Dorothea Puente was a convicted serial killer who ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California in the 1980s. Puente cashed in the Social Security checks of the elderly and disabled boarders living in her house. Many of them ended up dead and buried in the boarding house’s yard. In April 1982, Puente’s friend and business partner, Ruth Monroe, began to rent out a space in an apartment she owned. Shortly after moving in, Monroe died from an overdose of codeine and Tylenol. When she was questioned by police, Puente said that Monroe had become depressed because of her husband’s illness. Police officially ruled the death a suicide.
Several weeks later, 74-year-old Malcolm McKenzie accused Puente of drugging him and stealing his pension. Puente was charged and convicted of theft in August of that year, and was sentenced to five years in jail. When she was serving her sentence, she began a pen-pal relationship with 77-year-old Everson Gillmouth. When she was released in 1985, after serving three years, she moved in and opened a joint bank account with Gillmouth. In November of that year, Puente hired a handyman, Ismael Florez, to install wood panelling in her home. After he completed the job, Puente paid him an $800 bonus and gave him a red 1980 Ford pickup truck- the exact same model and year of Gillmouth’s car. She told Florez that the truck belonged to her boyfriend in Los Angeles, who gave it to her. Puente also hired Florez to build a box that was six feet by three feet by two feet, which she stated that she would use to store “books and other items”. She and Florez then travelled to a highway in Sutter County and dumped the box in a river bank. On January 1, 1986, the box was recovered by a fisherman, who called the police. When police arrived and opened the box, they found the decomposed remains of an elderly man- who would not be identified as Everson Gillmouth for another three years. During this time, Puente collected Gillmouth’s pension and forged letters to his family.
During this time, Puente continued to house elderly and disabled tenants in her boarding house. While they were living there, she read their mail and took any money and Social Security checks they received. She paid each of them monthly stipends, but kept the remainder for what she claimed were expenses for the boarding house. Puente’s boarding house was visited by several parole agents as a result of previous orders for her to stay away from elderly people and not to handle government checks. Despite these frequent visits, she was never charged with anything. Neighbors began to grow suspicious of Puente when she stated that she “adopted” a homeless alcoholic man named “Chief” to serve as a handyman. She had Chief dig in the basement and remove soil and garbage from the property. Chief then put in a new concrete slab in the basement before he disappeared.
In November 1988, Alvaro Montoya, a tenant in Puente’s house disappeared. Montoya was developmentally disabled and had schizophrenia. After he failed to show up at meetings, his social worker reported him missing. Police arrived at Puente’s boarding house and began to search the property. They discovered recently disturbed soil, and were able to uncover seven bodies in the yard. When the investigation into the deaths began, Puente was not considered a suspect. As soon as police let her out of their sight, she fled to Los Angeles, where she visited a bar and began to talk to an elderly pensioner. The man recognized her from the news and called the police. Puente was charged with nine counts of murder, for the seven bodies found at her house in addition to Gillmouth and Montoya. She was convicted of three of the murders, though the jury could not agree on the other six. Puente was sentenced to two life sentences which she served at Central California Women’s Facility in Madera County, California until her death in 2011 at age 82. Until her death, she continued to insist that she was innocent and that the tenants had all died of natural causes.
Genene Ann Jones, born July 13th, 1950, is a female serial killer who worked as a pediatric nurse in Texas. She killed an unknown number of children (estimates suggest 46 at the highest) via poison. She is also known as an “Angel of Death” for her style of killing. Jones would inject digoxin, heparin, and other drugs to create a medical situation in a patient. She had meant to revive them, but many children did not survive the damage inflicted initially by the poisons. Jones aroused suspicion in Kerrville, near San Antonio, when a doctor found a puncture in a bottle of newly-diluted succinylcholine. The final straw came, however, when Chelsea McClellan, a baby, died after a routine checkup and some shots. Right after Jones gave the baby shots, she stopped breathing and was rushed to the hospital. Jones was sentenced during two trials – one was for murder of a baby named Chelsea McClellan and injury to others; the second trial regarded her time at a different hospital. In the first trial, on February 15th, 1984, Jones was sentenced to 99 years. In the second, she received 60 years. She came up for parole, but was denied because of opposition from her victims’ families. However, she is set for release in 2018 because of prison overcrowding.
Gwendolyn Graham, born August 6th, 1964, is an American serial killer. Graham was a nursing aide in Michigan’s Alpine Manor. Cathy Wood, who also worked at the nursing home, befriended Graham, in 1986. Soon after, they became lovers. In the relationship, Graham was dominant over Wood, in all ways. However, Wood was not innocent. Together, the two created a terrible plan, based in their love. They would murder people whose initials would spell “murder.” They soon abandoned the spelling plan, but the murders continued as Graham tried to prove the love that she had for Wood. However, Wood and Graham parted ways soon after. Wood, feeling guilty, told her ex-husband about the murders, and soon, the police were informed. Graham received five life sentences for the five murders and conspiracy to commit murder in 1989. To this day, she is serving her sentence in the Huron Valley Correctional Complex. Wood received a sentenced based on her guilty plea of one charge of conspiracy to commit murder and one charge of second-degree murder. She received 40 years, and is currently eligible for parole. She is in the Federal Correction Institution serving her sentence.
Jane Toppan, born 1857, was a serial killer in Massachusetts. She was born Honora Kelley. Toppan’s life goal was to “have killed more people – helpless people – than any other man or woman who ever lived.” Indeed, she killed at least thirty-one patients, although confessed to having killed more than one hundred. Toppan was a nurse who worked as a type of female serial killer known as an “angel of death.” She injected patients with morphine, and killed them via these injections. Toppan’s murderous career was discovered in 1901 when a family whose mother was friends with Jane – the Davis family. The mother died first while visiting Toppan. Shortly after, one daughter died after asking for help from Toppan, who gave her injections to help. Then, the father died, followed by the other daughter, all of whom had been medicated by Toppan. In court, Toppan was found insane – based on her many suicide attempts throughout her life – and was therefore sentenced to life in an asylum. At age 84, in 1938, she died.
Karla Homolka, a Canadian serial killer, was born May 4th, 1970 in Ontario. Homolka seemed like a normal child: pretty, popular, and loved by everyone around her. She loved animals, and worked at a vet’s office. This passion for animals led her to a pet convention. She was 17. Paul Bernardo, 23, was there as well. The two met and had sex almost immediately, discovering their shared passion for sadomasochistic sexual acts, with Homolka willingly acting submissive to Bernardo. Bernardo, whose sexual proclivities were extremely perverse, asked Homolka if she would be alright with him raping women. She agreed. Bernardo became the Scarborough Rapist, but was not caught.
Bernardo soon became obsessed with Homolka’s younger sister, Tammy. At a Christmas party, they served her drinks spiked with halcyon, then used a rag with Halothane on it to keep Tammy unconscious while they raped her. Tammy vomited during the rape and choked on her own vomit, leading to her death. Drugs in her system were somehow overlooked, and the case was classified as an accidental death. However, the ordeal was not over between Bernardo and Homolka. Bernardo was unhappy with Tammy’s death, and blamed Homolka for it. As a present, Homolka brought a girl named Jane as a replacement, and they raped her as well.
Next, they kidnapped Leslie Mahaffy and raped her, killed her, put her body in cement, and then threw the cement in the lake. They married, with Bernardo writing their wedding vows. He refused to be called “husband and wife,” instead selecting “man and wife” to assert his dominance, as well as noting that Homolka would “love, honor, and obey” him. Next, they kidnapped and tortured, humiliated, and raped Kristen French. They separated in 1993 because of physical abuse. Soon after, Bernardo was identified forensically as the Scarborough Rapist.
Homolka soon realized she would be caught, and confessed to a family member the truth about her and Bernardo’s relationships. She got a lawyer and entered a plea bargain for a twelve-year sentence; the government agreed that she could be eligible for parole after three years with good behavior. In exchange, Homolka would testify against Bernardo. Later, videotapes of her and Bernardo’s sexual exploits were discovered, and it was clear that she was not the victim she had painted herself to be – she seemed to enjoy their illicit sexual activities. Bernardo received a life sentence. Homolka was released in 2005 with many conditions. Today, she lives in Guadelope under the name Leanne Bordelais.
Myra Hindley, born July 23rd, 1942, in England, was an English serial killer. When she was 15, one of her friends died; this led to her quitting school. In 1961, she met Ian Brady. Brady, recently released from prison, worked as a stock clerk when the two met. Brady had far too much influence over Hindley, who was madly in love with him. At first, Hindley wrote, “I hope he loves me, and will marry me some day.” Hindley later noticed that he was “cruel and selfish,” but added that she still “love[d] him.” She was willing to do whatever he said, even stopping her church attendance and reading anything and everything that he suggested. So when Brady suggested that they rape and murder another person, Hindley was ready to go along with it. Their first of many victims was Pauline Reade. Soon after were John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward Evans, all minors. One day Hindley’s brother-in-law witnessed one of their murders, and it led to their eventual trial, where they both received life sentences. Hindley died of respiratory failure in 2002; Brady continues to serve his life sentence.
Velma Bullard, later Velma Barfield, was born on October 29th, 1932 to a poor family in South Carolina. Her life of crime began early, when, after starting to attend school at age seven, she noted the financial differences between her and her classmates. She began stealing pocket money from her father to afford small luxuries while gone at school, and soon after, progressed to stealing $80 dollars from an old neighbor. Her father found out and beat her, and that was the last time during her childhood that theft was recorded.
Despite his criticisms of her and her own criticisms of the way her family worked, Velma loved her father. He bought her nice things sometimes, right when she wanted them, and she adored him for it. Later, it was revealed that this relationship was probably not strictly father-daughter and had evolved into a sexual relationship. She wed high school sweetheart Thomas Burke when she was 17, and they dropped out of school to live a nice home life. She gave birth to two children and love the fiercely, counted on to be extremely engaged with her children’s classes.
Velma took another job at a textile plant. However, in 1964, she had a hysterectomy after medical problems. The hysterectomy led her to feel insecure in her womanhood and she began to feel lots of pain. When Thomas began to drink, she started to hate him. She began taking Librium and Valium, going to multiple doctors for prescriptions. One day, her house caught on fire. Only Thomas was home. Soon after, they moved back in with Velma’s parents and she began dating Jennings Barfield. Barfield died in 1971 of heart failure that had been an issue much of his later life.
Lillie, Velma’s mother, died in a strange way, which, it would later be revealed, was arsenic. Velma had taken a liking to killing those in her care by poisoning them, then attempting to nurse them back to health. She took a job working to care for sick old people. Her employer, Dollie, died of similar strange circumstances. Then, a man under her care died as well. When boyfriend Stuart Taylor died in a similar way, an anonymous tipster, later revealed to be Velma’s sister, notified police that Velma had killed a lot of people the same way she’d killed Stuart. Velma was given a death sentence, and although psychiatric witnesses tried to stop Velma from being sentenced, she was convicted in the end – the first woman to be executed since 1976. She was poisoned on November 2nd, 1984.
Luis Alfredo Garavito was born on 25 January 1957 in Génova, Quindío, Colombia. He is the oldest of seven brothers, and apparently suffered physical and emotional abuse by his father. In his testimony, he described being a victim of sexual abuse when young. He is a Colombian rapist and serial killer. In 1999, he admitted to the rape and murder of 140 young boys. The number of his victims, based on the locations of skeletons listed on maps that Garavito drew in prison, could eventually exceed 300. He has been described by local media as "the world's worst serial killer" because of the high number of victims. Once captured, Garavito was subject to the maximum penalty available in Colombia, which was 30 years. However, as he confessed the crimes and helped authorities locate bodies, Colombian law allowed him to apply for special benefits, including a reduction of his sentence to 22 years and possibly an even earlier release for further cooperation and good behavior.
In subsequent years, Colombians have increasingly felt that due to Garavito's approaching early release, his sentence is not sufficient punishment for his crimes. Colombian law originally had no way to extend the sentence, as cases of serial killers like Garavito had no legal precedent in the country and thus the legal system could not properly address this case. In late 2006, however, a judicial review of the cases against Garavito in different local jurisdictions found that his sentence could be extended and his release delayed, due to the existence of crimes he did not admit to and for which he was not previously condemned. Garavito's victims were poor children, peasant children, or street children, between the ages of 6 and 16. Garavito approached them on the street or countryside and offered them gifts or small amounts of money. After gaining their trust, he took the children for a walk and when they got tired, he would take advantage of them. He then raped them, cut their throats, and usually dismembered their corpses. Most corpses showed signs of torture. Garavito was captured on 22 April 1999. He confessed to murdering 140 children. However, he is still under investigation for the murder of 172 children in more than 59 towns in Colombia.
He was found guilty in 138 of the 172 cases; the others are ongoing. The sentences for these 138 cases add to 1,853 years and 9 days. Because of Colombian law restrictions, however, he cannot be imprisoned for more than 30 years. In addition, because he helped the authorities in finding the bodies, his sentence has been decreased to 22 years. As Garavito served his reduced sentence, many Colombians began to gradually criticize the possibility of his early release, some arguing that he deserved either life in prison or the death penalty, neither of which are applicable in Colombia. In 2006, local TV host Pirry interviewed Garavito, which aired on 11 June of that same year. In this TV special, Pirry mentioned that during the interview, the killer tried to minimize his actions and expressed intent to start a political career in order to help abused children. Pirry also described Garavito's conditions in prison and commented that due to good behavior, Garavito could probably apply for early release within 3 years. After the Pirry interview aired, criticism of Garavito's situation gained increased notoriety in the media and in political circles. A judicial review of the cases against Garavito in different local jurisdictions found that his sentence could potentially be extended and his release delayed, because he would have to answer for unconfessed crimes separately, as they were not covered by his previous judicial process.
Pedro Alonso López, accused of raping and killing more than 300 girls across his native country, then Peru and Ecuador, and possibly other countries. Aside from uncited local accounts, López’s crimes first received international attention from an interview conducted by Ron Laytner, a long time freelance photojournalist who reported interviewing López in his Ambato prison cell in 1980. By his mid-teens, Lopez had left school and returned to Colombia where he took to stealing cars. He ended up in prison where he was brutally gang raped. He retaliated by killing each of his assailants and was released in 1978. Following his release, Lopez claimed to have raped and killed at least 100 girls from various Indian tribes throughout the region. In 1980, while in police custody, Lopez revealed that he had performed similar grisly acts with more than 100 others throughout Peru and Colombia. Police were skeptical at first, but Lopez escorted agents to his burial sites, where they uncovered 81 bodies. Though it is impossible to know exactly how many lives Lopez took, some guess the number to be more than 300. In late 1980, Lopez was convicted on multiple counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
