Joseph Naso

Serial Killer

Joseph Naso: The "Double Initial" Serial Killer

Overview

Joseph Naso was an American photographer and convicted serial killer whose crimes remained hidden for decades. He was found guilty in 2013 of murdering four women in Northern California between 1977 and 1994. Each of the four women had matching initials in her first and last names, leading the press to describe Naso as the "Double Initial Killer" or the "Alphabet Killer." Investigators believed the four proven murders represented only part of a much longer series of crimes. Naso frequently traveled throughout California and Nevada while working as a freelance and commercial photographer. Prosecutors argued that he used his occupation, his camera equipment and promises of modeling work to approach vulnerable women. Evidence recovered from his residences included photographs of women in compromising circumstances, handwritten journals describing sexual encounters and a disturbing list containing cryptic references to ten women and the locations associated with them.

The Murder of Roxene Roggasch

Roxene Roggasch, sometimes identified by her married surname of Ashby, was 18 years old when she was killed. Her body was discovered on January 10, 1977, beside a rural road near Fairfax in Marin County, California. Investigators determined that she had been strangled and believed she had been killed shortly before her body was found. The prosecution connected Naso to Roggasch through physical evidence, photographs and entries in his writings. A photograph found among Naso's belongings showed a woman resembling Roggasch. Investigators also recovered a handwritten list that included a reference to a "girl on Mt. Tam," which prosecutors believed described the general area where her body was abandoned. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Roxenne Roggasch Age: (18), Date of Death: 1977-01-11

Joseph Naso - Wikipedia