Morbid - Episode 283: Dorothea Puente Part 1 AKA Hell's House Mother

Episode Date: December 6, 2021

Alaina brings us part one of Dorothea Puente, possibly one of the most evil humans who has ever walked the earth. Dorothea had an incredibly sad childhood, but then grew into this terrible woman who lied, cheated and scammed her way through just about everything. You will be shocked to hear how many times she got away with actual law breaking offenses, Ash actually lost count halfway through the episode. And guys, this is only part one!! Some fascinating books used: The Bone Garden by William P. Wood  Buried Beneath The Boarding House by Ryan Green  Corpse Collector by Genova Ortiz  As always, thank you to our sponsors: Stamps.com: Sign up with promo code MORBID for a special offer that includes a 4-week trial, free postage, and a digital scale. Skylight Frame: Now, as a special offer, you can get $10 off your purchase of a Skylight Frame when you go to SkylightFrame.com and enter code MATCP Liquid IV: Grab your favorite Liquid I.V. flavors nationwide at Walmart or you can get 25% off when you go to LIQUIDIV.COM and use code MORBID at checkout. Bean Box: Order today at beanbox.com/MORBID20 and get 20% off purchases of $40 or more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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of your home. Download the free Angie mobile app today or visit Angie.com. That's ANGI.com. Hey weirdos, I'm Melina. I'm Ash. And this is morbid at night. It is crazy. We are crazy. We are crazy. We are crazy. We are talking over each other.

We are all the things. A. It's the holiday season. It's the holiday season. So everyone stressed. And it's hard to hang lights. Yep, that's all I got. And I don't want to get sued, but I don't think we would.

But that's everything. That's right. I feel like we're using a tune that's like 1,000 years old. But that's fine. Whatever. Hey, hello. It's morbid at night, and that's when we're weirdest. So today, we're at our peak weird.

Peak weird right now, do we ever do that? Hang in with us. Just hang in. It's been a long weekend. I actually, I wanted to like quickly just say hi to Ashlyn who I ran into twice this weekend. Oh yeah, I was with you at one of those times. She was so sweet. So hi, Ashlyn. Hello. It was so nice running into you twice. She introduced herself and she said, I'm also Ashlyn. That was like, I love to meet a fellow Ash.

Oh my god. Yeah. And she told us a crazy story and it was, it was crazy. So it was so cool. Hello. Ashlyn. Thank you. Hey. And that was awesome. And I hope you had a fellow ass. I was like, hell yeah, and she told us a crazy story, and it was, it was crazy. So it was so cool, hello. And thank you. Hey, and that was awesome, and I hope you had a wonderful weekend. At first, I thought you were literally gonna say, I just wanna say hi to Ash, and I was like, I've been here for like,

and I like, yeah, that's on Bren for nighttime. I was like, hi. Like, you know what? I just really like to say hi to Ash. I like your case, I just saw it. Thank you, I got a new phone case. Yeah. It's got aliens and skulls on it. I really like to say how to ask. I like your case, I just saw it. Thank you, I got a new phone case. It's got aliens and skulls on it. I really like it a lot.

And a moon. And a moon. So there is one thing we're just gonna dive right into the case today, because one, it is long, two, it is nighttime, three, that's just how I feel. Three just cause. But there is one thing I really wanted to touch upon because I hate when I see missing cases,

like especially missing children cases that I haven't heard even one thing about. Yeah. Which is like obviously there's many that we haven't heard about. But whenever it comes to my attention and it's been like months, I'm like, why haven't I heard this?

Like, we have to share this far and wide. So I just found out about this missing five-year-old boy named Michael Vaughn. He went missing from Fruitland, Idaho. He went missing on July 27th of this year. Yeah, and when you told me this, I was like, I haven't heard anything about it. I hadn't heard a thing about it.

And his mother, Brandy, Neil, is, you know, she's on Twitter. She's trying to share this story, get it out as much as possible. She shares stuff all the time, but she's like begging for this just to be talked about because they have found nothing. So they have searched extensively and he went missing from his neighborhood at about 6.30 p.m. on July 27th, 2021. It was near Southwest 9th street, and this is in Fruitland, Idaho again. He was last seen in a light blue Minecraft t-shirt, sorry, black boxers and a pair of flip flops. He has blonde

hair, blue eyes, the sweetest little face you've ever seen. It's got like the little little little little cheeks. Oh, the little cheeks. face you've ever seen. It's got like the little like a little piece. Oh, the little cheeks. Oh, they're just so sweet. Little cheeks. It says police are asking for the public's help identifying a 2016 to 2020 white Honda pilot seen in the area shortly, but after Michael went missing. And it says, please call Fruitland Police at 208-642-6006 or you can email findmichael at fruitland.org with

any information. And the fact that he went missing just like from his neighborhood. Yes, that's what is. That's so terrifying. It's so terrifying. It destroyed me and they've done a ton of searching in the area. They have turned up nothing and so they are really thinking this was an abduction, which makes it even scarier.

And he was like right outside of his house, I mean, he was right in his own neighborhood. His poor family should be celebrating the holidays with their little boy. Of course they should. And they are grieving and wondering where he is. So if we can just like, I'm gonna share all the information on my Twitter.

We'll share it on the morbid Twitter. We're gonna put it wherever we can. If you happen to see it, if you're on social media, just share it as much as you can just to get the information out there. Like let's try to get my goal home. I'm like, go home for Christmas. Just give some kind of information here.

But yeah, I just wanted to share that one and like our hearts go out to Brandy Neal and Michael's family And I hope we get good news soon. Me too. Put it out into the universe But yeah, so we are gonna go from that to another very distressing tale. I am covering today Part one because it started out as a one-parter a two two-pada. But who, boy, 15 pages in. I was like, well, that's two parts. We're gonna have to split this into two. We are covering, or I am covering Dorothea Puente.

Oh, you are, huh? She's the boarding house grandma murderer. Oh, I know. I suppose we can call her. I do know. You do know. This is a crazy case. And I found a few different books that were really good on this.

The ones that I was using for this particular episode. One is called The Corpse Collector. Oh. Yeah. It's by Genova Ortiz. And then I found one called Buried Beneath the Bording House. And it's by Ryan Green. And another one, which I think might be my favorite

out of the three, is called The Bone Garden. And it's by William Green and another one which I think might be my favorite out of the three is called the Bone Garden and it's by William P. Wood. Okay. All of them have amazing information. They go like super detailed into everything so I highly suggest you go read them. Again, I will post them right in our show notes, but wow. This is quite a tale. Yeah.

Quite a tale. And here's the thing, like I know the bare minimum about this I would say, and like I definitely listen to shows about it before like in the past, but it's been a while since I've heard anything. It's been a while since I heard about this. And I also feel like you're gonna have a special nifty way of like telling me all the boring details. So yeah, let's go.

Yeah, this one's really sad. It is so. So Dorothea Helen Gray was born January 9th, 1929 in Redlands San Bernardino County, California. That's when we should have known it was the 20s. That was it. The Roar and 20s. Right at the end of the Roar and 20s. Speaking of the Roar and 20s and? Right at the end of the Roar and Twenties. Speaking of the Roar and Twenties and prohibition and all that, her parents were both raging alcoholics. No, they were not nice. They were bligerant drunks. Their names were Trudy May Yates.

She was from Oklahoma and Jesse James Gray, who was a veteran from Missouri. They had an unhappy marriage right from the jump. Like they were not like, oh, we're so in love. Like they, I'm not real sure why they got together to be quite honest. Sometimes it just, you know, Missouri loves company. I suppose and they definitely found Missouri with each other.

And somehow they decided that having like a butt load of children would probably be just a great idea. What did they have a ton? This is gonna help us out. She was the sixth of seven kids, many kids. Which that's a lot of kids no matter what, but when you're very unhappy together, that's even more kids.

You mean it's a lot of kids? You mean it's a lot of kids? That's a lot of kids. Yeah, I feel like after the third one, I don't know, because I stopped at three, but I feel like after the third, it's just all relative at that point. I feel like you might as well have a hundred after that.

It just doesn't matter. It's a lot of kids. Now, her father was a world war one veteran and he survived a mustard gas attack. Holy shit. Yeah. But he was, he suffered the rest of his life with lung issues, PTSD, all kinds of horrifying things. It eventually turned into like tuberculosis. It was just, yeah, he was, horrifying things. It eventually turned into tuberculosis.

It was just, yeah, he suffered. Yeah, of course. Now, which I see you can understand why he probably turned to alcohol? Sure. Probably for a numbing effect. It happens a lot. It sounds like they were both pretty terrible

and definitely terrible parents, but the mom was like a specific kind of terrible, so we'll get into that in a second. Now the father Jesse, he was once a very successful farmer, but obviously when he came home from the war, he had a lot of trouble, and he just couldn't keep it up anymore. He was often very also suicidal in front of his children, like vocally, about it. And would actively like threaten to kill himself in front of them? Yeah, no, that's not okay. And he would literally get to the point, I mean, his kids would get to the point of hysteria begging him not to, and that's when he would stop.

Oh, that's really sad. Which is like a whole different kind of abuse. Like you can't traumatize your children that way. And these are like young kids, he's like waving a gun around being like, I'm gonna kill myself. It's so sad that therapy like wasn't at. What is now? Because that's a time where it's like you turned a therapy,

but back then therapy was frowned upon. Exactly. And I mean, even now it's like, sometimes there's all these like, you know, these little like, one of my turn to stigmas. Yeah, you know what I mean? And especially in like, you know, with, sometimes with like little boys and men, it gets like, just be your man, like it's insane.

And it's like, no, everyone has a brain and a mind and emotions. We all need help. Like, we're all hearing them out. And the phrase, be a man, is the dumbest phrase I have ever heard in my life. The only time it's awesome is during Milan, because that song is, yeah, that song.

That like slaps. Let's go. Still stupid. Really bad messaging in the movie sometimes. I'm like, ooh, my favorite movie. And then I'm like, okay, kids, take note that no. Oh yeah, cause every time we watch that, whenever that song comes out, I'm like,

I know this song is catchy. I know it's awesome. But it ain't it. But how stupid are these lyrics? And they're like, yeah, mom, we know. We're doing a good job over here. Yeah, exactly. We're doing great work.

We're doing a good job over here. We're doing it. Yeah. I don't really know. So yeah, the therapy would have been a great thing for Jesse. And it's really sad that he didn't probably have access to that at that point.

And he probably didn't have access to any of the things he needed to get himself back together after. I mean, World War One, they're coming home. Everybody could have used somebody to talk to. Absolutely. What if you were trafficked into a cult over shot nine times or fell in love with a vampire or went into a minor surgery and woke up one week later, paralyzed. What would you do? I'm Whit Missildine, the creator of this is actually happening, a podcast from Wondry that brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events, told by the people

who lived them. From a young man that dooms his entire future with one choice, to a woman who survived a notorious serial killer. You'll hear their first-person account of how they overcame remarkable circumstances. Each episode is an exploration of the human spirit and personal discovery. These haunting accounts sound like Hollywood movies, but I assure you this is actually happening. Follow this is actually happening wherever you get your podcasts, you can listen to ad free on the Amazon Music or Wonder app. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wonder's Podcast American Scandal. We bring to

life some of the biggest controversies in US history, presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our newest series, we look at the Kids for Cash scandal, a story about corruption inside America's system of juvenile justice. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, residents had begun noticing an alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers and often for committing only minor offenses. The FBI began looking at two local judges, and when the full picture emerged, it made

national headlines. The judges were earning a fortune, carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children and force a heated debate about punishment and America's criminal justice system. Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad free on the Amazon Music or Wonder App. And his wife was definitely not going to be that like shoulder-to-prime or lean on or anything like that. She actually just like never offered her shoulders up for anything. Yeah. No she did not. Now needless to say they were not great to their kids, and by not great, I mean, like, horrifically abusive.

Now, Trudy, her mother, was a mother only in name. Like, yeah. No motherly. And she herself said, I hate being a mother. I don't like kids. So why'd you do it seven times a sudden? That's the thing. It's like, hmm, I don't know how we got that far,

but she herself said she had trouble developing maternal connections with any of her children. She really had no interest in the whole mothering biz. She didn't even wanna treat them within difference. She was just mean. From the start. Just from the start. Just mean.

She was particularly mean to Dorothya. Is Dorothya close to the young girl? I believe Dorothy is the youngest girl. Youngest girl. So I don't know what the story is with that, but she was mean to all of them. And she was very neglectful to all of them. She didn't give a shit if they ate.

She didn't give a shit if they bathed. She's not this. And neither did Jessie. And then Jessie was in and out of the hospital most of the time, so it was really just no one around. It was like fend for yourself. And the mother would actually just leave for days at a time no matter how old the kids were

and then show back up. Sometimes she would lock Dorothea and her younger brother in a closet for days. Well, she took off and went on benders. What? Yeah. Yeah, just lock them in a closet for days. Literal days. Yeah. So we're talking about somebody that was made to be who they were. Yeah. Yeah, just lock them in a closet. For days? For days. Yeah.

So we're talking about somebody that was made to be who they were. Yeah. And then she would come back and in all, I think either two out of the three books are all three books. I found this one like story where she would lock them in a closet for days. Come home, open the closet door. She'd be like, have been drinking for days and do you know? Who knows what?

She'd vomit all over the house and then make them clean it up. What the, that's just so bleak. It's so reading these things, I was like, like that happens, that literally happens. Oh, and it horrifies me that I can't even think about it too much because it makes my brain no child ever deserves to have to, like kids, just like kids be kids. That ever deserves to have to like kids just like kids be kids. That's the thing like that is just like such a damn force into like the real world

in a true real world that it's like you just don't even need to know exists right now like your child just yeah don't worry about anything like you just don't worry watch Mulan and live life worry about who your favorite you know what what you want to be when you grow up and what your favorite color is this week. Yeah. What color you want me to paint your room. What are you about that? Yeah, exactly.

What are you about whether you like baloney this week or not? That's what you should worry about. Yeah, as a child, not cleaning up your mother's vomit. After she locked you in a closet for days to go party. So you're like weak and you haven't eaten. Yeah. And then she's like, cool, clean up my vomit. It's horrifying to think about it. What a fucking terrible human.

Now, they also just didn't feed their kids, like I said. They just didn't do anything for them, but really hurt them. So the kids would all wander the streets at night, a lot of times asking people for food. And this is when a lot of trauma outside of the home happened to Dorothea because she was often sexually assaulted during these outings. She's a little girl just walking the streets and by disgusting pieces of shit who saw

this helpless little girl in the street. And so but whatever they whenever they did run into neighbors who helped to them and you know fed them whether it was like day night because they would they had neighbors who were like we just fed them, we just didn't know what to do. We just ate them, we would feed them, we would try to do something. A lot of the times, this was a neighborhood with a lot of Mexican families.

And Dorothea, to the end, said, the ones who took her in and fed her and treated her like their own, was mostly Mexican families. Yeah. And so she always said like, they were the ones that took care of me, and they were the ones who I felt like,

like, who was my family? Yeah. And as you did. And as you did. And as you later, she carries that on because as we're gonna see Dorothea is a pathological liar. And to the point where like,

I mean, it's clear that she had to kind of go into a fantasy world just to get out of her own world. And I think she took that into like, she lies about everything. She'll get to the end. And she's a degree. She uses this, I think she did see those families as her own because later she says she grew up in Mexico.

Yeah. She, you know, her parents were this, her parents were that like, she kind of did take them on as like her surrogate family in her fantasy world. Sure. Which is sad. But then you find out what she does later and you're like, but you're a demon.

Like it's so, and these kind of cases just always make my brain go crazy. But Dorothy did learn conversational Spanish while eating with these families. They were kind to her, like, and she uses that later. So at one point, the family had to move to Los Angeles because Jesse was literally bedridden and unable to work. So they had to move to Los Angeles because they needed to be closer to the VA hospital. So Trudy, at this point, was having to kind of be the breadwinner for the family a little bit.

And she turned to sex work and the kids were also being sent out to work with farmers and other odd jobs. So Dorothea was only like four or five years old and she was working in like, you know, like picking vegetables for entire days and like California date. And she's a baby. Now when she was six years old, she and her siblings were actually removed from her parents' care.

I was wondering when that was gonna happen. I had a feeling I was crying. Now, this was after an aunt actually reported the abuse, the neglect, the disgusting conditions they lived in. So they were all split up and put with different relatives. It's so sad when that happens. Yeah, and it's like, I know it's hard

because it's a big, a big, a big kid. But it's like, I know it's hard because it's a big, but many childrens. But it's like, you just want them to stay together. Because the other thing we see is that Dorothy is older siblings kind of raised her. Of course. The parents weren't raising anybody. And her older siblings and she said it,

like they took care of me. Like they were my parents. Right. So if it happens a lot in those situations, it's like, that's sad. Because then not only are you get dealt with shitty parents, and then your surrogate parents are taken away from you. Yeah, exactly.

The whole thing is just really strange. And it's just teaching you that the world is just constantly going to shit all over you. Yeah, and it's just a constant shift in who you can feel safe with and who you can't. So then you just never feel safe. Now, when she, when she was younger, she was, you know, they asked her who you, who do you want to live with if you could live with somebody? And she said she wanted to live with her dad. Okay.

So it seems to me like her mom was a much harsher figure in her life and her dad, I think was just, when I'm sure he was bed ridded, like you said, you're bed ridded. Well, I think that, I don't think he could like actively participate in as much abuse as his wife did but you know he was neglectful and shitty as well but I think out of the two of them I guess he was the lesser of the weevils but she said she want to live with her dad or her sister her older sister and she specifically said at six

years old she didn't want to live with her mother. Yeah, that tells you everything you need to know. At six years old. This child says, I don't want to live with my mother. And she said, mom drinks. And when she drinks, she gets really mean. At six years old. At six years old. You shouldn't even know that.

My kids are not even six yet. And like, right at six years old, I can't imagine that. They don't even know what drinking is. I was like, I can't even fathom them having that kind of knowledge of just like darkness. No, they shouldn't. Now she did end up getting eventually back into her father's custody, but he was, this is when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Oh, man. And she was eight years old at this point. And she's spent the entire time she was with him taking care of him,

and he died only a month later. Oh man. So she got him for a month and then that was it. So this is when she is starting to really retreat into that fantasy world. She started doing the really classic serial killer thing where they don't just fantasize. Like, you know, everyone has or does fantasize about situations and things, but these kinds of people become obsessed with their fantasies. And they basically just totally retreat into them. Like, that is their real world now. Is that fantasy world? Everything else doesn't exist. And they start to lose grip on what's real and what is a figment of their now highly active imagination. Right. Which can be great for artists.

If they turn it into that way, and they turn it into this amazing, I'm gonna create things, and that's what's gonna make me happy and bring me some kind of validation. But then when it goes the other way, it's used for bad, and I can get really bad. Now, teachers and friends of hers were the ones that said that she was

Such a liar. Oh man pathologically. This was obviously just to keep herself from fully living the traumatic life That was around her at all times, but she used a story a lot where she told her parents She said her parents were like amazing people and that she was raised in Mexico with 17 siblings. She was the 18th of 17. Okay. So that was the life she used a lot in her life. Yeah. I don't know why I don't know why 17 siblings. I wonder if she like made up personalities for them in her head. Maybe they really were her siblings in her mind. Yeah. Maybe she just maybe she collected from all those families that took care of her, the different people. Sure. And that maybe.

Now again, in 1937, it only ate. Her mother really ramped up her alcoholic ways and the abuse got way worse. So she ended up going back to her mom's house after her father died. Yeah, because after her father died, she was able to get custody. Jesus. Teachers that the kids school reported her and the kids again, like that they were clearly being neglected and abused and they were removed again. So they were all put into the church of Christ home in Ontario, California. After her children were removed, Trudy just was like cool and ran away with her

boyfriend who was in a motorcycle gang. Cool. She died the following year in an accident. So that was that. Like she's eight years old. And she's been taken out of her home twice. And now she's a full blown orphan. And she was put into different foster homes with like, and she admitted it later, like lovely families who tried to help her.

But she just wasn't, she couldn't handle it. And so she would run away. She'd get put with a relative, she'd run away. Well, she's just getting uprooted so many times. Like she doesn't even know what home is. I'm sure she just doesn't trust anyone. Yeah, I'm just not trust in anyone. And why would she?

And why would she? Because she has my best interest in mind. In 1944, she moved in with her brother Jim, her older brother Jim and his wife Louise in Napa, California. She could, so she was in with her brother Jim, her older brother Jim and his wife Louise in Napa, California. She could, so she was in high school. She did okay for like a minute and a half and like she was super popular in high school

because she told all these tall tales that made people think she was something she wasn't, but it didn't last long at all. And she eventually ran away from her brother and sister-in-law's house and went back to one of those foster homes Where her sister I think was staying so she wanted to be with her sister at this foster home She's trying to like grab on to something. Yeah, this family took her in they tried to get her on the straight and arrow

But she ran again refused to attend high school regularly and by 16 she was out on her own. Oh no Dorothy Yeah, it's just not a good story so far. So in 1945, she ended up in Washington. She met some friends on the street. She was living on the street and started working in sex work. She was very, everyone said she was very beautiful growing up, like a very beautiful woman. So, you know, she was easily able to make some money

doing that work. So World War II also was going on and it was bringing back soldiers who they were trying to attempt into. They've been away for a while. A while. So they've been away for a while. So one soldier was a 22 year old guy named Fred McFall.

Now initially, he was just a client. But after spending time with her, he fell in love with her. And he would come back. See, I couldn't have that. I know. I couldn't live that pretty woman story. Right. If it, I wish it had ended here. Now, he would come back again and again. He would pay her extra money just to talk. Fred, you just want to sit and talk with her. Literally pretty woman. Yes. Fucking love that woman. He was literally smitten and she seemed to be too.

Yeah. One night he just proposed to her out of the blue and they ran away to Reno Nevada and they got married in 1946. Why didn't it untie her? I know. Why can't the episode just be over and it's a happy one? She was 16. Her marriage certificate said she was 30.

Wow. And she said her name was Sherry All A. Rasiel. Wow. And she said her name was Sherry All A. Rocele. Alrighty. That's not her name. It's not. And he just loved like her crazy ass stories. Like he said he just thought they were great. Did he know how old she was? I think I think he was not totally. I think I was not aware. I think he was not totally aware of how well she was. I think a lot of the lies were confusing. And I think he's like, so what year were you literally born in?

Yeah, I don't think he was totally aware of what was going on here. He was too smitten. But he was just like, wow, she's adorable. Like she lies about everything. It's so cute. Like, yeah, I think that wonky later. Because again, her stories, most of the time, we're just innocuous, weird stories that

you were like, that's kind of funny that you're just telling me. As we'll find out later, like she said she was a rocket at one point. Like, there's stories that you're like, that's adorable. Yeah. It's not like harming you. You were a rocket. Like you're not saying like, you're double-o-seven and like, you're gonna, you know, it's sad. Like, you're just like, okay, that's not like harming you and you're like, you're not saying like you're 007 and like, you're gonna, you know. And it's sad, like you're just like, okay, that's sad. Like I wish you were a rocket, you know, like why not? I don't wish Dorothy it was because she's an asshole,

but I wish like little Dorothy got to be a rocket. Yeah, like sometimes people who tell these stories you're just like, what are you missing? You know, and so like you feel bad. So I think that's where he was. He was like, it's cute and like kind of endearing that she does this. And she's this beautiful girl and like, she's sweet.

She's been through a lot. She's been through a lot. And he actually was quoted as saying, she could pass for anyone she wanted to be by the way she acted. I don't know where she would come up with this shit out of the clear blue sky. I don't know where she came up with this shit.

And for a while things were fine. Like just fine. But that I'm sure those lines escalated. Not wonderful, not horrible. Just fine. Like the things were fine. Like just fine. But then I'm sure those lines escalated. Not wonderful, not horrible. Just fine. Like the marriage was fine. He worked at a bar, but he was starting to like kind of get over the bullshit at like he was working

at a bar, he's bringing no money. She's still just kind of like bullshitting about everything and he's like, this was really cute in the beginning, but like, you gotta start living in real life. Yeah, like can we stop this whole thing? And he was worried that, you know,, but like, you gotta start living real life. Yeah, like, can we stop this whole thing? And he was worried that, you know, he was like, maybe like, maybe she's like sick, like something's wrong, like why is she lying so much?

Well, and I'm sure like the lies about her life started changing into lies about just like, the day and he was, he was concerned. Exactly. And he was for, she was forgetting like what lies she told, so she would like lie about a lie and he was like, okay, this is getting too much. So things were all great, but they were not wonderful, and it was certainly not her parents' marriage, like that kind of horrible, but just like, it's not going great.

So that same year in 1946, she actually gave birth to their first daughter, and then immediately another daughter the following year. So it sounds like, okay. Yeah. Everything another daughter the following year. So it sounds like okay. Yeah. Well, love. She was her mother. Unfortunately. So she started drinking. She hated being a mother immediately. Immediately said she wanted nothing to do with that child. To me, I'm also like, is this postpartum depression? Oh, okay. So I was actually going to ask that when we were talking about her mother, I wonder if she was suffering so I was I was actually gonna ask that right when we were talking about her mother I wonder if she was suffering postpartum and I thank you

Can I be generational? I'm not I don't know about that. I believe it's like your mother suffered from it Probably more prone to it and I know it's like one of those things you just like have no idea It's yeah, but it's a toss up this to me sounds like postpartum But there are just people who don't like being on the other other side. But I feel like then don't become one. But we'll and don't do it again. If you don't like it the first time,

you probably not gonna like this. You're probably not gonna like the second time. But to me, I'm like, I wonder if because this is in the 40s and shit, they're not diagnosing postpartum depression back then, like Willie Nilly. So it's like, to me, this sounds like that. And it's really sad. Diagnosed postpartum depression.

The shit they put you on was like, oh yeah, meth. And it's like, this was times when it was like, you're just a hysterical woman and you don't know anything. You know, so it's like, this is one of those things when I'm like, shit, like this is, she doesn't have a chance. Now, again, she hated being a mother immediately.

She started drinking. It just like her mother, and she got mean as fuck. And right away, she simply decided, I don't want these kids. So she just gave them away. What? Yep, she had one go live with a relative, and another one was just sent to foster care.

Now, the second daughter, she literally went into labor while Fred was at work, didn't tell him, just went, had the baby, and then just came home and said, came home without a baby. And he was like, what now? And she was like, oh, I give it away. And well, what about the, was he not concerned about the first one?

Like, her husband had not agreed to this. And he was heartbroken. Like, Fred was like, I did not want to give up these children. And I especially did not agree to give up the second one. And he actually tried desperately to get his daughter back, but she had signed away rights. So he couldn't get her back. What?

I believe later they could they connected. Okay. Fred and the child. Good. But the marriage could not be repaired after this. I mean, you gave away these children. Yeah, after that was like, okay. But Fred did try to make it work for a little while because he truly believed she was like sick.

He was like something she was. And she would just leave for weeks after this and not contact him. And then the next year in 1948, she got pregnant again. No, stop that. So Fred, don't try again. It's not Fred's baby. Oh, okay. And unfortunately, she miscarried and Fred divorced her

because he was like, that's not mine. So I think that's the final straw. I think my worst year is done. I think you getting pregnant by some other man is probably my final straw after you gave away our trial. So I'm really surprised it wasn't giving away the children. Yeah. I think it was that and then it was like,

whoop, okay, this is the cherry on top. Yeah. Now she just kept online. She kept going, she told stories about everything and she was 19 at this point and now had lost everything and everyone. Like she didn't have any family, she lost Fred, she gave away the two children.

I was surprised Fred didn't try to have her like put somewhere. Because I was finding back in the back and it any family, she lost Fred, she gave away the two children. I was probably as Fred didn't try to have her like put somewhere. Cause I was finding back in New York. I know that it was like, and honestly, yeah. We had one of her husbands does. So she has many husbands. Now she told people Fred was actually, when they asked, she would say,

he was a war hero and had died in battle. Okay. Fred was very much alive. But that's the kind of stuff she would do. Like I'm just 19 and I'm a widow because my brave husband died in battle. And it's like, no, Fred's just over there. You just spread over to the point where you literally could have more. So she went back to California and she just worked like odd jobs and was trying to figure

out ways to get ahead. Because now she's struggling, she's on her own again. And she's 19. Her ways to do this were to steal and to con, because those are the things she's good at. So she forged checks and stole money whenever she could. She would pick pocket. Eventually she was caught in the act of forging a check and was arrested.

Yeah, not good. After being arrested at 19 years old, the first ever time she was seen by a doctor was when she was in custody. That's the only time she had ever gone to a doctor. Ninety years? Ninety years was never seen by a doctor. That is how she was born.

As a child, she was never seen in a doctor. That's horrible. And a psychiatric evaluation showed that Dorothy, basically, they were like, she's a sad, neglected human who stole just to impress and fantasized about a better life. Like, that's basically like, she's stealing to be, you know, she's stealing to buy clothes so she looks like she's a fancy woman. She's just doing it because she wants people to think

she's this person, she's not. Now, basically, the doctor said she didn't like necessarily committing the crimes, but she did it because it was necessary to cultivate that life she wanted to portray. And to get by. Yeah. Now she was sentenced to a year and only served four months,

but while she was there, she learned to pick pocket and she would spend days practicing signatures to get better at forging. And nobody was like, to me? To me? It sounds like she might like it. But sounds like she digs it. Now, in 1952, she met a Swedish man

named Axel Johansson. Yeah, she did. And she married him. Axel Johansson, of course, you're fucking marrying him. He was Axel Johansson. He was a dick, but he was a merchant seamen. And to him, she said she was Taya Singuala,

and now Johansen, she like hyphenated, but Taya was her name. That's pretty name. She said that her father was Egyptian and her mother was from Israel. That was not true. She was also a former rocket. That's where this comes in.

But she didn't do that anymore. In case you were wondering. It's because Rocket is. No, during a performance with said rockets, a girl next to her, Rocketding, she snapped her heels. Her heels snapped. And it sent them flying into the orchestra pit

because she fell right on her. And Dorothy got a broken leg. She broke her leg. Oh, and she had been recruited into the rockets by just being approached in a department store. And she took that job in the rockets at the risk of abandoning her previous job, which do you want to know with that previous job?

Obviously. Being a world-renowned chef in a world-renowned restaurant. Nice to know, I am Julia Childs. Yes. Now, she also shared the lie about her husband being a war hero before this in Dian battle. So Axel got an earful of just bullshit. Imagine that first date.

Yeah, he was like, whoa. You've gone saved, lady. And she even went as far to say, the girl who, her heel snapped and shit, she was paralyzed or something in the fall. She was really far into it. Now, Axel was away on business a lot. He's a merchant seamen. And neighbors would kind of like snitch

and tell him that men showed up all the time when he was gone. I mean, fair. Yeah, I mean, this isn't one of those like snitches, get stitches thing. It's like, he has right to know. I'm like, he has right to know. Now soon he noticed his money was being drained.

She was gambling. She was drinking a lot and it was with his money. So she didn't love him. This was just a place to live for a lot. Yeah, to get by. She was also telling more stories about being best friends with Rita Hayworth, spending time with JFK and Jackie. Like cool, go with them.

Like damn, make it happen, girl. Jackie O comes up so frequently and she's like, why? Jackie O is just like around, she is. So it's around. So unfortunately, Axel and her started fighting like cats and dogs. And then he discovered

that she was still involved in sex work and she lied about it. It's an issue. So, he also became abusive after this, like once he found these things out, he was being abusive. So, it was just an all-around terrible situation for every story involved. Is a shit story. It really is. Now, she also around this time claimed to be a holistic doctor.

No, you can't just say that. You can, because apparently she just started treating neighbors and shit. Like, neighbors were having her treat them. Now, she was saying that back growing up in Mexico, she was a traveling holistic healer, and she would go from like village to village and treat people.

That'd be great if it was true. And she didn't grow up in she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman,

and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she was a woman, and she not a doctor. Yeah, like you might know some shit, but like that does not make you a doctor. Yeah, my dude. I like reading about like old Hollywood starlets, but I am not old Hollywood starlet. You're not. Did I make up that starlet word? Starlet?

Starlet, Starlet. I like Starlet. I'm a starlet. It's like, Violet. Yeah, live it. Learn it. Love it. All right, so she secretly opened up a couple of brothels at this point?

Actually did. Like literally. Sorry. Yeah, this, sorry. I was like, I was like, no, she really did. But I was like, oh no, she, she lies a lot. Yeah. No, this is like reality.

She really opened a couple of brothels behind her husband Axel's back. Pretty baller, I think. Very baller. And unfortunately was caught when a building manager suspected something crazy was happening in his building. Yeah, that's risky business. You had to be pretty careful about that. It's almost exactly risky business, but it wasn't easy though. Now, this wasn't easy though, because she had it seem like it was a real business. She had a lot of things

like button up with this stuff. She made it look like it was an actual just like storefront. Sure. They even had a secret number that you had to get invited to use to call. I love that. And when you called, they would tell you the special. And their special was a blow job that was for $7.50.

That's a pretty expensive blow job for a rock son. I guess. I don't know what they go for. I just, I found that in every source I read and I just had to share it. People love to talk about blowjob. Yeah, I guess. They go. Who doesn't love that?

So the police didn't undercover sting at one of the brothels to catch her. And they caught her red-handed, but it was so strange. Red-handed? Oh, most, actually. So it was strange. I read in a ton of places that these cops used this powder on their hands. And they actively touched Dorothea and the other workers to mark them, to make their case. What?

I lit- thank you, because I literally wrote what- What does that mean? Like one woman led one of the undercover detectives back to like start, because they had to pretend they were like clients. Sure. And like to start the whole shebang. And he touched her leg and ass to mark her. So that later they could be like see,

like they would use a UV light and be like look, what? Isn't that wild? That's like something you would see in an old movie and be like what the fuck? Thank you. I mean, this is the 40s, so I get like, but still, what? I also love that they're like, we are not gonna remember any of these women by eyesight,

even though we are literal pully-somen. So we have to literally touch their ass to make sure that we can be like, yep, that was the one. Also, I'm like, can't you just like, grab her face? It's still like nice room. That they allowed them like the transaction her place, but still like, waffles, like, that's a wild way to do that. So, like, she let them run a brothel,

and I don't know. Now, she tried to convince the judge that she had no idea she was in a brothel when the cops came. But that fell apart because when they had come undercover to the brothel, she had greeted them, explaining the rules, introduced her to a girl that would service them,

and also had allowed them to touch her boobs for free. So like, they knew this was true. Walks through the brothel. So, there's got to be some, because they used a UV light to see that the powder was marked on her boobs. So they literally... This is not real. This is one of Dorothy's lives.

I wish it was. Like is this a recount from her? This is real. This did not happen. This is real. No, it's not. She ended up getting 90 days, but only because they lessened the charge

because she was pretty charming. And she only got charged for being in a house of ill-reput. Ill-reput. So she only got 90 days for it. Okay. And felt up by a couple of cops that she got stigma, like never happened so she only got 90 days for it. Okay. And felt up by a couple of cops. I got to stick that like never happened. Yeah.

I can't believe it. It was a what? I read it in one book and I was like, no, I think this author is wrong. And then I read, I started, you're like, you've pressed to the end. You have cracked key. I don't know about this. And I started reading another one I get to that like point time and I'm like, if they don't say this, then I know that other one was false.

And then you started seeing it. Oh my God, it's in this one. Then I'm like, Google, Google, Google, and I found it. And they were like, holy shit, this is real. Like this is what happened. Wow.

No, she and Axel stayed married for three more years. Oh, I even forgot about him. But it seemed, but again, it became abusive. So it was just like, you gotta have to be sad. And it seemed a very again, it became abusive. So it was just like, not that bad. That's really sad. And it seemed a very weird pattern with her husband's that they would be infatuated with her, be so amused by her crazy tall tales,

and then get really angry and annoyed by her and her stories. Like, it was like, this, does that sound a little bit familiar to you? It's like a weird, like, little, why, who are we thinking of? I can't say, but like, like, that's a, I feel like that's a thing. Oh, I think I know what you're talking about.

You know what I mean, though? I was like, wait, what? Yeah, no, you do see that happen with a lot of people who like to lie. Like, I think, I, because like you said, like in the beginning when she was married to the first guy, Fred, it was like, it's cute and it's endearing and like they haven't heard of anyone.

Well, they have a way of charming you too. And then it's kind of like those lies start to then affect your relationship and that's not cute anymore. That's the thing. Then those lies become things that are hurting you and things that, because then the lies are now affecting you. They're now being directed at you or about you

or someone you care about. And I hate to like armchair diagnosed since I'm not credible at all, but like, she's clearly gone a personality disorder of sorts. Oh yeah, I think I would love to see her seen by a psychiatrist or a doctor. You know, I said a psychiatrist or a doctor.

They're both doctors. There I go double talking. Now, I'd love to see her, like seen by, like a professional today if she was around, but I would love to see what they said about her. Well, even though it would be interesting to see if somebody could like study her life, like a doctor could study her life and say,

hey, you should probably have this in this. Yeah, like which I think it's like hard to do in retrospect, but it's, Sure. If she could, we could just like, if you look at that, and have it in her real quickly and put her in front of a doctor, and be like, can you help? What's going on with us?

And then just get rid of her again. And then it's sad because she could have been potentially treated. Yeah, I think it was, yeah. Do you think that she believed her lies? I think there were times when she, it seems to me like there were times when she believed some of her lies.

I think other ones were just kind of to make herself feel better. I wonder if the ones that she believed were the ones that she used to cope through childhood. Yeah. And then kind of just like trail dogs. Yeah, I think that was where it got. That's definitely obviously where it began was her coping mechanism just to get through her childhood, which is sad. But it's like a learned behavior over time. Now, in 1961, Axel did have a cremated to a psychiatric hospital. Yeah, good. Yeah, but she ran away and left him while he was away at sea.

Bad. He divorced her in 1966. OK. And I guess they separated before that, but it divorced and go through until 1966. So now she needs to make money again on her own. She's still attempting to make something of herself. So she's like, you know what, what do I know?

What do I know? How do I know what to do? So, you know, brothels unfortunately did not work out. Too high risk. Yeah, they were too high, too weird, man. The way that ended, I'd be like, yeah, that got weird, never again. But she was like, you know what? I know alcoholics. Okay. So you're like, where did you go from there? So she could spot a

person down on their luck from a mile away. She knew what they wanted. She knew how to get things from them. And she decided she was going to open a boarding house. And she was going to take in alcoholics and other addicts or people down on their luck. And she said, you know, she was going to take in alcoholics and other addicts or people down on their luck and she said, you know, I'm going to try to view her whole thing like outwardly it was like I'm going to try to take care of them and have a place they can go where I can be like their house mother, you know, the surrogate mother, yeah, like house mother. But in reality, she was like, oh, I can calm the fuck out of them. Wow. Yeah.

So this was her, she knew she had to do long cons if this was gonna work because the forging and stealing had worked in the short term before, but it's not gonna work forever. So she's really, she's like, I gotta work with this. I gotta open the house, I gotta make it an actual place. I can't just like put it up like a facade. I have to actually gain these people's trust.

I have to get them to give me over their financial shit. Like, I don't have to really work for this. Never give anyone your financial shit. Which, this is where it gets like really scary with Dorothya because it's not like she was just forging checks and doing all this like other bad shit. She was playing these long cons

where she would have to like really put in the work at the time, the effort to get to know these people, get them to trust her, like really become part of their lives and like get them to feel like they, she cared about them and then she would either fuck them over or kill them. And it's like how do you not, like you see people down on their luck? Yeah. You've been down on your luck not, like you see people down on their left, you've been down on your luck before, like you grew up like that. Yeah, like you're like life and you've been down on your luck. How do you then fuck over those people after forming relationships with them?

Yeah. Like, how do you have no empathy? And you know what? She knew a lot of these people were gay and mainly we're getting government assistance and that's what she was after. She was like, well, I'm just going gonna get them to sign those checks over to me, or I'm just gonna forge those checks to myself. And this is just an easier way to steal money.

It's gonna be a long way to do it, but I think it'll give me the most money. So it's like, what are you doing? Which I damn. Yeah, I just, I can't. I can't. So this is when she opened up the Samaritans, she called it, which was a halfway house

run by her. She was going by Sharon Johansson at this point. She kept Axel's last name. This was a totally illegal and unlicensed operation. She at one point hired a guy named TJ Hossley, I think it was, who was in his mid-twenties and he was kind of for right-hand men, like working on the property. Always have one.

You always have a right-hand man. At Gen Shaw, at Hamilton. I need my right-hand man back. Yes. You're out there. I know this people out there going, I need my right-hand man back. I know it.

I know it. They're out there. I know you're out there. Hey, here you. That's a great song. But I love your, little too. When she was away from the boarding home, he would be the one to kind of run things.

Now, it opened in 1966, the same year that the divorce went through with Axel. That's a crazy year, crazy year. It had two dozen rooms in the house. And she filled up quickly. She filled up quickly. She was, where you got a place where two dozen rooms.

I don't know. I'm sure they were not all bad at bedrooms either. Like, you know, they were random rooms that she would make into rooms. No, she hired, or excuse me, I was like, she hired this guy that I just told you about. She would take in, you know, addicts, people down on their luck, people that were vulnerable, needed some help, needed to be on the right path. And her only requirement was for them to hand over their government check and make her the pay on them.

I was basically, but why do I need to do that, though? Well, basically financial control. And a lot of these places, these other places were not great to go to like the shelters and all that, that like they weren't great. So she knew that this was a better option for a lot of them so that they would do it because it was kind of like a desperation.

Now she was making sure she was known in the community now too. She's trying to, she wants to get a rep because remember her whole life has been, I got to build this reputation for myself but she's never been able to do it. This is her time to do it. She's gonna make up a life now. So she wanted to be known for being kind and charitable, trustworthy, and it worked. She was the kind grandmother who spent her time

helping and homing those who needed it. And the same year she opened the Samaritans, she met a Mexican-American named Rob Roberto Jose Puente. Does that last name sound familiar? It does. He was 20 years younger than her. Ooh, cool. They got close very quickly and got married in Mexico City.

Their marriage was immediately not awesome because he was a big old cheater and she was not psyched about it. Okay. However, you've cheated on your last two husbands. He was a big old cheater and she was not psyched about it. Okay, however, you've cheated on your last two husbands. So I'm not saying you deserve that, but you're not okay with it. You're not okay with it being done to you, but you're okay with doing it. Do as I say not as I do. But that's not fair.

That's how she's living her life. Do as I say not as I do. But that's not fair. That's how she's living her life. Do as I say not as I do. That's just like the double standard of the century. A lot of double standards here. He had many affairs right when they got married. Like he was just like right out and about. Like is it sad? Yes. But like did you do the same thing? Yes. Yeah. And there was an incident in the book. Let me just bring it up. It's in the book The Corpse Collector, and this incident was just like wild to me, where in Fidelity, you know, was found out, it became a fight, and Roberto had punched one of the home's handymen in response. Like, I guess-

Why did the handyman- Because I think the handyman was kind of blamed for telling Dorothea that she saw something that Roberto was doing- It got snitches coming down. So there's all this like, you know, intrigue and mystery. And so he's like, I'm gonna punch this handyman because he told on me basically- Like, punch yourself and then the problem will be solved.

Well, in Dorothea literally knocked Roberto out with one punch in response. She sent him down a fucking flight of stairs, which is Spezel abuse, and that's not okay. You can't be out here doing those things. Like sure, is it awesome that he's cheating on you and you found out? No, of course not.

He can't punch your significant other. Man, woman, you know, it's just not. You can't punch anyone, you can't. You can't. No, stop. Yeah, don't be punching. Hands to yourself. Use your words, you know? Words can cut deep. I'm telling you, they can't. They really can't. No, stop. Yeah, don't be punchy. Hands to yourself. Use your words, you know.

Words can cut deep. I'm telling you, they can't. They really can't. They're the Soros and fuck them up. Yeah, and so yeah, so she literally knocked him out down a flight of stairs with one punch, which is full. And she packed a punch right. Yeah, he stole Dorothy his car and fled back to Mexico City. So unfortunately, this whole incident became very messy for the boarding house because it was found out that she was having like domestic violence incidents in that house and it caused the city to shut down the Samaritan house, which wasn't even real.

Which wasn't at all real house anyway. The chaos in this story. So much chaos. Like, I feel like sometimes I haven't heard this all. Yeah. Yeah, that sentence made sense. Anyways. Yep.

So the marriage was over. Obviously at this point, there was really no coming back from that. And she lied about why, of course. She said that they met when he was 14 at one point. And I'm not sure why. That makes the story worse. It's more stories.

Somehow she repaired her reputation after this though. She was able to come back. She's always come back. People thought she was just a kind lady who got tangled up with some bad people. They were like, let's give her another chance. So in the 1970s, she opened up another boarding home. Another one.

This was a 16-bedroom Victorian house. It was at 2-1-00F Street in Sacramento, California. Now, this became a place where even those who were turned down by every other boarding home shelter halfway house, they would be accepted here. Of course. That's what she was doing. Because she wants to go money. Exactly.

She had a reputation for no judgment, specialized care. She changed her image completely. She had a full staff for this house and she was like beloved. Wow. Yeah. That is so bizarre. Isn't it weird? There were holiday meals at this home. We're social workers. She would invite all the social workers to come and have a big holiday meal at this house. It's so fucking scary that she's, this is all a facade. This is hilarious that you just said that because with my next slide in here it says, but this was a facade. I love that we are amazing.

Always on the same level. We're just like, you were like, this is, you know what this is? It's a facade. It's a facade. I didn't even see those. That is like, nothing across from each other. Because, sure, she treated those tenants well, because she took care of those.

Because she has to. She was treating them well. But they were the ones who she had to get, now the one she was treating well, were the ones that she had convinced to give her their entire check and complete control of their finances, there. Yes.

Anyone else who wouldn't give complete control, but would maybe give like a check or something here and there, she would literally keep in the basement. Nice. With no privacy and no lights. Good. There was no lights down there, just dark. Lovely.

That should have told everybody something. Yeah, I think. Oh, well, no one knew that. That's the thing she kept them hidden. When social workers and things would come over, she would just, whoop! I'd be like, no one lives down there. I lived down here.

I lived down here. They all shared one toilet down there One tenant later said that they were like little cubicles with curtain separating them and that's what they're Think they're a room for that. That's awful She also wouldn't allow anyone to get the mail except for her in that whole house Nobody could have mail no one could send mail because she was taking all their checks normal now She also pretended to be a doctor again and literally set up a medical office in a room in the house.

She had fake diplomas and shit on the wall. Stop. Which we've heard many times happening. She claimed she was a surgeon, she purchased medical tools. She gave people injections and called them vitamin shots. What were they? Not real sure. Not real sure.

In fact, she even convinced this is wild. She convinced an actual doctor who would come by to check on the tenants every once in a while. He invited her to be his assistant. And he didn't ask for any credentials to serve. She was that charming and convincing. Sir. Yeah. Sir. Yeah. Sir, duck down.

What? What? The amount of times that I've heard, and then you realized, you didn't even have any credentials. I'm like, I'm gonna call my doctor and be like, listen guy. I really like you a lot. But like, do you have any credentials I could

fucking look at? Yeah. It's always like, and then I realized he didn't even have any fingerprints. And it's like, what? Like, then I realized he was a figment of my imagination. He was a odd person. He was crazy. Yeah, that's not good.

He was a fever dream. Everyone just needs to stop just being like, wow, this person is charming and charismatic. They're probably telling the truth. Not always. Not always, my friends. Now the thing is, she was doing everything right, according to outside optics. It's great.

She was taking care of her tenants. She kept the home immaculate. She was sweet, intelligent. She was ready to help anyone, according to everyone. But the only thing people kept finding off-putting and weird was her crazy ass stories that she was still telling. She was habituately in fantasy land. And people were like, it's cute, kind of funny,

but it's weird as fuck. Like, why is she telling all these weird stories? Like people would be like, she's great. She's awesome. She's so nice. But people are like, why does she lie so much? Like, it's weird. So the first possible victim that we

haven't heard the one that we know of was an alcoholic man who found himself without a home. His name was chief. That's what they called him. Puente stated that she was actually, she was like, I basically adopted him. Okay. And made her, like basically made him like the handyman for the house and let him stay there.

Now, she also had him dig in the basement a lot and the basement floor was then covered with a concrete slab. Oh. He also was later tasked with taking down a garage in the backyard and putting another concrete slab over there. Then he just disappeared.

So he like, don't know where he is. So in great question. Yeah. Don't know. So that was the first weird occurrence to happen that he just disappeared. And everyone in the house was like, we didn't know where he went. He just wasn't there one day, and Dorothy wouldn't talk about it.

Okay, we imagine if you were like living in that house when all of this came to light. Oh my, because people were living in that house when it came to light. Oh yeah, can you imagine sitting there and being like, I could have been, like she may have been plotting for me next. Oh, there's many people that were like, oh, I literally just got away from that.

Wow. And we'll see in part two is where it gets like real like, whoa, okay, she's going ham. Now, she's also living with a new identity at this point. Like, she's really trying to cultivate as many different identities she can. And this time she decided that she's gonna be very passionate about the arts and music scene already.

And the, you. And the community, so she was starting to donate to charities in the area, and she was actually helping Latinx artists like get exposure. That was her thing. She really wanted to get them played on the local radios and stuff. Because again, she was very,

that's one thing she stayed true to, is that these are the people who helped her when she needed it the most as a child. So if I did want to, to pay back, do something, that's why she's such like a broken human because it's like there's pieces of her that are good that want to be a good person. But then this pieces of her that are actual evil. And it's like, where? Never the two shall meet. Like it's just, I don't know. She couldn't get a grasp on.

I think, well, she obviously got a grasp on the evil part. She just could never get that grasp on the truly giving a shit about anyone else part. Yeah, it's, I think it's one of those things where had she grown up in a different home. She's probably wouldn't have been what she did. Yeah, because I, I think it's one of those things where had she grown up in a different home, she's probably wouldn't have been what she did. Yeah, because I don't think she would have had to feel like she had to be what she was in, but I don't know.

You know, because she can't, you can't say. The shit she does is so evil that it's, and it takes such long exposure to her victims. And it's like, that's where, that, that's where my brain just can't comprehend it. Now, she actually became known as the godmother of the artists for a while in the community, because she would do so much for them. Now, the money she was using to donate to these charities was stolen money. Right. So it's like, this was all bullshit. It's all of a Now, Puente married for the fourth time on August 28, 1976. This man's name was Pedro Montalvo. He worked on the grounds initially at the boarding home, actually, and he was also a tenant at

one point. He was physically abusive and pretty raging alcoholic. The marriage only lasted a few months and was an old. But she kept that last name for a while, and she did this so she could just make up a new identity she needed to. Now she began donating to political campaigns at this point. She was like, no, I'm going to get in with them. And really like she John Wayne Gacy, that like she wanted to get like hip to hip with of course she politicians to really like make herself seem very like you know credible.

Well, and she might have needed them at some point. Yeah. Exactly. And politicians loved her. She was at events dancing with governors and shit. Like, she started bringing in women who were from abused homes to the boarding home, and they literally saw her as a mother or like a grandmother. They called her that. She was kind to them and actually mothered them, which is weird. Like they weren't her kids, but they said she was very motherly with that. Which is weird because she didn't want

to be her own children, which does make me wonder about the postpartum for sure. Because that wasn't a factor here. Right, so. Because there weren't all the horrible associated with that. It's interesting. She gave money to tenants' families

when they were in need and shit. Like that's, but this was all stolen. But it's not her money, right? Exactly. So it's like, you're like, oh, well, that's nice. No. But I mean, I guess it's not her money. In her mind, it is her money.

It's just weird. Now suddenly she told everyone she was sick with terminal cancer. And then she drew up a will and left everything she owned. She was gonna leave them to the charities and her adopted women of the boarding house. That's what she said. This was all bullshit.

She did have like a cancerous lesion, like a pre-cancerous lesion removed from the tip of her nose. Okay. But it was all fake, everything else. So again, this is all stolen. It's like stolen checks, government assistance, social security, all stolen from her tenants. And if you can lie about having cancer, yeah, that's where things get real.

What the fuck is wrong with you? Who you are as a human being? That's when your soul is trashed. Like, that's officially trashed. Like, there's no, yeah, no. And she's funding her reputation and societal standing on the people she was, quote, taking care of. That's what she's doing. Now in 1977, a former tenant took her shit down.

Oh. Now, Robert Davis. They were living in the basement. Well, Robert Davis was in prison actually at the time. And he was not receiving his social security check. He was a former tenant. Sure. He called the check it out. He's like, why am I not receiving these? And he found out that they were being cashed, of course. He immediately started thinking about Dorothea because she had access to them while he lived there. He reported her immediately in an investigation found out that

she forged her name to at least 34 other social security checks. Whoa! Yeah, so that's a lot of money. That's a lot. And she actually tried to claim that he had allowed her to do this and even said that he signed the check in front of prison guards. But she was lying.

She was lying. Did they believe her? And no, the prison guards were like, no, she didn't. Like, we're going to know what that didn't happen. Did she not think that they were going to be like, nah, that didn't happen? It's like when people lie like this though, they don't think they'll gonna know what that didn't happen. Did she not think that they were gonna be like, nah that didn't happen? It's like when people lie like this though, they don't think they'll get caught.

They don't think anyone is smart enough to catch up with them. Because they're also just thinking from one lie to the next. Yeah exactly. They're not thinking like long game. But now they caught her obviously in the fly. She ended up with probation and a fine, but they also made her give up.

For like, 30 sec. She was able to talk herself out of a lot. Just great, because she would come off, man. Yeah, and she would come off too as like an elderly grandmother type. Right, like that was her thing. She would use that like it. She looks like a sweet grandma.

Yeah, and it's like she would use that shit. I said in the beginning of this, like if I walked past her, I'd be like, oh, hi, how are you? Look at that sweet grandma. Aw, cutie. She knew how to use it. Scary.

Just like it was me. When she was younger, she knew how to use her looks. Because she was really pretty. Then when that started to change a little bit and she was getting older, she saw that she was getting more when she was a little like matronly grandmother.

Yeah. So she knows how to play it, man. But they also forced her to give up the boarding house during this. So she had to to play it, man. But they also forced her to give up the boarding house during this. So she had to get rid of it again, and she had to go to extensive therapy. But so she went to extensive therapy then?

Well, she did, but she didn't go to extensive therapy. She went to like one psychiatrist for like a minute and a half, and she was like, that'll do it. And at that point, like they're not like checking up on these things. Why not? Her doctor. Her doctor at the time was Dr. Thomas Moody. He diagnosed her with chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia. Yeah. I know. That's I was like, I don't know my first problem, but okay. Also, at this point, her reputation was done obviously because she got arrested again. Yeah.

Because now there was access to her whole background as a felon, a chief, a thief, a fraud, an owner of a brothel, all the crime she committed. They're like they're now all linked to coming out right there in the open. Now she moved to Stockton and had to go back to working like, you know, odd jobs, scrounging together money again. She's still trolling bars at night looking for older men to scam. She was still forging checks and got caught,

but somehow snaked out of it again. So, in 1979, she had got work as, are you ready? No. A nurse is aid for elderly patients. What? Mm-hmm. Why? Yep, she lied her way into it. Who signed off on that? She has no credentials. And nurses aid for elderly patients. What? Mm-hmm. Why? Yep, she lied her way into it.

Who signed off on that? She has no credentials. Again, I'm gonna, my head's gonna explode. Yeah, remember, this is the time when like anyone would apparently believe you if you were kind of charismatic. Like, what? And that same year, she met a guy named Ricardo Orterica at a bar called Joe's Corner.

And she approached him because she said she heard that he had a second floor apartment for him. She met a guy named Ricardo Orterrica at a bar called the Joe's Corner. And she approached him because she said she heard that he had a second floor apartment for him. He did, but it was unfinished and he was like, do you really want it? It's not done yet. And he had just purchased to this home. It was a Victorian home on 1426 F Street and Sacramento. Oh, same street. Hello.

And he had bought it for his wife and his two daughters. He was like working on it. And she told him she wanted to rent that second full apartment. And she didn't care to see it first because she loved that neighborhood. She was like, I lived there once. I love that place. Okay. Yeah. So she told him, you know, I'm in the medical field. And she would, she was like, I'll do the repairs myself to the apartment you don't have to worry about. I'm in the medical field so I'll do the repairs. So I'll do the construction work. Those two correlate. Definitely. She also told them how she lived in castles before. She was a very wealthy woman. She had lived in castles. I lived in a castle and now I'd like to rent your second floor apartment. You're unfinished second floor apartment. Well he asked

it. He was like what? He was, this is not exactly a castle. Exactly. And she said, well, you know, I've fallen on her times, and I'm not above like doing this. I'm not above you. And he was looking in a castle. Well, the family loved her. They loved her. She was playing around with the kids.

She stopped that. Can you fucking imagine? Yeah. Derrick, find it again. So if Dorothea appoint a baby sat your mother fucking children. No. What? But she babysit those mother fucking children. No. What? But she babysat those kids and they loved her.

What? She tutored Ricardo and his wife Veronica in English. Like she was a lovely tenant. I'm so conch. She is very scary with how she can like flip right into it. She has made it her whole life to fit into roles and damn she can do it. she fit that and it's weird She wanted to be a grandmother. She's gonna be a grandma. So what's she gaining from them? Well, we'll see now

She had to leave like she was living there She had to leave for a period of time, but she kept the apartment Uh-huh because she told them I have to go take care of this elderly patient I have to give her a lot of time so I'm gonna be out of the apartment for a while Now this patient was in her 70s. She was terribly ill. This woman was Esther Busby. Esther was having this weird illness where she would be fine and then suddenly get super sick

and have to be hospitalized. When door's sealed, the illness arrived. Reach the brink of death and then be fine again. It happened over and over like clockwork. And Dorothea was her caretaker, and weirdly this all started once she became working for her. Now social workers were concerned. A lot of nurses at the hospital too thought Dorothea was great, actually.

They just loved, you know, they were all like, I think she just loves Esther, like she just takes care of her. And also a lot of them were like, I'm a little suspicious. So it was like half and half. And thought, you know, maybe she's harming her somehow. But this doctor named Dr. Jerome Lackner, he was the doctor treating Esther. And he was especially concerned about what was going on here. And he brought it up to adult protective services. He was like, something was wrong here.

Who agreed they were like, let's investigate. So Dorothy found out that this was going to happen, that they were investigating, and took Esther to another hospital the next time she had the same illness. So she was trying to take her away from, so the new doctors and nurses wouldn't see that evidence. But Dr. Latterner had blood tests orders him, ordered himself and found phenobarbital, a medication that was not just prescribed to Esther in her blood. And it also showed that there was digoxin and digoxin was a heart medication that Esther was not prescribed. Mm-hmm. Ooh, little edit here.

It's actually pronounced de-joxin, not de-goxin. Duh! Sorry about that, carry on. But Dorothea was prescribed it. She was also taking money from Esther's family. She would tell them Esther was a dying of terminal cancer and they would just send money and she would pocket it. What? Esther fired Dorothea upon finding this out.

Can you, this woman reached the brink of death. She found out that she was being poisoned on the regular. She was placed in a nursing home after this and Dorothea visited her once and brought her food and she got sick immediately after. And she actually ended up dying the next year. I'm sure because of everything that her body went through. And so she fired Dorothy and then Dorothy and went back to her to be like, you know, I had nothing to do with this. Like, I made you this food. Like, I'm not eating your food.

Well, and Dr. Lackner and the nurses tried to get the death labeled suspicious at the very least. Yeah. But they said they didn't have any real evidence. How about all the weird things that you found in her blood? Well, like what? So she kept working and started doing it to another elderly woman at another hospital. And she was fired again when social workers stepped in again.

And so she's just doing this because these people's family are sending the money? Yeah, and she thinks that if she can get close enough to them that she can start taking their checks, taking their money, maybe get them to sign something over to her. Wow. In 1981, she was acting as a nurse and a cook to 84-year-old Dorothy Goughsling. She had almost $4,000 worth of jewelry taken from her Dorothy did. Oh my goodness.

She later said she would suddenly pass out and wake up to find tons of stolen things like checks, money, gone. It's so sad that this happens so often. Yeah, elderly people. Exactly. You live your whole life and then you get fucked over by some greedy asshole. That's what kills me.

And she couldn't explain the time she was suddenly asleep and found out later that Dorothy was drugging her. Like she found that a later. That's what kills me. And she couldn't explain the time she was suddenly asleep and found out later that Dorothy was drugging her. Like, she found that out later. That's really sad. And here she is just thinking like, what the fuck is going on with me? I'm just like passing out. And losing periods of time.

Now in January 1982, she met a man named Malcolm Mackenzie at Joe's Corner, Dorothy it did. Uh-huh. Uh, he was 74 years old and literally went to this bar every night just to chat with people. I love that. You would have two drinks and just chat with everyone. Just likes to hang out. He's a social butterfly. Yeah. So she saw him. She flirted with him, convinced him to be like, hey, come back to my place. Once inside, he keeled over on the couch and became paralyzed. He said, uh-huh. And he said when they were walking in, he was like, I felt woozy, but I was like,

Oh, did those two drinks really hit me? She doasted him. She fucking doasted him to the point where he keeled over on the couch with his eyes wide open, able to see everything and couldn't move or speak. What? And what did he see? So she had drugged his drink at the bar, obviously. She stole his rare penny collection Why?

and he's cached all in front of him. Well, he lay paralyzed on the couch watching her do it. What the fuck? She watched like watched her raid his home and then he said he just watched her walk towards him and couldn't move couldn't scream nothing Stared right into his eyes slipped the ring off his finger. When he couldn't get it off, she went to the kitchen, got lard and used it to slip it off his finger. Yeah. And then just left this one left the bridge alone for hours like that. He was paralyzed on his couch alone for hours until he could finally start moving. It started wearing off. And you just, you don't even think it's gonna wear off. I'm sure you're just like,

they're like, I'm gonna die like this. Like this is how I die. Oh my God. He contacted police immediately and they found her immediately because she had weirdly used her own name this time. I'm glad I had that. I don't know why.

She was caught trying to cash two of Malcolm's checks. Did he get his penny collection back? I don't know if he did actually. I need to know. She She was caught trying to cash two of Malcolm's checks. Did he get his penny collection back? I don't know if he did actually. I mean, he didn't know. She claimed he gave them to her. He did not. Oh, duh. She had been pretending to be in her 70s to him.

She was only in her 50s at the time. So one time, she's 16 and is 30 on paper. And now she's 50 but is 70 on paper. What does that tell you? I don't know. But the story, she was arrested again, but she got away with it because she convinced the police that Malcolm was just mad that she rejected him.

I'd be like, hi, I was just paralyzed for hours. You want to test my blood? Well, then they were like, she also said she had a condition that made her just like forget when she did stuff. And they were like, she also said she had a condition that made her just like forget when she did stuff. And they were like, oh, sure. Bye. Also, I got to tell you this story, the police and this story, I'm like, are you, are you

for real? Can you hear me? Like, are you all right? Are you all right in there? What's going on? And by the end of part two, you're going to be like, what? No, like no. They made lots of boo-bos.

Now, one week after she, this whole shit went down with this truck, she becomes the caretaker to an 82 year old woman named Irene Gregory. No, I hate that. She's fucking over all these elderly people because it's really hurting my heart. She met her, introduced herself as Betty Peterson. That's not her name.

Her name is Dorothy Apponte. I know. Or is it? And she took her blood pressure. Irene's blood pressure and immediately was like, oh, like your blood pressure shows me that you're holding a lot of water. And so she was like, you need to take some water pills to regulate your system a little bit. Here we go. So she drugs her. And when Irene gained consciousness again, she found that Dorothy had stolen her diamond ring. No. And medications from her, most notably some sedatives and sleeping pills. She kept doing this to several elderly women for months.

She would steal medication and money from them. To like build up a collection. And she used the medication to drug other people to eventually kill them. And she would just steal all their shit. Claire Malaville and Loretta Chalmers were another couple of victims that had the same things happen to them. And they were too old and sick to even testify against her.

They couldn't show up in court, because they were too old. I would haunt the shit out of her. Now, we are going to end part one there because when we pick up at part two, she starts murdering. Oh. Where part two is all about when she really ratchets this up a notch. Oh, because we already have chief who went missing. But we don't know exactly what happened there. Uh huh. Now we can kind of look back and say, and say, probably know

what happened. But part two is going to get real gnarly. We're going to talk about a woman named Ruth Manro, which is like such a sad story. This whole thing is horrific. This whole thing is really horrifying, but devastating. That's where I'm going to end part one, because we have sufficiently set Dorothy up to the point where she is now harming elderly people and not giving shit if they live or die Just so she can steal all their stuff. I mean she was clearly trying to kill Some of these women. Yeah, obviously like I feel like there but it's a lot of them trying to kill them. Mm-hmm

Like no doubt she just failed. That's all but she does eventually become successful at it and it is horrifying Oh So that is part one of Dorothy, Dorothy Appuente. Yeah. This has been a lot. Yeah. I'd like to go drink some hot cocoa by a fire. So thank you for listening and we hope you keep listening. And we hope you.

Keep it. We're going to swear that you're having the elderly because they're going to haunt you in the afterlife and you're an asshole and I hate you. Thanks for that. Not so weird that you're just an asshole who lies and cons people, don't do it. Especially the elderly. Yeah, they're sweet.

I love them. The holiday commercials now with elderly people get out of town. They're adorable. And buy whatever you want me to. If you put an elderly person living alone with some lights that need hanging, I'll just never stop crying. Man. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Hey, Prime Members!

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