Dorothea Helen Puente

Serial Killer

Dorothea Helen Puente: The Sacramento "Death House Landlady"

Overview

Dorothea Helen Puente was an American serial killer and financial predator who operated a boarding house at 1426 F Street in Sacramento, California. During the 1980s, she presented herself as a charitable and grandmotherly caregiver who provided housing to elderly people, individuals with disabilities, recovering alcoholics, and others who had few places to turn. Behind this carefully maintained image, Puente stole her tenants' government benefits, forged their signatures, drugged them, and concealed their bodies. Puente was charged with nine murders committed between 1982 and 1988. Seven victims were found buried around her Sacramento boarding house, while two others died or were disposed of elsewhere. In 1993, a jury convicted her of murdering three victims: Leona Carpenter, Dorothy Miller, and Benjamin Fink. Jurors could not reach unanimous verdicts in the remaining six cases. Although Puente was often described as a landlady who killed for money, her crimes involved more than simple theft. She deliberately selected vulnerable people whose disappearances might not immediately attract attention. Some had serious health problems, mental illnesses, alcohol dependency, or limited contact with relatives. Puente gained control over their money, isolated them, and offered misleading explanations when social workers or family members asked where they had gone.

Early Life and Criminal History

Dorothea Helen Gray was born on January 9, 1929, in Redlands, California. Her childhood was marked by instability, poverty, and the early deaths of her parents. She later gave conflicting and frequently exaggerated accounts of her background, including stories intended to make her appear sophisticated, wealthy, or connected to prominent political families. As an adult, she married several times and used different surnames and identities. Her fourth husband was Roberto Puente, whose surname she continued using long after their relationship ended. She became known in Sacramento as Dorothea Puente. Puente accumulated a long record of fraud, forgery, theft, and drugging people in order to rob them. In January 1982, she met 74-year-old Malcolm McKenzie at a Sacramento bar. After going to his apartment, she allegedly placed drugs in his drink and stole jewelry, watches, coins, and other valuables while he was incapacitated. McKenzie survived and reported the robbery. Puente was subsequently convicted of theft-related offenses and sentenced to prison. While incarcerated, she corresponded with an elderly Oregon man named Everson Gillmouth. After her release in September 1985, Gillmouth came to California and became closely involved with her. He disappeared soon afterward. ...

Confirmed Victims: (9)

Ruth Munroe Age: (61), Date of Death: 1982-04-14

Dorothea Puente - Wikipedia