puente: Sacramento Serial Killer and Nightmare on 14th Street
77
Pick a Victorian—any Victorian. Downtown Sacramento is known for its historic, restored Victorians as well as its serial killers.
I know the old gingerbread Victorian still stands, and it is blocks away from landmarks like the California’s state capitol and the Governor’s Mansion. But I haven’t been in that neighborhood since Dorothea Puente was arrested shortly after Halloween 1988. People celebrate Halloween every year, but I haven’t been able to forget that this holiday, which is the second most popular holiday next to Christmas. Halloween is also a reminder that crime still exists everywhere.
Before her arrest in 1988, I had already spent most of 1988 parking my car in front of Dorothea Puente’s light blue Victorian. As a new homeowner at the time, I was holding onto three jobs. I did not know Puente and what went on in her home. To save on money, I parked in front of the Victorian until I saw the 11 o’clock news reporting Dorothea Puente’s arrest. I don’t remember seeing anyone outside or inside of the house, but I did start parking closer to work after that. By then, I was happy to pay for the high cost of hourly parking.
Dorothea Puente as the Boardinghouse Grandma and Urban Legend
In the worst possible way, Dorothea Puente gained national attention as the elderly woman and parolee who ran a boardinghouse at 1426 F Street. Her tenants were known as “shadow people” by local social workers because Puente was known to take in the elderly, alcoholics, and drug addicts. Between 1982 and 1988, she was accused to killing nine boarders. Seven of the bodies had been buried in the backyard of Puente’s Victorian on 14th Street, and these bodies contained traces of the sleeping pill, Dalmane.
Other victims included an elderly man who was one of Puente’s boarders. The remains of the former tenant were found in a wooden box by a fisherman. It had been dumped on the banks of the Sacramento River by Puente’s handy man. This man, who went by the name, “Chief,” disappeared after working for Puente.
Puente made an average $5,000 a month by cashing in the Social Security checks belonging to her boarders. With this money, she bought tailored clothes and a facelift.
In 1993, Puente was 64 when she was sent to the biggest women’s prison in the nation. Puente spent the rest of her life serving life-without-parole sentences for two of her crimes.
The Victorian Still Exists
The famous garden and burial grounds kept by Puente has been covered in cement after the last body was extracted from the soil in 1988. The stigma of the murders and crime scene remains. The house had changed hands a few times, but as of 2010, the property was undergoing foreclosure.
As a crime scene to violent crimes and murder, the Victorian was said to be haunted, but there have been no sightings of ghosts at the house or the neighborhood. It is said that murders at residences mean there is no guarantee for the presence of ghosts in the present or future.
Death, Cookbook, Books, and Calendar
In March 2011, Dorothea Puente died of natural causes while being incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California. Until her death, she would not admit to the murders. Oddly enough, in one of her final interviews before her death, Puente did admit that she missed gardening. Her crimes and notoriety have staying power because her cookbooks, cooks, and a calendar continue to sell.
- Serial Killer Dorothea Puente Is Dead, But Her Cookbook Lives On - New York Restaurants and Dining -
Convicted serial killer Dorothea Puente died in Central California Women's Facility prison on Sunday. But her legacy...
 | Amazon Price: $8.79 List Price: $9.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $2.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $82.57 List Price: $6.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $14.42 List Price: $21.75 |
 | Amazon Price: $8.78 |
 | Amazon Price: $13.05 List Price: $19.75 |
Angelic Dorothea Puente Looked Like Someone's Grandma, but She was one of Sacramento's Most Notorious Serial Killers. Loading...
Thomas, what I used to do to in the past to either earn money or save it! I think about Dorothea every year about this time. I also had a classmate at Sac State who was murdered around Halloween (early 80s) by different serial killers. All from Sacramento, just the same. I don't know what it is, but whether we like it or not, we are connected to crime. I was talking to the guy before class on a Friday, and by Monday, they found his body in a rural area. Placerville, I think. His girlfriend was also found murdered. It was such a shock because they both had so much going for them. They were the golden couple and college sweethearts about to graduate and get married. Which kinds of tells you that this is IT. You just don't know when your number is UP. I never saw anyone around that Victorian, on the porch, or peeking through the windows. No gardening, either. My neighbor down the street from me follows all the cop and crime shows, and tells me that Dorothea used to put a small pumpkin on the fence to represent each of her victims. Well, I didn't see any pumpkins, either! All I did was save me some money. I parked the car in front of her Victorian and moved it up and back during my breaks and lunch hour. I didn't get any parking tickets for months, but at the same time, I didn't see a thing until I sat down to watch the news. She does have a cookbook and a calendar. She has books about her, and before she died, she was well-publicized by the media. Dorothea was quite the cook in her boarding house and in prison. Wow! Imagine that!
ms arlene, can you imagine cooking with her recipes? it would be weird but i'll admit, i am curious. from the pictures, she is quite a mysterious lady. yet i could not feel a violent trace from her. maybe that is why she used sleeping pills. i could not imagine she was capable of doing it. was she mental to have done it?
Yeah I heard of this lady, what was her main ingredient? Leave it to you Arlene to park yourself so close to the lady :() Awesome article I love these kind of true bizarre stories...
anj, the comment on Amazoncom was just as weird. The person reviewing her book said they had a "potluck" featuring all of her Dorothe'as recipes and admitted they were "quite good." Ewwwww. But Dorothea had a history of being a wonderful cook both at her boarding house and at the prison. I don't know about cooking in prison since you are limited to what you can buy at the inmate canteens. Research says she was mentally ill. Her attorneys tried to get her off because of this and her awful upbringing. But the secret is, most criminals have awful childhoods. Dorothea was orphaned early, shuttled to foster homes, and was introduced to prostitution at an early age. In Sacramento, she was always searching the dive bars for the older men with the pension checks. She even did this when she had boarders.
Hahahahahahaha. Now wouldn't it be just like you, jenubouka, to ask about Dorothea Puente's main cooking ingredient? You are sooooooo funny. Yeah, I do things like that. Park in front of the light blue Victorian for months and not even know what was going on in there. There was nothing spectacular about the garden. Otherwise, I would have noticed. It's not that the plants were looking any healthier because of what she put into the soil over the months . . .
Interesting story. I have not heard of her before but what a lady, preying on the old and needy. And to think you parked your car close to the house--you're one spunky lady. Enjoyed the hub, as usual, and rating it up.
angin, parking in front of the house didn't give me the creeps, either. At the time, it was the nearest house I could park in front of that didn't have parking restrictions except the regular move-every-two-hours sign. It was always hard for the public to believe that Dorothea committed all of these murders on her boarders, but she did have a thing for clothes and later for the facelift. Material things were much more important to her. Thanks for your comments and the vote up!
A good, creepy story for Halloween, Arlene. And the fact that you parked in front of her house makes it extra eerie. I can't imagine buying her cookbook!
Deborah, can you imagine sitting down to one of her boarding house meals? Ewwwww. I don't know who receives the book royalties now that she's gone, but I think she tried to play it up that the money was going to her victims' families. Doubt that. Dorothea's prison cookbook is like Scott Peterson writing a book on romance and dating. He is at San Quentin, but is still getting money and love letters to pad his canteen account. I think interviewing Dorothea would have been interesting, but I doubt if it would be over one of her tamales! Nothing like having her slip you some Dalmane in your drink. Besides cooking, she was good in the cocktail department. Double ewwwwwwww.
Arlene, your comment made me laugh. Who are these crazies writing love letters to Scott Peterson? Have they no self-respect? Maybe that's another topic for your young and dumb girls series!
Hahahahahahahahaha. Well, Deborah, what can I say? If you want a man who is unavailable, but still want to send him love letters, marriage proposals, and cash, Scott Peterson would be a "safe" choice. It is sad, but true. And I was required to listen in on some really strange phone calls between these blessed people. Ewwwwww. I saw a lot of young girls come visit inmates and leave crying. Maybe because they came to their senses? I can only assume they had jobs because of their good looks and nice cars. Each time one of them floored it out of the parking lot, I wanted to scream, "Keep driving, Honey! Find someone on the OUTSIDE!" And, the rest would be up to them. Something very strange about women who have these type of "relationships," but I guess this is what these women are willing to settle for. Triple ewwwwwwwwww! I also think these same women like "communicating" with a famous criminal. Like on the Internet, you can be anyone you want to be when it comes to writing to a stranger. The whole process keeps Scott in personal items, writing paper, and pencils. I think his family pretty much cut him off. I'm sure his attorneys during his lengthy trial drained their finances. Which is why all his creepy fans come in handy for him.
I wasn't familiar with this particular story, but I have heard of several like her. B.C. has it own share of murderers sadly.
Women serial killers are a little more rare, Flora, but I do think we have more than enough criminals to deal with. Dorothea did look like someone's grandma. Instead of serving up cookies and cupcakes for the children, she was making cocktails for her boarders. Unfortunately, the people she served never woke up. Oddly enough, she never stopped looking for potential victims. She was only interested in the elderly and addicts. They had to be receiving Social Security checks.
beleave it or not she did make cookies for children i was one of them for sevrial years and beleave it or not i live, at the time i would have never known she was doing what she was doing but guess what she was and yes she looked like a grandma and was a killer. the people she carred for were great and sweet people so god bless them all
ThoughtSandwiches Level 7 Commenter 6 months ago
Arlene...
I remember reading about this case and you have picked a great night to resurrect the story! That is crazy that you you used to park in front of her house...glad you needed a parking spot and not a room...
Seriously...she has a calender??
Thomas