Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Failed Assassin: Sara Jane Moore

 


Sara Jane Moore (née Kahn; born February 15, 1930) is an American woman who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1975. She was given a life sentence for the attempted assassination, and she was released from prison on December 31, 2007, after serving 32 years. Moore and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme are the only women who have attempted to assassinate an American president; both of their assassination attempts were on Gerald Ford, and both of them took place in California within three weeks of one another.

Background

Moore was born in Charleston, West Virginia, the daughter of Ruth (née Moore) and Olaf Kahn. Her paternal grandparents were German immigrants. Moore had been a nursing school student, a Women's Army Corps recruit, and an accountant. Divorced five times, she had four children before she turned to revolutionary politics in 1975. Moore comes from a Christian background. She later began practicing Judaism.

Moore's friends said that she had a fascination and an obsession with Patricia Hearst. After Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), Hearst's father, Randolph Hearst, created the organization People In Need (PIN) to feed the poor, as a response to the SLA's claims that the elder Hearst was "committing 'crimes' against 'the people'". Moore, a volunteer bookkeeper for PIN, had been serving as an FBI informant there until the moment she attempted to assassinate Ford.

Attempted assassination of Gerald Ford

Moore had been evaluated by the Secret Service earlier in 1975, but agents decided that she posed no danger to the president. She had been arrested by police on an illegal-handgun charge the day before the Ford incident, but was released. The police confiscated her .44-caliber Charter Arms Bulldog revolver and 113 rounds of ammunition.

Moore's assassination attempt took place in San Francisco on September 22, 1975, just 17 days after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme's attempted assassination of Ford. She was standing in the crowd across the street from the St. Francis Hotel, and she was about 40 feet (12 m) away from Ford when she fired a single shot at him with a .38 caliber revolver She was using a gun which she bought in haste that same morning and as a result, she did not know that the sights were 15 cm (6 inches) off the point-of-impact at that distance, causing her to narrowly miss.

After realizing that she had missed, Moore raised her arm again, and Oliver Sipple, a former Marine, dived toward her and grabbed her arm, possibly saving Ford's life. Sipple said at the time: "I saw [her gun] pointed out there and I grabbed for it. [...] I lunged and grabbed the woman's arm, and the gun went off." The bullet from the second shot ricocheted and hit John Ludwig, a 42-year-old taxi driver. Ludwig survived. U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti, who sentenced Moore, voiced his opinion that Moore would have killed Ford had she had her own gun, and it was only "because her gun was faulty" that the president's life was spared.

During an interview that she conducted in 2009, Moore stated that her motive was to spark a violent revolution to bring change to America.

Trial and imprisonment

Moore pleaded guilty to attempted assassination and was sentenced to life in prison. At her sentencing hearing, Moore stated: "Am I sorry I tried? Yes and no. Yes, because it accomplished little except to throw away the rest of my life. And, no, I'm not sorry I tried, because at the time it seemed a correct expression of my anger." She served her term at the federal women's prison in Dublin, California, where she worked in the UNICOR prison labor program for $1.25 per hour as the Lead Inmate Operating Accountant. Moore had the Federal Bureau of Prisons register number 04851-180.

In 1979, Moore escaped, but she was captured several hours later.

During an interview that he conducted in 2004, Ford described Moore as "off her mind," and he also stated that he continued to make public appearances, even after two attempts on his life within such a short period, because "a president has to be aggressive, has to meet the people."

Release

On December 31, 2007, at age 77, Moore was slated to be released from prison on parole after serving 32 years of her life sentence. Ford had died from natural causes on December 26, 2006. Moore had later stated that she regretted the assassination attempt, saying she was "blinded by her radical political views". Moore was released under a federal law that makes parole mandatory for inmates who have served at least 30 years of a life sentence and have maintained a satisfactory disciplinary record. When asked about her crime in an interview, Moore stated, "I am very glad I did not succeed. I know now that I was wrong to try."

In February 2019, at age 89, Moore was arrested for violating her parole by failing to tell her parole officer about a trip she went on outside the country; she was subsequently released in August 2019.

Media

On May 28, 2019, Moore appeared on NBC's Today program, her first television appearance since she left prison on parole.

Moore also discussed her 1979 escape from prison. She revealed that an inmate told her, "When jumping the fence, just put your hand on the barbed wire, you'll only have a few puncture wounds." She went on to say, "If I knew that I was going to be captured several hours later, I would have stopped at the local bar just to get a drink and a burger."

Excerpts from an interview with Moore by Latif Nasser appear on an episode of the radio program Radiolab titled "Oliver Sipple", which was released on September 22, 2017. In the interview, Moore discusses the scene from the day she attempted to assassinate Ford and her perspective of being stopped by Oliver Sipple.

In popular culture

Moore is a character in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical Assassins, which is about presidential assassins, both successful and unsuccessful. Moore, John Wilkes Booth, Charles J. Guiteau, and Leon Czolgosz appear in "The Gun Song".

A biography of Moore called Taking Aim at the President was published in 2009 by Geri Spieler, a writer who had a correspondence with Moore for 28 years.

Suburban Fury, a 2024 Robinson Devor documentary about Moore, filmed after her release from prison, was selected to screen in the Main Slate section of the 2024 New York Film Festival.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Jane_Moore

Deadly Desire: Susan Polk

 


Susan Polk (born Susan Mae Bolling in 1957) is an American woman convicted in June 2006 of second-degree (unpremeditated) murder for the 2002 death of her husband, Dr. Frank "Felix" Polk. Polk's trial, described by one correspondent as "circus-like", drew extensive media attention with its sensationalist elements.

Her case is featured on the show Deadly Sins, and the episode is titled "Deadly Desire".

Background

Susan Polk met Dr. Polk, a psychotherapist, in 1972 when administrators at her high school recommended she see him to treat her panic attacks. Susan Polk later made the "undisputed" claim that Dr. Polk first had sex with her when she was 16 and still under his treatment, a violation of professional ethics in the relationship between therapist and patient, which is now illegal in California. At the time, Dr. Polk had a wife and two children, but the couple divorced in 1982.

After graduating from high school, Polk attended Mills College and San Francisco State University, graduating magna cum laude. In 1982, she married Dr. Polk, who was then an instructor at the California Graduate School of Family Psychology and an occasional consultant as well as a private practitioner. At the time of their wedding, Polk was age 24 and her husband was age 50. During their marriage, the couple had three sons. In 2001, Susan Polk filed for divorce, a complicated and contentious proceeding during which each contacted police with allegations of domestic violence. When asked by police whether Ms. Polk had made threats or been violent, Mr. Polk said she hadn't. In 2002, while Susan was living in Montana, Dr. Polk was able to petition the courts, ex parte, without providing Ms. Polk any form of official notice in advance. The courts then granted Dr. Polk sole custody of the couple's minor son, Gabriel Polk, and sharply reduced Susan's alimony. Dr. Polk also received sole possession of their house.

On Wednesday, October 9, Polk went to the home to retrieve her belongings and complete her dental procedure by having a permanent crown put on her tooth. On October 11, the eldest son, Adam, came home from UCLA to pick up his dog. On Sunday, October 13, Dr. Polk, Adam, and the youngest son, Gabriel, drove Adam and the dog back to UCLA. Dr. Polk and Gabriel returned home at around 9:30 pm. Dr. Polk, then 70, was found dead the next day, Monday, October 14, 2002.

The trial

At trial, prosecutors sought a conviction of murder in the first degree, contending that Susan Polk planned the murder of her multimillionaire husband for money. Susan Polk claimed self-defense, asserting that, after years of abuse, beginning with his therapy sessions, in which Dr. Polk performed "guided visualizations" (i.e., hypnosis), he brandished a kitchen knife against her. She stated that she took control of the weapon and stabbed him instead. As an expert witness for the defense, forensic pathologist Dr. John Cooper testified that Felix Polk’s death was caused by heart disease and that his stab wounds were not life-threatening and were evidence that Susan Polk delivered them in self-defense. Dr. Cooper failed to appear in court the following day to continue being cross-examined and to present documents he claimed to have received from Susan Polk, sending a written explanation to the judge. He returned with the letters a week later to resume testimony. Prosecuting attorneys dismissed Susan Polk's claim, arguing that she had no defensive wounds from her husband's alleged attack, which was disputed by expert testimony for the defense from Dr. Cooper.

The court was forced to declare a mistrial when the wife of Susan Polk's then-counsel, Daniel Horowitz, was murdered in an unrelated incident. Susan fired her attorneys to represent herself. She supported her defense with allegations of a history of marital and professional misconduct, including claims that Dr. Felix Polk had drugged and raped her when she was a teenager, brainwashed the couple's children, and threatened to kill her if she tried to leave him. Susan Polk repeatedly requested a second mistrial, lodging accusations of conspiracy against the prosecutor and the judge.

Each of Susan and Felix's children testified at the trial. The youngest son, Gabriel, who had found the body, testified that his mother had speculated about the means of killing her husband in the weeks before his father's death. The oldest son, Adam, also testified against his mother, receiving widespread media coverage when he referred to her on the stand as "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs". The middle son, Eli, testified on Susan's behalf that Felix was the aggressor, controller, and manipulator and that he was responsible overall.

Jurors, obeying the judge's jury instruction order, disagreed that the crime was premeditated, finding her guilty of second-degree murder. Susan Polk was sentenced to prison for a term of 16 years to life. Her appeal was denied. Susan Polk was transferred to the California Institution for Women (CIW), a dorm-like prison in Corona, California, in December 2012, and she was eligible for parole in 2018. On May 29, 2019, Polk was removed from her parole hearing for being uncooperative, and she was denied parole. Polk will be eligible again in May 2029.

Further reading

Crier, Catherine (February 20, 2007). Final Analysis: The Untold Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-06-113452-4.

Pogash, Carol (May 29, 2007). Seduced by Madness: The True Story of the Susan Polk Murder Case. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-06-114770-8. Retrieved 2007-05-21.

Smith, Carlton (July 31, 2007). Mind Games: The True Story of a Psychologist, His Wife, and a Brutal Murder. St. Martin's True Crime. ISBN 978-0-312-93906-9.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Polk

900 Mile Mission: Lisa Nowak

 


Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo; born May 10, 1963) is an American aeronautical engineer, former NASA astronaut, and retired United States Navy officer. Nowak served as a naval flight officer and test pilot in the Navy and was selected by NASA for the NASA Astronaut Group 16 in 1996, qualifying as a mission specialist in robotics. She flew in space aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-121 mission in July 2006, when she was responsible for operating the robotic arms of the shuttle and the International Space Station. In 2007, Nowak was involved in a highly publicized incident of criminal misconduct for which she eventually pleaded guilty to felony burglary and misdemeanor battery charges, resulting in her demotion from captain to commander and termination by NASA and the Navy.

Born in Washington, D.C., Nowak graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1985. She was assigned to VAQ-34 at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California, where she flew the EA-7L Corsair and ERA-3B Skywarrior. She earned a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. In 1993, she was selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. After graduation, she remained at Patuxent River, flying in the F/A-18 Hornet and EA-6B Prowler. During her Navy career, she logged over 1,500 hours in more than 30 aircraft and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal.

In February 2007, Nowak was arrested in Orlando, Florida, after she accosted and pepper-sprayed Colleen Shipman, a U.S. Air Force captain romantically involved with astronaut William Oefelein, who had been in a relationship with Nowak. She was released on bail and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault, and battery. Subsequently, her assignment as an astronaut was terminated by NASA. In 2009, Nowak agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to charges of felony burglary of a car and misdemeanor battery. She remained a Navy captain until the following year, when a Naval Board of Inquiry voted unanimously to reduce her in rank to commander and to dismiss her from the Navy under other than honorable conditions after 25 years of service. As of 2017, it was reported that she was working in the private sector in Texas.

Early life and education

Lisa Marie Caputo was born in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 1963, to Alfredo F. Caputo, a computer consultant, and Jane L. Caputo, a biological specialist. Caputo and her two younger sisters, Andrea and Marisa, grew up in Rockville, Maryland. In 1969, she watched the Apollo 11 Moon mission and became interested in the space program. While growing up, she followed the Space Shuttle program, particularly the introduction of female astronauts in 1978, and paid frequent visits to the National Air and Space Museum.

Caputo was educated at Luxmanor Elementary School, Tilden Middle School, and Charles W. Woodward High School in North Bethesda, Maryland. In the January of her junior year of high school, she told her mother that she was going to become an astronaut. She was a Girl Scout, and a member of the Société Honoraire de Français, which required students to maintain an A average in French and a B average in all other subjects. She competed on the math team and served on her class student council. She played field hockey and competed in track and field athletics. In 1981 she was named Student Athlete of the Year, a school award granted to the student who excelled most in both sports and academics, and graduated as co-valedictorian. In her final year of high school, Caputo was accepted by Brown University, a private Ivy League university in Providence, Rhode Island, and by the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Her parents thought Brown was the best choice, but Caputo felt that she had more chance of achieving her goal of becoming an astronaut by going to the Naval Academy.

Women were first admitted to Annapolis in 1976, and by the time Caputo entered as a plebe in 1981, there were women in each of the four classes, but were only 6 percent of the student body. Female midshipmen were still harassed by some male classmates in 1981, and occasionally a male professor would inform a class that he did not think women belonged there. As a student, she competed on the track team. She graduated on May 22, 1985, with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, and was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy.

Navy career

For her first assignment, Caputo chose a six-month secondment to the Johnson Space Center, where she worked as an aerospace engineer at its branch at Ellington Air Force Base near Houston, Texas. During this time, there were six Space Shuttle launches. "What impressed me", she later said, "Was the whole idea that everybody was so into what they were doing and excited that each of their parts was so important."

In December 1985, Caputo received orders to report to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida for flight training. By law, women were still banned from combat assignments, so half the jobs in the Navy were unavailable to women regardless of aptitude or ability, and there were doubts about the wisdom of training women for jobs they were not permitted to do. Getting accepted into flight training was a major achievement, and those women that did so were often resented by men who were passed over. Caputo completed primary flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola on the T-2 Buckeye, T-39 Sabreliner and TA-4J Skyhawk and qualified as a naval flight officer (NFO) in June 1987.

Caputo's NFO training continued at the Electronic Warfare School at Corry Station in preparation to fly electronic warfare aircraft. She then went to the Naval Air Station Lemoore, where she qualified to operate the electronic systems on the LTV EA-7L Corsair II. On April 6, 1988, she married an Annapolis classmate, Richard T. Nowak, at the Naval Academy Chapel with Catholic rites, and changed her last name to "Nowak". Her next assignment was to Electronic Warfare Aggressor Squadron 34 (VAQ-34) at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California, where she flew on both the Corsair II and the Douglas ERA-3B Skywarrior, supporting the U.S. Pacific Fleet on reconnaissance mission exercises. She qualified as a mission commander and electronic warfare lead.

In 1990, Nowak entered the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where she earned both a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in September 1992, writing a thesis on Computational Investigations of a NACA 0012 Airfoil in Low Reynolds Number Flows. She gave birth to a son in February 1992. After graduate school, she transferred to the restricted line as an Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer. She was selected to attend the United States Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, after she applied six times. She graduated in June 1994, and then became an aircraft systems project officer at the Air Combat Environment Test and Evaluation Facility and at Strike Aircraft Test Squadron at Patuxent River. As a naval flying officer/flight test engineer, she participated in the development of the F/A-18 Hornet and EA-6B Prowler. Her next assignment was to the Naval Air Systems Command, where she was involved in the acquisition of new systems for naval aircraft. During her career in the Navy, Nowak logged over 1,500 hours of flight time in more than 30 different aircraft and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal.

NASA career

Astronaut training

On June 15, 1995, NASA announced that it was selecting a new group of astronauts. As a naval officer, Nowak could not apply directly, like a civilian could, but had to submit her application to a review board that would then approve it and forward it on to NASA, which it did. NASA received over 2,400 applications, and in early 1996, Nowak was informed that she was one of 150 finalists deemed highly qualified, and she was asked to report to Johnson Space Center for a week of orientation, interviews and medical evaluations.

On May 1, 1996, NASA publicly announced the names of 10 pilot and 25 mission specialist candidates; Nowak was one of the latter. The class of 1996, the 16th group of NASA astronauts, was the largest selected since the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts in 1978, which also numbered 35. They were ordered to report for duty at Johnson Space Center to commence their astronaut training on August 12, 1996. They were joined by nine international astronauts. Because there were so many of them, they were often packed into classrooms and training facilities, and called themselves "The Sardines".

Nowak and her family moved to Texas, where they built a house in Clear Lake City. Her husband, another naval flight officer, left active duty in 1998 but continued to fly in the United States Naval Reserve. He found a job as a space communications contractor with Barrios Technology, an aerospace company, and worked at the Johnson Space Center as a flight controller at the mission control center.

Astronaut training included survival training, a three-day trip to the Grand Canyon to study geology, and classwork on the Space Shuttle's many systems. As a mission specialist, she was expected to fly a minimum of four hours a month in NASA's Northrop T-38 Talon aircraft. Training was conducted in the waters of the Weightless Environment Training Facility and in the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker known as the Vomit Comet that flies a trajectory that gives the sensation of being in space. She completed her astronaut training in August 1998. On September 28, 1998, she returned to Annapolis along with fellow astronaut alumni Jim Lovell, Charles O. Hobaugh, David Leestma, John M. Lounge, Bryan D. O'Connor and Pierre J. Thuot, for a celebration of the life of Mercury Seven astronaut Alan Shepard, who had died two months before.

In early 2001, Nowak became pregnant with twins. At the Astronaut Office, Nowak specialized in the operation of the Space Shuttle's robotic arm. She also served with the CAPCOM Branch, the astronauts who worked with the mission control center as the primary communicators with the spacecraft. She performed this duty during the STS-100 mission in April 2001, when the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour installed a robot arm in the International Space Station (ISS). In October 2001, she gave birth to twin daughters. Nowak and her husband alternated their work schedules so one of them was always with the children. This arrangement lasted until Richard was recalled to active duty in 2002 to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom, which effectively left Nowak a single mother with three young children.

On December 12, 2002, NASA announced the crew for STS-118, a mission scheduled for November 2003. Scott Kelly would be the mission commander, Hobaugh the pilot, and the mission specialists would be Nowak, Scott Parazynski, Dafydd Williams, and Barbara Morgan. The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003, killed seven astronauts on the STS-107 mission, including three from Nowak's 1996 astronaut class. It was NASA's practice to provide the families of astronauts who had died with a personal casualty assistance officer, and Nowak performed this duty for the family of her close friend Laurel Clark. Clark's widower, Jonathan Clark, a former NASA flight surgeon, recalled that:

She did everything. She went through everything: Navy paperwork, finances, bills, bank accounts. She took care of [Clark's son] Iain during the months afterward. She saw what it was like to lose one of her best friends and for Iain to lose a mother. And the thing is, while Lisa was doing this, she was not at home with her kids. She has two very young children and she is here twelve to fourteen hours a day under the most difficult circumstances. I have to think it was hugely stressful.

The disaster resulted in a series of schedule and hardware changes. The task of testing all the changes was assigned to STS-114, the Return to Flight mission, but the list of changes that required testing grew so large that a second Return to Flight mission was added to the schedule to accommodate them. Despite the numbering, this mission, STS-121, would be the second mission flown after the Columbia disaster. STS-121 was primarily concerned with testing and developing new hardware and procedures to make Space Shuttle flights safer. It would also resupply the ISS with equipment and consumables.

In January 2004, Nowak participated in an eleven-day cold weather survival training course in Canada with fellow NASA astronauts Dominic Antonelli and William Oefelein, Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, Russian cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev, and Canadian astronaut (and future Governor General) Julie Payette. The course commenced on January 19 and included four days of instruction with the Canadian Armed Forces. They were then dropped off in the wilderness in northern Quebec and had to make their way back on foot. They covered 20 kilometers (12 mi) in eleven days, completing the course on January 29. Nowak had worked together with Oefelein, who had been selected as an astronaut with the class of 1998, when they were both stationed at Patuxent River in 1995.

When Nowak and Oefelein returned to Houston, they began an extramarital affair, which they attempted to conceal. As serving Navy officers, they could have been charged with conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman, which includes adultery, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Oefelein's wife filed for divorce in February 2005 after discovering emails between him and Nowak. Their divorce was finalized in May 2005. Oefelein moved into a small apartment, to which he gave Nowak a key. She left personal effects there, and she soon became a familiar sight to other residents of the complex.

Space flight

NASA announced in December 2003 that STS-121 would be commanded by Steven Lindsey, with Mark Kelly as pilot and Michael Fossum and Carlos Noriega as mission specialists. On November 18, 2004, NASA announced that Nowak and her classmate Stephanie Wilson would join the STS-121 crew as additional mission specialists. They were assigned the task of manipulating the robotic arms of the Space Shuttle and the ISS. The STS-121 mission was originally scheduled for March or April 2005, but was soon postponed to July owing to difficulty implementing all the changes required. During the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery for STS-114 in July 2005, debris separated from the external tank, the very problem which had caused the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and STS-121 was further postponed until a solution to the problem could be found. In February 2006, the mission was rescheduled for a launch window between May 3 and 22, but in March, multiple problems forced a further postponement until July.

A prelaunch reception was held for Nowak at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and she was joined by her parents, her husband Richard and three children, family members, and friends from school, Annapolis and the Navy. Among the personal effects she packed for the flight was a small owl figurine of the mascot of Luxmanor Elementary School, a koozie from Tilden Middle School, a banner from Charles W. Woodward High School, an Annapolis Class of 1985 flag, and her grandmother's engagement ring.

On July 1, 2006, the STS-121 crew ate the traditional prelaunch cake decorated with the mission's insignia and boarded Discovery at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 B. Nowak was the last crew member to enter the spacecraft, taking her seat as the flight engineer on the flight deck immediately behind Lindsey and Kelly. At 15:42, the launch was scrubbed due to thunderstorm activity in the area. A second launch attempt the following day was also canceled due to inclement weather. STS-121 successfully launched on July 4 at 14:38. It was the first time a Space Shuttle launch had taken place on Independence Day.

After she entered orbit, Nowak felt nauseated, a symptom of space adaptation syndrome. The first day in space was devoted to inspecting the orbiter for possible damage, as the crew had noticed debris falling off the external tank during liftoff. Nowak deployed the robotic arm to inspect the wing tips, nose, and underside of the spacecraft using digital and video cameras and laser scanning. After six and a half hours of examination, all that was found was a white splotch on the nose cap. NASA engineers were initially concerned that this might be the result of a high-velocity impact, but after closer examination, they determined it to be bird droppings. Some discoloration found on the leading edges was attributed to hydraulic fluid spills.

After Discovery docked with the ISS, Wilson and Nowak used the Canadarm to unload the Italian-built Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). The 3,400 kilograms (7,400 lb) of equipment and supplies it contained included the Minus Eighty Lab Freezer for use in scientific experiments and a 640-kilogram (1,400 lb) Oxygen Generation System to allow the ISS to support up to six crew members. Nowak carried out her assigned tasks, but other crew members noted a reluctance to assist with tasks that were not assigned to her and for which she had not trained.

While Discovery was docked with the ISS, the STS-121 crew conducted three spacewalks. The women were not considered for this activity; when NASA trimmed the space suit budget in the 1990s, small sizes were omitted. Women astronauts were assigned to other tasks, like operating the robotic arms. From the Destiny laboratory on the ISS, Nowak operated the robotic arm whose installation she had overseen as CAPCOM years before. It was more challenging to operate than the one on the Space Shuttle, since it was larger and had an extra joint.

Some 2,000 kilograms (4,300 lb) of trash, experiment results, and broken equipment were packed into Leonardo, and Nowak and Wilson used the robotic arm to re-stow the module in Discovery's cargo bay. It was then used to make a final check of the Space Shuttle to ensure that no damage had been done by micrometeorites or space debris. Discovery undocked from the ISS and commenced its two-day return to Earth. In all, she spent 12 days, 18 hours, and 36 minutes in space, during which she traveled 8 million kilometers (5 million miles). Discovery landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center at 09:14 on July 17.

Homecoming

As was usual, the six crew members of STS-121 embarked on a series of publicity events and interviews. They attended X Games XII at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles from August 3 to 6 and the Houston Astros game on August 14 at Minute Maid Park, where the crew met pitcher Roger Clemens and threw ceremonial first pitches. On September 9, Nowak attended a tailgate party at the Naval Academy versus University of Massachusetts football game, where she gave her classmates the Class of 1985 flag she had carried on the Space Shuttle and signed photographs of herself. At half time, she presented Annapolis with a Navy jersey she had carried on board the Discovery. She gave a long interview with the Ladies' Home Journal for its Mother's Day issue and presented awards at NASA's Stennis Space Center. She went back to Luxmanor Elementary School and Tilden Middle School where she spoke to the children and attended celebrations at Annapolis for the 30th anniversary of its admission of women, during which she gave a presentation as part of the academy's Forrestal Lecture Series. In December, the STS-121 crew flew to the UK, where they visited the University of Edinburgh and the National Space Centre in Leicester, and spoke at the University of Leeds, fellow STS-121 crewmember Piers Sellers's alma mater.

Orlando International Airport incident

Nowak's marriage failed, and she separated from Richard in January 2007. Her relationship with Oefelein also cooled, although she continued to call him almost every day. In late 2006, Oefelein began a relationship with U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who worked as an engineer with the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. Oefelein informed Nowak about Shipman in January. He thought Nowak took it well, and that they could remain friends. They continued to train for the MS 150, a charity bicycle race, but Shipman became uncomfortable with Nowak's bicycle being kept at Oefelein's place and asked him to get Nowak to remove it.

On January 29, 2007, NASA announced that Stephanie Wilson had been chosen as the mission specialist for the STS-120 mission to replace Michael Foreman, who had been reassigned to the STS-123 mission, scheduled for February. Nowak had hoped for this assignment. According to Mark Kelly, Wilson was chosen because "she was a team player and well deserving. Nowak was not." Nowak was assigned to CAPCOM duties for STS-123 instead.

Altercation

On February 4, 2007, Nowak packed latex gloves, a black wig, a BB pistol and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded tan trench coat, a drilling hammer, black gloves, an 8-inch (200 mm) Gerber folding knife and other items. She then drove her husband's car 900 miles (1,400 km) from Houston to Orlando, Florida, to confront Shipman. Early police reports stated that she wore Maximum Absorbency Garments during the trip, but she later denied this. On February 5, 2007, Nowak went to the Orlando International Airport and waited for about half an hour for Shipman's plane to touch down at 01:05. Shipman went to claim her suitcase, but it did not appear on the carousel. At the baggage claim office, she was told that it would arrive on the next flight, at 03:00, and she was given a $12 food and drink voucher. Shipman finally collected her suitcase from the baggage claim office at 03:15 and took a shuttle bus to the parking area at 03:28.

Shipman said that after arriving, she became aware of someone following her to an airport satellite parking area. When she got into her car, she heard running footsteps and quickly locked the door. Nowak slapped the window and tried to open the car door, asked for a ride, then started crying. Shipman rolled down the window a couple of inches, after which Nowak sprayed the pepper spray into the car. Shipman drove off to the parking lot booth, where she called the police. Several Orlando Police Department Airport Division officers arrived minutes later, with the first officer observing Nowak throwing a bag into the trash at a parking shuttle bus stop. Nowak was subsequently arrested at Orlando International Airport on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence.

In a handwritten request for a restraining order against Nowak after her arrest, Shipman referred to Nowak as an acquaintance of her boyfriend, but did not identify Oefelein. She claimed that Nowak had been stalking her for two months. Nowak told investigators she was involved in a relationship with Oefelein, which she described as being "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship". Citing evidence of elaborate planning, disguises, and weapons, police recommended she be held without bail.

Arraignment

Two fellow astronauts flew to Florida in T-38 jets for Nowak's arraignment: Captain Christopher Ferguson, the senior active duty Naval Officer in the NASA Astronaut Corps at the time, went as Nowak's commanding officer, and Lindsey, the commander of Nowak's shuttle mission, went as Chief of the Astronaut Office, the senior astronaut at NASA. On February 6, 2007, both appeared before a judge on her behalf. The state's assistant attorney, Amanda Cowan, argued that the facts indicated a well-thought-out plan to kidnap and perhaps to injure Shipman. In arguing for pre-trial release, Nowak's attorney remarked, "One's good works must count for something." Nowak was ordered released on $15,500 bail under the condition she wear a GPS tracking device and not contact Shipman, but before Nowak could be released, Orlando police charged Nowak with attempted first-degree murder and announced she would not be released on bail. Her lawyer alleged that police and prosecutors, unhappy that Nowak had been granted bail, pressed more serious charges solely to keep her in jail. In the second arraignment, Nowak was charged with attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, for which the judge raised bail by $10,000. After posting bail, Nowak was released from jail. Shipman dropped her request for a protection order on February 15.

Reactions

On February 6, 2007, Nowak was placed on a 30-day leave by NASA. She returned to Houston on a commercial airline flight on February 8, and upon arrival was reportedly taken immediately under police escort to the Johnson Space Center for medical and psychiatric evaluation. Nowak's assignment to NASA as a serving Navy officer was terminated by the space agency on March 7, 2007. There was widespread public reaction to her arrest, with concerns being expressed about NASA's astronaut selection and screening processes. Some commentators opined that NASA's presentation of astronauts as heroes was part of the problem.

In response to concerns over Nowak's mental health, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin commissioned the NASA Astronaut Health Care System Review Committee, an independent panel, to examine how well NASA attended to the mental health of its astronauts. Patricia Santy, a former NASA flight surgeon and the author of the book Choosing the Right Stuff: Psychological Selection of Astronauts and Cosmonauts described a culture among the Astronaut Corps to avoid discussing physical and psychological issues with medical personnel, due to the perception that any issues could jeopardize one's career and flight status. Policies at NASA were changed in a variety of ways: flight surgeons would receive further training in psychiatric evaluation, and a new "Astronaut Code of Professional Responsibility" was issued. Behavioral health evaluations would be included in the astronauts' annual flight physicals.

Evidence

On April 10, 2007, Florida prosecutors released more material in the case. The previous week, the trial judge had agreed to unseal some of the documents that described items found in Nowak's car after her arrest. Among these items were a handwritten note on USS Nimitz stationery listing Shipman's flight information and one on "Flight Controller's Log" paper listing more than 24 items, including sneakers, plastic gloves, contacts, cash, an umbrella, and black sweats. A floppy disk contained two photographs of Nowak riding in a bicycle race, and 15 images depicting an unidentified woman in different stages of undress. An evidence report dated March 15 indicated that nearly all of the photographs and drawings depicted scenes of bondage. Also found were $585.00 and £41.00 (GBP) in cash and four brown paper bags with 69 orange pills that were not publicly identified. Investigators also examined two USB flash drives found in the car. They contained family pictures, digital movies, and NASA-related materials. Investigators concluded that the information on the disk and USB drives did not have any direct relationship to the alleged kidnapping attempt.

Oefelein had provided Nowak with a cell phone to communicate with him. Phone records show that she called him at least twelve times, and sent seven text messages the day after he returned from his Space Shuttle flight on December 22, 2006, that he did not retrieve until December 24, when they had a seven-minute conversation. During December and January, over one hundred calls were made, although it is unclear who called whom. Under questioning by NASA and military investigators, Oefelein reportedly stated that he had broken off the relationship with Nowak. He did, however, have lunch with her in his apartment at least once in January; they continued to train together for the bicycle race, and they went to the gym together.

On May 11, 2007, authorities released a surveillance video from the Orlando International Airport terminal showing Nowak waiting for nearly an hour, standing near the baggage claim, then donning a trench coat and following Shipman after she retrieved her bags.

Developments

On February 6, 2007, Nowak pleaded not guilty to the charges of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. On March 2, Florida prosecutors filed three formal charges against Nowak: (1) attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm or terrorize, (2) burglary of a conveyance with a weapon, and (3) battery. The prosecutors declined to file the attempted murder charge that had been recommended by Orlando police. She was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet as a condition of her release. A pre-trial hearing was held on July 17, 2007, and further hearings were to be held on September 19 to argue defense motions to suppress some of the evidence obtained on the day of her arrest. On August 12, 2007, Nowak asked to have her GPS ankle bracelet removed, to which the judge agreed on August 30. On August 28, the trial judge unsealed a court document indicating that Nowak intended to pursue an insanity defense. According to documents submitted by her lawyer, Nowak was evaluated by two psychiatrists who diagnosed her with obsessive–compulsive personality disorder, Asperger syndrome, a single episode of major depressive disorder and a "brief psychotic disorder with marked stressors" at the time of the incident.

The trial judge suppressed Nowak's initial (pre-Miranda) statements to police, as well as all evidence found in her vehicle, on November 2, 2007, citing police misconduct in their initial search and questioning. The prosecution appealed that ruling on November 8. A hearing on that appeal occurred on October 21, 2008. On December 5, 2008, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal held that her statements were taken in violation of her Miranda rights, but that the search of her car was still valid under the inevitable discovery exception to the search warrant requirement because the police would have inevitably found the evidence in the normal course of the investigation, even without her illegally obtained statements. The case was sent back for trial. A pre-trial status hearing was scheduled for June 22, 2009. On April 1, 2009, the judge ordered Nowak to undergo two psychiatric evaluations before June 12, 2009.

On May 15, 2009, it was reported that Nowak would not claim insanity if her case ever went to trial. Nowak's attorney withdrew a previous motion filed in 2007, which would have left open the opportunity to use an insanity defense in the case. On October 7, 2009, a judge in Orlando ruled in favor of allowing Nowak's attorneys to take a second deposition from Shipman to inquire whether Nowak actually pepper-sprayed Shipman. A medical report by paramedics raised some questions, according to Nowak's attorneys, as to the factual basis for it. If it was found not to have occurred, Nowak's attorneys wanted the criminal charges related to the assault and battery to be dropped before trial began. The trial was scheduled for December 7, 2009. On November 10, 2009, Nowak entered a guilty plea to felony burglary and misdemeanor battery as part of a plea deal. She was sentenced to a year's probation and the two days already served in jail, with no additional jail time. In March 2011, Nowak petitioned the court to seal the record of her criminal proceedings, citing harm to her family and their livelihood. The motion was granted.

After NASA

After the incident in Orlando, the Navy insisted on Nowak and Oefelein being returned to the Navy from NASA because they had violated the Navy's rules prohibiting adultery. Naval officials waited for Nowak's kidnapping case to be resolved before taking further action against her. She remained on active duty with the Navy and was subsequently ordered to work on the staff of the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. There, she was involved in the development of flight training curricula for broad use throughout the Navy. Nowak received the NASA Space Flight Medal on August 22, 2006, and on June 5, 2007. Nowak and her husband Richard divorced in June 2008, and she was given full custody of their three children.

A Naval Board of Inquiry consisting of Rear Admirals Mark S. Boensel, Eleanor V. Valentin and Timothy S. Matthews voted on August 19, 2010, to recommend Nowak be separated from the Navy under other than honorable conditions and reduced in rank from captain to commander. The panel's recommendation had to be reviewed by the Naval Personnel Command, and ultimately it would be determined by the Secretary of the Navy. On July 28, 2011, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Juan M. Garcia III confirmed the panel's sentence. Nowak's conduct, Garcia said in a statement, "fell well short" of what is expected of Navy officers and "demonstrated a complete disregard for the well-being of a fellow service member". She retired from the Navy with an other than honorable discharge and the rank of commander on September 1, 2011.

Astronaut Michael Coats, the director of the Johnson Space Center from 2005 to 2012, recalled that Nowak struggled after leaving the Navy, as the notoriety of her case kept potential employers from hiring her. In 2017, People magazine reported that Nowak was living quietly in Texas, where she was working in the private sector. Her attorney stated: "She's doing well."

In popular culture

Many found Nowak's story fascinating, and it has been adapted for music, film, and television. "Rocket Man", a 2007 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, was inspired by Nowak's story and featured a love triangle among astronauts. A 2008 Molly Lewis song, "Road Trip", recounts the details of early news reports about Nowak's trip from Houston to Orlando. The 2008 song "Cologne" on Ben Folds' album Way to Normal also mentions the incident. The 2017 Austra music video for "I Love You More Than You Love Yourself" references the actions leading up to Nowak's final arrest, with bandleader Katie Stelmanis playing the role of Nowak. Nowak was also the subject of a play, Starcrosser's Cut, which opened in Los Angeles in June 2013. The 2019 film Lucy in the Sky, starring Natalie Portman, was loosely based on Nowak's story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Nowak

Death House Landlady: Dorothea Puente

 


Dorothea Helen Puente (née Gray; January 9, 1929 – March 27, 2011) was an American convicted serial killer. In the 1980s, she ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California, and murdered various elderly and mentally disabled boarders before cashing their Social Security checks. Puente's total count reached nine murders; she was convicted of three, and the jury hung on the other six. Newspapers dubbed Puente the "Death House Landlady".

Background

Dorothea Puente was born Dorothea Helen Gray on January 9, 1929, in Redlands, California, to Trudy Mae (née Yates) and Jesse James Gray. Both parents were alcoholics, and Puente's father repeatedly threatened to kill himself in front of his children; he died of tuberculosis in 1937. Her mother, who worked as a sex worker, lost custody of her children in 1938 and died in a motorcycle accident by the end of the year. Puente and her siblings were subsequently sent to an orphanage, where she was sexually abused.

In 1945, 16-year-old Puente married her first husband, a soldier named Fred McFaul who had just returned from the Pacific theater of World War II. They had two daughters between 1946 and 1948; Puente sent one to live with relatives in Sacramento and placed the other for adoption. She also suffered a miscarriage.

In the spring of 1948, Puente was arrested for purchasing women's accessories using forged checks in Riverside. She pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery, serving four months in jail and three years' probation. Six months after her release, she left Riverside. Later that year, Puente's first husband left her.

In 1952, Puente allegedly married merchant seaman Axel Bren Johansson in San Francisco. She created a fake persona, calling herself "Teya Singoalla Neyaarda", a Muslim woman of Egyptian and Israeli descent. They had a turbulent marriage; Puente took advantage of Johansson's frequent trips to sea by inviting men to their home and gambling away his money.

Puente was arrested in 1960 for owning and operating a bookkeeping firm as a front for a brothel in Sacramento; she was found guilty and was sentenced to ninety days in the Sacramento County Jail. In 1961, Johansson had Puente briefly committed to DeWitt State Hospital after a binge of drinking, lying, criminal behavior, and suicide attempts. While there, she was diagnosed by doctors as a pathological liar with an unstable personality.

Puente and Johansson divorced in 1966, although she continued to use Johansson's name for some time following their separation. She assumed the identity of "Sharon Johansson", hiding her delinquent behavior by portraying herself as a devout Christian woman. She established her reputation as a caregiver, providing young women with a sanctuary from poverty and abuse without charge.

In 1968, Dorothea married Roberto Jose Puente. After sixteen months, the couple separated, with Dorothea citing domestic abuse. She attempted to serve him with a divorce petition, but he fled to Mexico; the divorce was not finalized until 1973. The two continued to have a turbulent relationship, and Dorothea filed a restraining order in 1975. She continued to use the surname Puente for over 20 years.

Following her divorce, Puente focused on running a boarding house located near 15th and F streets in Sacramento. She established herself as a genuine resource to the community to aid alcoholics, homeless people, and the mentally ill by holding Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and assisting individuals to sign up to receive Social Security benefits. She changed her public image to that of a respectable older matron by wearing vintage clothing, wearing large glasses, and not dyeing her greying hair. She also established herself as a respected member of the local Hispanic community, funding charities, scholarships, and radio programs. She eventually met and married Pedro Angel Montalvo, though Montalvo abruptly left the relationship a week after their marriage.

On December 21, 1978, Puente was convicted of illegally cashing 34 state and federal checks that belonged to her tenants. She was given five years' probation and ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution.

Victims

On January 16, 1982, Puente met Malcolm McKenzie, 74, in a bar and accompanied him back to his apartment. He later reported that Puente had drugged him by slipping something into his drink before she robbed him of a coin collection, watches, and other jewelry, including a diamond ring belonging to his mother, which she removed from his finger while he was incapacitated.

On April 28, 1982, Ruth Munroe, 61, who had visited Puente's home two weeks earlier, was found dead due to respiratory depression, caused by a massive overdose of codeine. Munroe was reportedly in good health when she arrived at Puente's home; however, by April 25, she told a friend, "I am so sick I feel like I am going to die." Munroe's death was originally ruled an "undetermined overdose," but later classified as a homicide.

On May 16, 1982, Dorothy Osborne, 49, found checks, credit cards, and other items missing eight hours after Puente visited her home and prepared her a drink.

In July 1982, Puente was convicted of three grand theft charges. She was sentenced to five years in prison, state parole until March 21, 1986, and her federal parole sentence was extended another two years, until 1990. During her incarceration, she began corresponding with Everson Theodore Gillmouth, a 77-year-old retiree from Oregon. At the beginning of September 1985, Gillmouth came to Sacramento with his truck and trailer and arrived at Puente's boarding house. On September 9, 1985, after serving only half her sentence, Puente was released from prison, whereupon she was picked up by Gillmouth and Ricardo Ordorica, a close friend who lived with his family in the downstairs flat at 1426 F Street. In October 1985, Puente wrote to Gillmouth's sister informing her that she and Gillmouth were to be married on November 2. A short time later, Puente hired a handyman, Ismael Carrasco Florez, to remodel and asked him to build a 6-foot by 30-inch by 30-inch storage box. She agreed to give him Gillmouth's truck and $800 as payment. The day after he completed the box, he returned to find it nailed shut. Puente asked Florez to help her move the box, which now weighed approximately 300 pounds, to a storage location, but ended up dumping the box near a river about an hour away from Sacramento. On January 1, 1986, a fisherman discovered the suspicious box along the Sacramento River and notified authorities, who found a human body inside, determined on December 28, 1998, to be Gillmouth's. His severely decomposed body was wrapped in numerous plastic bags and covered with a bed sheet held in place by electrical tape. Moth balls and "blue toilet deodorizer" were also inside the box. It was later discovered that after Gillmouth's death, Puente had mailed fake letters and cards to his sister in an attempt to make her believe Gillmouth was still alive. Puente was also found to have forged Gillmouth's signature on his truck's certificate of title and continued cashing Gillmouth's benefit checks until July 1986.

In the fall of 1986, Betty Mae Palmer, 78, arrived at Puente's boarding house. On October 14, 1986, Puente obtained a California ID card with her photo and Palmer's name. Two months later, the mailing address on Palmer's Social Security checks was changed to Puente's F Street address. Puente forged Palmer's signature and cashed nearly $7,000 worth of benefit checks belonging to Palmer. In November 1988, Palmer's partially dismembered body was discovered in a shallow hole in Puente's front yard. Her head, hands, and lower legs were never found. Toxicology reports of the body revealed the presence of Doxylamine, an over-the-counter antihistamine, as well as Haloperidol and flurazepam, both of which were previously prescribed to Palmer. She was identified on January 24, 1989, through comparison to previous medical X-rays.

On October 21, 1986, Puente summoned a notary to the hospital room of Leona Carpenter, 78, who had suffered a flurazepam overdose. She was given power of attorney over Carpenter and began cashing her Social Security checks just ten days later. In December, after Carpenter was released from the hospital, she went to live with Puente. Once again, Carpenter returned to the hospital, and just a few weeks after she was discharged, in February 1987, she disappeared. In November 1988, her body was found in the southeastern corner of Puente's yard. Toxicology reports of Carpenter's brain tissue revealed the presence of codeine, diazepam, and flurazepam.

In February 1987, James Gallop, 62, moved into Puente's home. On July 20, 1987, a potentially malignant tumor was found in Gallop's colon. He agreed to further testing, but Puente later contacted his doctor's office, notifying them that he had gone to Los Angeles indefinitely. Gallop's body was found buried under a gazebo in Puente's yard in November 1988. Toxicological testing of Gallop's brain and liver revealed the presence of amitriptyline, nortriptyline, phenytoin, and flurazepam.

In July 1987, Eugene Gamel, 58, was found dead of an apparent suicide, having overdosed on amitriptyline and ethanol. Puente, who was Gamel's landlady, said he had a history of suicide attempts. Though Puente was never charged with Gamel's murder, he was considered a possible victim.

On October 2, 1987, Vera Faye Martin, 61, was sent to live with Puente. Starting October 5, 1987, Puente forged several of Martin's social security checks, totaling over $7,000. On October 19, 1987, Martin failed to contact her daughter on her birthday, as she had done each year. In November 1988, Martin's body was found buried under a metal shed in Puente's yard. Toxicology reports of her brain and liver revealed flurazepam.

On October 21, 1987, Dorothy Miller, 65, was placed in an upstairs flat in Puente's home. She introduced Miller to Ricardo Ordorica, who, the following November, became the representative payee for Miller's social security benefits. Just weeks after her arrival, Miller disappeared, and on November 20, 1987, Puente hired a carpet cleaner to remove a large "pile of foul-smelling slime" in Miller's room. Puente continued to forge Miller's checks, totalling over $11,000, after she was no longer at her house. Miller's remains were later discovered buried under a slab of concrete, near some rose bushes. Tissue samples from Miller's brain revealed the presence of carbamazepine and flurazepam.

On November 29, 1987, Brenda Trujillo sent a letter to the Social Security office in Sacramento, accusing Puente of stealing her Social Security checks, totalling $3,500. Trujillo met Puente in the Sacramento County Jail in 1982, and the two had later shared a prison cell. After her release, Trujillo moved into Puente's boarding house, where Puente helped her apply for Social Security benefits. Trujillo claimed that Puente had drugged her and called her parole officer, causing her parole to be revoked and so preventing her from receiving the checks.

In February 1988, Alvaro "Bert" Gonzales Montoya, 51, arrived at Puente's home. In March, an application designating Puente as Montoya's benefits payee was filed. At the end of August, a roommate saw a man clearing Montoya's clothes out of the closet. He was last seen on August 24 and missed an appointment on August 29. Puente told several people that Montoya had gone to Mexico to visit his relatives. Social workers continued to attempt to contact Montoya in September and October to no avail. In November, Puente asked Donald Anthony, a former convict who had been working in her yard, to contact the social worker, pretending to be Montoya's brother-in-law. He agreed, and called stating his name was "Michel Obergone" and that he had picked up Montoya from the F Street house and taken him to Utah. The social worker was suspicious and told Puente that she was going to call the police. On November 10, the social worker received a letter, purportedly from "Michel Obergone," wrapped in a paper towel to avoid fingerprints. Days later, Montoya's body was found buried adjacent to Carpenter's. Toxicology testing revealed the presence of loxapine, flurazepam, diphenhydramine, amitriptyline, and carbamazepine. Montoya had prescriptions for all of the drugs except for carbamazepine.

On March 9, 1988, Benjamin Fink, 55, was sent to live with Puente. Fink's brother visited him every week for six weeks. By the end of April, Fink was gone. Another tenant reported smelling a foul odor emanating from his room, but was told by Puente that it was a sewer backup. On April 29, Puente received 12 bags of cement. That June, next to the door of the metal shed, she had a hole dug, which was later filled in with concrete. In November, Fink's body was discovered in this area, wrapped in a plastic knotted bedspread, secured with duct tape, and covered with blue absorbent pads. His toxicology report revealed the presence of amitriptyline, loxapine, and flurazepam.

Arrest

On November 7, 1988, police spoke with John Sharp, a former resident, about the disappearance of Montoya. Initially, Sharp told police that he had seen Montoya two days earlier, but then he slipped a note to the officer that said, "She wants me to lie to you." He later met with an officer to tell his story. On November 11, 1988, a detective returned to Puente's residence and, with her permission, began digging in areas that appeared to be recently disturbed. Thirty minutes later, he discovered the first body there. Just hours afterward, Puente slipped away from police. On November 13, 1988, an all-points bulletin was issued for her.

On November 16, 1988, Charles Willgues, along with Gene Silver of CBS, alerted police to Puente's whereabouts at a motel in Los Angeles. Willgues met Puente, who was using the alias Donna Johansen, the day before at a nearby bar. He later recalled seeing her on a CBS morning newscast and reached out to Gene Silver, who met with Willgues at his apartment. The two contacted local law enforcement, and Puente was arrested the same day.

Trial and conviction

On November 17, 1988, Puente was flown from the Hollywood Burbank Airport to Sacramento, escorted by police, and booked in the county jail. She was then formally charged with the murder of Montoya.

On March 10, 1989, criminal charges against Ismael Florez were dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired three years after Gillmouth's body was discovered. Florez was later granted immunity for his testimony against Puente.

On March 31, 1989, an amended complaint was filed, charging Puente with nine counts of murder, with special circumstances, qualifying it as a death penalty case. According to investigators, most of her victims had been drugged until they overdosed; Puente had then wrapped them in bed sheets and plastic lining before dragging them to open pits in the backyard for burial. By May 24, 1990, the prosecutor rested his case for the preliminary hearing to determine whether the case could proceed to trial, having called 71 witnesses and introducing 108 exhibits. On June 19, 1990, a judge ruled that there was "ample circumstantial evidence" to send Puente to trial, and on July 31, 1990, Puente pleaded not guilty.

After numerous delays, on October 19, 1992, a judge ruled that Puente would face all nine murder counts and that all cases would be heard in Monterey County. On December 21, 1992, twelve jurors, consisting of eight men and four women, were selected for Puente's trial. The following month, six alternate jurors, five women and one man, were selected to back up the twelve regular jurors.

Puente's trial began on February 9, 1993. By the conclusion of the trial, 156 witnesses testified, more than 3,100 exhibits had been submitted, and over 22,000 pages of transcript were recorded. After deliberating for eleven days, the jury told Judge Michael J. Virga on August 2, 1993, that they were deadlocked on all nine counts of murder and asked for further instruction. The next day, Virga ordered the jury to resume their efforts to break the deadlock. On August 26, 1993, Puente was convicted of three counts of murder: Benjamin Fink, Leona Carpenter, and Dorothy Miller. After deliberating for thirty-five days, the jury remained deadlocked on six cases: Ruth Munroe, Everson Theodore Gillmouth, Betty Mae Palmer, James Gallop, Vera Faye Martin, and Alvaro Gonzales Montoya.

During the penalty phase of the trial, jurors found themselves deadlocked once again, and on October 13, 1993, Puente was spared the death penalty. On December 10, 1993, she was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. She was incarcerated at Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, California.

On August 28, 1997, an appellate court in San Jose affirmed Puente's murder convictions, but ordered an examination of juror misconduct allegations. After a three-day hearing, on September 25, 1998, Judge William D. Curtis rejected each allegation of jury misconduct in Puente's trial.

Death

Puente died in prison at Chowchilla on March 27, 2011, from natural causes; she was 82.

Media

Puente has been featured on numerous true crime television shows, including Crime Stories, Deadly Women, A Stranger in My Home, World's Most Evil Killers, and Worst Roommate Ever.

In 1998, Puente began corresponding with Shane Bugbee. The result was Cooking with a Serial Killer (2004), which included a lengthy interview, almost fifty recipes, and various pieces of prison art sent to Bugbee by the convicted murderer. Jodi Picoult mentions Puente's crimes and cookbook in her novel House Rules.

The boarding house at 1426 F Street in Sacramento was included in the 2013 home tour held by the Sacramento Old City Association. It was then the subject of the 2015 documentary short The House Is Innocent and was again opened to tours for one day in conjunction with a local film festival's showing of the film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Puente