CONVICTED murderer Dorothea Puente is the main focus of Netflix’s Worst Roommate Ever.
The true crime docuseries follow the chilling crimes committed by serial killer Dorothea, dubbed by the media the “Death House Landlady”.
APDorothea Puente’s 1993 trial was heavily covered by the media[/caption]
Who was Dorothea Puente?
Dorothea Puente was a California landlady who ran a boarding house in Sacramento during the 1980s.
Dorothea often took in the elderly and homeless and placed them as her tenants.
Eventually, the “Death House Landlady” would then drug her tenants to the point of rendering them incapacitated.
Dorothea followed up the drugging by carrying out the tenants’ murder and burying them in her backyard and garden.
After burying the victims on her property, she then cashed in on the victims’ social security checks.
AP:Associated PressSacramento police and coroners remove a seventh body from the yard of Puente’s house in 1988[/caption]
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What happened to Dorothea Puente and how many victims did she claim?
On November 11, 1988, Dorothea was arrested and detained by Sacramento police officials.
Upon apprehension, she was charged with a total of nine murders.
“This could be my grandma, she was the little old lady next door. You can not judge a book by its cover and she had one heck of a cover.”
Her trial commenced in February of 1993 and she was tried for the killings of the following people – which include her former boyfriend and her eight tenants:
Everson Gillmouth, 77
Ruth Monroe, 61
Leona Carpenter, 78
Alberto Montoya, 51
Dorothy Miller, 64
Benjamin Fink, 55
James Gallop, 62
Vera Martin, 64
Betty Palmer, 78
Dorothea was convicted of three out of nine murder counts and sentenced to life in prison in August of 1993.
Despite the guilty verdict of her trial, she maintained her innocence until her death.
On March 27, 2011, Dorothea died at the age of 82 from natural causes.
She passed away at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, California.
APPuente was arrested for investigation in the slayings of seven people[/caption]
Why was Dorothea Puente named the “Death House Landlady”?
An article by Los Angeles Times from 1989 referred to Puente as the “Death House Landlady” in the title.
Her trial was heavily publicised by the media and she became known in the newspapers under the same pseudonym.
Between 1982 and 1989, Puente would take in the vulnerable and homeless – poisoning and strangling some of her guests before burying them on her property and cashing their social security checks.
It is estimated she made just under £4,000 a month from cashing their social security checks.
What is Worst Roommate Ever?
Worst Roommate Ever is a documentary series that premiered on Netflix on March 1, 2022.
The docuseries chronicled Dorothea Puente’s time as a California landlord who drugged and murdered her tenants.
The fourth episode titled “Call Me Grandma” detailed her killings and how Dorothea was ultimately caught and convicted by law officials.
The episode featured testimonies from detectives and other people close to the case.
In the documentary, police say: “This could be my grandma, she was the little old lady next door.”
They added: “You can not judge a book by its cover and she had one heck of a cover.”
How to watch season 2 of Worst Roommate Ever?
The streaming giant ordered a second season of the docuseries that debuted in 2022.
The documentary will return to screens with four episodes on June 26.
The series will explore more harrowing stories about seemingly innocent roommates turning into monsters.
Worst Roommate Ever season 2 will be accessible to Netflix subscribers.