Netflix's true-crime documentary Worst Roommate Ever details the horrific crimes of Dorothea Puente. Here is a complete guide to Puente's victims.
Warning: This article contains graphic details regarding various murders.
Netflix's latest true-crime doc, Worst Roommate Ever, catalogs the horrific crimes of prolific serial killer Dorothea Puente — but just how many victims did she have, and how did this seemingly sweet older woman do it? Puente is one of the most prolific serial killers in American history, running a house of horrors in a Victorian bungalow at 1426 F Street in Sacramento, California. The first episode of Blumhouse Television's Worst Roommate Ever details the crimes of Puente, who had a string of unfortunate victims who met grisly ends.
Dorothea Puente was a staple in her community — she took care of her neighbors, frequently donated to charity, and took in those who society had cast aside. Puente looked every bit the role of the neighborhood grandmother, but in reality, she was a cold-blooded killer. Puente's typical M.O. involved poisoning, strangling, and suffocating those who boarded with her in order to collect their Social Security checks. Puente had a history of taking advantage of those she cared for, serving a three-year stint in prison for theft charges after drugging and robbing one of her charges, Malcolm McKenzie. In 1993, Puente was charged with the murders of nine people, though she was only convicted of murdering three: Dorothy Miller, Benjamin Fink, and Leona Carpenter. Puente maintained her innocence until she died in prison of natural causes in 2011 at the age of 82.
Puente's crimes were revealed in 1988 when a police investigation into multiple missing boarders uncovered a verifiable graveyard on Puente's property. Over the course of the investigation, seven dead bodies were excavated from Puente's property in varying states of decay. It would soon be revealed that the bodies belonged to former boarders, many of them ill, elderly, and vulnerable, who relied on Puente to take care of them in their times of need. While Puente's victims suffered, she used their benefits to live a lavish lifestyle, buying herself cosmetic surgeries and expensive alcohol. It's worth asking if Netflix's true crime docs glorify murder, which is why it's important to understand that Puente's victims were real people.
Ruth Monroe
Ruth Monroe is considered to be Puente's first murder victim. After Monroe's husband fell terminally ill in 1982, 61-year-old Ruth Monroe moved in with her best friend, Dorothea Puente, for support. This move, however, proved fatal for Monroe. Just three weeks after moving in with Puente, Monroe was reported dead after overdosing on codeine and acetaminophen. Puente told the police her friend had committed suicide because she was depressed over her husband's terminal illness — the police bought her story, and her death was officially ruled a suicide. Family members of Monroe believe that Puente drugged her, possibly by slipping medication in a glass of alcohol. Though Puente was charged with her murder, the jury was unable to convict her on this count.
Everson Gilmouth
During Puente's three-year stint in prison, she became pen pals with a man named Everson Gilmouth. The pair fell in love during her time in prison, and when Gilmouth moved from Oregon to California to join her upon her release in 1985, they were already making wedding plans. However, wedding bells never rang for this couple — within the year, Puente was hiring a man to build and dispose of a wooden box that would later be revealed to contain Gilmouth's body. Gilmouth's remains were discovered on January 1, 1986, at a riverbank junk dumping site in Sutter County, California; however, they weren't identified as his for three years. Gilmouth's extreme decomposition means no official cause of death was ever declared, but it was likely he was killed by Dorothea's typical process, drugging.
Dorothy Miller
64-year-old Dorothy Miller was another boarder of Puente's when she vanished in October 1987. Like Puente's other victims, Miller died at the hands of drug overdosing — though her body was badly decomposed by the time it was excavated from Puente's backyard, traces of flurazepam were found in her remains. When her body was discovered, Miller's arms were found duct-taped to her chest. After her death, Puente used Miller's veteran I.D card to obtain medical care. Puente was charged with first-degree murder for the death of Dorothy Miller.
Benjamin Fink
55-year-old Benjamin Fink was one of Puente's boarders and a reported alcoholic. Fink was last seen in April 1987 before disappearing without a trace. Before his disappearance, Puente told another boarder that she was taking Fink upstairs to "make him feel better." Fink's body would later be unearthed from behind Puente's house, dressed only in a pair of boxers. Like Miller, his body contained traces of flurazepam. Fink was the second first-degree murder that Puente was charged with.
Leona Carpenter
Leona Carpenter, 78, was released into Dorothea Puente's care in 1987 after she was discharged from a hospital visit. After suffering on Puente's sofa for only two weeks, Carpenter was never seen again. Carpenter died of a drug overdose, though those who knew her claim she was far too ill to have acquired the drugs that were found in her system on her own. Her body was soon discovered along the back fence of Puente's yard when a detective pulled her femur from the dirt. Puente would eventually be charged with second-degree murder in relation to Carpenter's death.
Alvaro "Bert" Montoya
Alvaro "Bert" Montoya was a 51-year-old man who suffered from schizophrenia. Montoya was placed in Puente's care by a social worker named Judy. When Bert disappeared, Judy refused to believe Puente when she claimed Bert had left of his own volition to live with his family in Mexico and was still alive; Bert did not get along with his family, and Judy knew he never would have willingly left with them. Montoya had also told employees at a local detox center that Puente was forcing him to take medication that he did not want to. It was Judy's insistence that eventually led police to dig up Puente's backyard, revealing the gruesome secrets the land held and Puente as a serial killer to rival Son of Sam David Berkowitz. Bert's body was found underneath a freshly-planted apricot tree in Puente's side yard. Puente went to extreme lengths to hide Montoya's death, even hiring a man to pretend to be Montoya's brother-in-law to dispel Judy's suspicions. In the end, however, Puente's attempts wouldn't be enough. Bert is believed to be Puente's final victim.
Betty Palmer
Betty Palmer was another boarder who mysteriously went missing under Puente's care. On August 19, 1986, the 77-year-old went to a doctor's appointment and was never seen again. Her body would be found missing its head, hands, and feet in Dorothea's front yard. While Palmer was missing, Puente was discovered to be in possession of an I.D bearing Palmer's name but Puente's picture, an I.D. she used in order to collect Palmer's benefits.
James Gallop
Like Carpenter before him, James Gallop was placed in the seemingly trustworthy hands of Dorothea Puente after he had a brain tumor removed in 1987. After telling his doctor that he would be boarding with Puente upon his release, Gallop was allegedly never seen again. Gallop was the fifth body to be identified of the seven pulled from Dorothea's backyard, identified by the metal sutures in his head left behind by his surgery.
Vera Faye Martin
Vera Faye Martin was only 64 years old when she met her end at Puente's hands, though the details weren't all covered in the Netflix true-crime documentary show. After moving into Puente's boarding house, Martin mysteriously disappeared, just like the others before her. One detail about Vera's death stood out from the others, however: police believe she may have been buried alive, evidenced by the apparent claw marks in the dirt surrounding her. When Vera's body was found, her wristwatch was still ticking. Of all of Netflix's Worst Roommate Ever episodes, Puente's may be the most chilling.
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