Yuba Sutter Serial Killer/Rapist- Joseph Naso

Joseph Naso
When we think of the Yuba Sutter in regards to serial killers, I think its quite unanimous that we all tend to think of Juan Corona. What many of us don't know, is that in even more recent times, another well known sadistic character kept our community on edge.

Joseph Naso, is an American serial killer and rapist who once lived just off Cooper Ave in Yuba City. Naso is currently incarcerated at San Quentin on Death Row, after being sentenced to death for the slaying of at least 6 women. He was deemed "The Alphabet Killer", "The Double Monogram Killer", as well as the "The Double Initial Killer" because most of his victims first and last names started with the same letter. His reign of terror lasted from around 1977 to 1994, where he killed his last victims in 1993 and 1994, in the Yuba Sutter area. Those women were named Pamela Parsons and Tracy Tafoya.

Victims:
Roxene Roggasch, 18
Carmen Colon, 22
Pamela Parsons, 38
Tracy Tafoya, 31

Uncharacteristic to his "name game"
Sarah Dylan, born Renee Shapiro, a.k.a. "Sarah Shapiro" (unable to find age)
Sharileea Patton, 56

Victims of killer Joseph Naso; Clockwise from upper L to R, Roxene Roggasch, Carmen Colon, Sharileea Patton, Tracey Tafoya, Pamela Parsons, Sara Dylan aka "Sarah Shapiro".



Joseph Naso was a character who moved around a lot between the Bay Area, the Sacramento and Yuba Sutter area, as well as Reno. He had been married at one point, but his marriage according to his wife's testimony was anything but a fairytale. Her memories of her relationship with Naso were extremely damning and solidified the monster we now see.

He worked as a self employed, freelance photographer and was also self proclaimed "Pack Rat". He had a booth at the Marysville Flea Market just behind the race track on Simpson Lane, as well as another booth at a Berkley flea market. He was known for dumpster diving and reselling items for profit. Many people knew him as "Crazy Joe" because of his erratic demeanor.

His photography was his first love. He claims to have loved to pose women in what he called, exotic “pin-up, cheesecake” poses, but evidence showed something much more sinister. He was known for offering to take what he called "glamour photos" of women. He often targeted prostitutes for this purpose, since he knew they would willingly get into his car.

On a random probation search, 5,000+ photos were found of women who were bound at the wrists and ankles, as well as gagged. Most appeared unconscious laying near mannequin parts. Along with photos, calenders and ledgers containing strange descriptions and dates were found. Among those was a list of 10 women. Prosecutors deemed these ledgers Naso's rape and sexual assault diaries. They dated back to as far as 1950.
1958- “Rochester 1958 - picking up a gorgeous chick at a bus stop. Headed for the cemetery and started to kiss and molest her.”
“I had to force her down and hold her skirt up . . . her girdle down . . .it was hard work.”
“To this day I love her. I wish I could have married her.”

1961- Offered a young girl a ride home. “She fell for it . . . I forced her down on the back seat. . . . She was scared.”

The list of victims coincided with locations, such as Tahoe, Yuba County, Cleveland, Kansas City, Buffalo, Rochester, Wichita, Berkeley, and even London.

London'Outside the front door I overpowered her and ravaged her, I couldn't help myself.'

He was arrested and prosecuted for the 1958 incident. He was also arrested in the 1961, but it never came to fruition. He was let go and police told her to leave town immediately.

One particular list in one of his ledgers, took center stage in Naso's case. Prosecution called it "the List of 10"

1. Girl near Heldsburg [sic] Mendocino Co. **UNKNOWN Possible Healdsburgs Jane doe discovered 1983 (possibly Cheryl Carter of Sonoma County?)
2. Girl near Port Costa **Carmen Colon
3. Girl near Loganitas (mispelled Laganitas) **Roxene Roggasch
4. Girl on Mt. Tam **UNKNOWN
5. Girl from Miami near Down Peninsula **UNKNOWN
6. Girl from Berkeley **UNKNOWN
7. Lady from 839 Leavenworth ** Sharileea Patton
8. Girl in Woodland (near Nevada County) **Sarah Dylan a.k.a Renee Shapiro
9. Girl from Linda (Yuba County) **Pamela Parsons
10. Girl from MRSV [sic](Cemetery) ** Tracy Tafoya

Firearms and knives were found, which were a direct violation of his probation from his arrests for molestation and assault in 58 as well another long line of criminal activity throughout his life including petty theft and shoplifting women's panties.

Also found in the Reno residence were news paper clipping coinciding with those women's name - they were all missing or found dead. Miscellaneous items in safe deposit box included clothing and different forms of I.D. of various women. In bedrooms that were locked from the outside, mannequins and mannequin parts clad in pantyhose were found. Some of these were hung from the ceiling via ligatures around their necks. Suitcases full of mannequin legs wearing pantyhose were found in his garage. Dressers were full of women's lingerie.

Naso, who defended himself in court, claimed there was nothing deviant about his interests and was often seen downplaying photos found in his home. He said that glamor fascinated him and that he “was always interested in girly magazines as a boy even”. He passed the diary and ledgers off a “dream diaries,” just expressing his fantasies. He expressed the word rape was slang written, “how guys talk.” He alluded that all his "models" were willing participants who were helping him to create "art".

Pamela Parsons
Ledger Entry #9-
"Girl from Linda (Yuba County)."

And that's how Naso came across 38 year old, Pamela Parsons. According to several reports I've read, she worked as a waitress near Cooper Ave. She was also known as a local prostitute to the area. Friends and family reported that she had a problem with drugs as well. Throughout my research I find the words, "prostitute", "hooker" and "drug addict". I think it's important to remember first and foremost, every single one of these women were human beings and did not deserve their fate.

Reading that over and over troubles me. It's dehumanizing. Despite our faults we all have the same desires to live and be happy. We all deserve that.

According to a 2012 article in the Appeal Democrat, photos seized from Naso's home included hundreds of photos of Parsons. Public Safety Detective Richard Brown said that Parsons appeared dead in the photo. "I thought she was deceased. Her face doesn't appear natural," he said, recalling his impression of the photos he saw. He noted the marbling and bruising of her skin. Photos of Parsons were entered to evidence at Naso's trials. Many of the women had this look of this discoloration present known as a lividity, suspect of post mortem photography.

He said he had contact only with Parsons as a photographer, “She did modeling for me. I’m sorry about her demise, but I didn’t do it,” Naso said. He claims to have picked her up on the side of the road and took her to his house for a "Glamour" photography session. He also claims that she offered sex, but claims that he declined.

“She was alive when she came in and alive when she left,”


September 15, 1993 Pamela Parsons went missing.

September 19th a body was found by walkers off of Simpson-Dantoni Road in Linda, Calif. It was the body of Parsons.

That walker was Tony Luis. He said in court that he remembers Sept. 19, 1993 as if it were yesterday.
He had been walking his dog not far from the Dairy he owned, and noticed another man walking his dog and he looked shook up. Luis said, "And I said, 'What's the matter, fella? and he says, 'My dog just found a dead person over there in the willows," He continued "And I walked over there and she was laying on her back, arms crossed in front of her,"
The body was that of Pamela.

Although no foul play was suspected at the time, it was later learned that Parsons had been strangled to death.

Naso's ledger entry:
Sept. 15th, 1993 - 
 “Got even on an old account. Stayed in Yuba City all day. Took care of business.”



Ledger Entry #10-
“Girl Mrsv (cemetery),”


Tracy Tafoya
Note from author- Tracy Tafoya for me, was the one who got me started on the Joseph Naso case. Aside from researching crimes I also am known for researching old historic locations around the Yuba Sutter area. I was shocked when I read that a body had been found in (near) the Marysville Cemetery. I am a volunteer there and find myself researching stuff for historical purposes, such as life stories of different people buried there. I believe I was researching "Marysville Cemetery murders" expecting to find murderers or those buried there who had been murdered. When I read about a murder victim being FOUND at the cemetery, as in dumped there, I never imagined that it was only in 1994. This catapulted me into the story you are reading now, and I have been fascinated ever since. Poor Tracy. I feel horrible for her and her family....that's why I feel such an obligation to tell her story and to make sure nobody forgets what this monster did to her and these other poor, beautiful girls. Oddly, despite my research I never saw her face, until yesterday when I jumped back to this. Or should I say, first time I realized who she was. I recognize her face from past news stories, but never realized she was the same woman I'm writing about today, or that she was the woman found dead along Hwy. 70.

Tracy Tafoya, 31 lived in Marysville at the time of her death. Much like Parsons, photos of Tafoya were found in safe deposit boxes during the arrest of Joseph Naso. In 2012 her husband, Richard, testified in the prosecution of Naso. During proceedings, for the second time he was asked to identify his wife, this time through photos. Overwhelmed with emotion he said "It's all coming back now. It was 17 years ago and feels like it was yesterday and I never had to deal with it before," Although shots of Tracy were only of her body, he was identify her through the shape of her body and the blue lingerie she was wearing. It was her own. He also recognized one unique trait of hers, a missing finger lost from an incident with a lawnmower.

At the time of her death Richard and Tracy were separated but still talked every night. Reading testimony from him, it's apparent he was/is still very in love with his wife although her lifestyle became too much for him to bear. “Tracy’s mom wouldn’t allow her to live with me and her … because she was into her addictions, I saw her as often as she called me. After a night on the streets, she’d always come back, even if she was mad at me. She was a hooker.” Richard also had knowledge of a man who liked taking photos of his wife. “The last time I saw her was in August. She hadn’t called me in two or three days,” When he read that Yuba County Sheriff's Department had found a body, he contacted them. Emotionally he testified, “I knew it was my baby, my wife,”.Tracy was discovered August 14th, 1994 after a Marysville resident had discovered a foul odor while out on a walk. It appeared that her body may have been dumped out of a car traveling north bound on Hwy. 70, where she was left naked and face down. The estimated time her body had been there about five days to a week before it was discovered.

Again, first and foremost; above bad decision, this was a mother, a wife and a mother of 5.

Naso's ledger entries:
 

August 5th, 1994-
 “Met Tracy. Put it to her,”

 August 6th 1994 - "Picked up a nice broad in (Marysville). 4 p.m. She came over for four hours. Took photographs. Nice legs. She ripped me off,"

According to the timeline, Det. Richard Brown said, "That's the last date Tracy Tafoya was known to be alive."


Ledger Entry #8-
“girl in Woodland, Nevada County,”


In Naso's ledger, “girl in Woodland, Nevada County,” could refer to a woman named Renee Shapiro a.k.a. Sarah Dylan. Shapiro, a huge Bob Dylan fan, changed her name to “Sara Dylan,” She was last seen at a Dylan concert in Hawaii in April 1992, and was suspected missing when she was supposed to meet a friend for another show in Seattle Washington in 1992. “I knew she was dead right then because nothing but death would have kept her from being there,” said Keith Gubitz, a friend of Shapiro's.

She was known to hitchhike, and as we know, Naso liked women who freely got into his car without a fight. This is why he targeted prostitutes. Although, Sarah wasn't into that...her friendly nature would have most likely accepted a ride to Naso.

A skull found in Nevada County in 1998 is believed to be that of Shaprio, and a passport and driver’s license with the name “Sara Dylan” were found in Naso’s safe deposit box at a bank in Reno, prosecutors said.

According to a Facebook page made in Sarah's honor:
"At 2:40 AM on July 31st 2013 an investigator noticed that Sara appeared to be wearing the pin that was found with other belongings of hers in the possession of accused serial killer Joseph Naso in this photo I took of her in 1991."
Renee Shapiro a.k.a. Sarah Dylan (Sarah Shapiro)

Ledger Entry #3-
Girl near Loganitas

Roxene Roggasch "was found dead on January 10, 1977, dumped near Fairfax, Ca. She was 18 years old, stood 5'2" had red hair and freckles. She had been strangled. Police estimated she was killed less than a day before. Police suspected that Roggasch had worked as a prostitute, but her family denied this." (via Wikipedia)

Naso's ex wives DNA was found on the pantyhose used to strangle the young girl. Her case was pivotal to prosecuting Naso for Murder.


Roxene Roggasch

Ledger Entry #2-
"Girl near Port Costa"


Carmen Colon "was found on August 13, 1978, along Carquinez Scenic Highway, a road between Crockett and Port Costa, just thirty miles from the body of the first victim. A Highway Patrol officer investigating reports of a cattle shooting found a decomposing nude body that had been dumped. The body was later identified as Colon's." (via Wikipedia)

Carmen Colon

Although terribly decomposed, DNA evidence was collected from her fingernails that tied Naso to her murder. According to the Marin Scope"Colon’s shriveled, half-decomposed and purple hand preserved her fingernails, which were pulled and saved as evidence, but degraded and couldn’t be used to link Naso. The known prostitute’s booking records’ fingerprints were used to identify her body. Her body was exhumed and her femur was taken for another autopsy. Her death was determined as homicidal violence."
Prior to her death, Colon told her sister that she was leaving to go have her photographs taken.


Naso Lived near Colo and Roggasch at the time of these murders.


Ledger Entry #7-
"Lady from 839 Leavenworth"

1981- "The body of Sharileea Patton, 56, washed ashore near the Naval Net Depot in Tiburon, California in 1981. At the time of her death, she was a resident of the Bay Area looking for a job. Naso managed the residence where the woman used to live. He also took a photo of the victim. He was considered the prime suspect by police in 1981, but gave the investigators only elusive answers and was not charged for the next thirty years."  (via Wikipedia)

Sharileea Patton
Patton's her strangled body was found stuffed into two garbage bags.

"Patton, who also used the last names Heckert, Duvalle and Withrow — was a former resident of the Los Angeles area and worked for the county sheriff's department. She later moved to Lake Tahoe, but a few weeks before her death, she relocated to the Bay Area in search of work. She listed her address on job applications as 839 Leavenworth St. in San Francisco."

"The manager-in-residence at 839 Leavenworth St. at the time was Joseph Naso."

"In addition to that evidence, Naso's photography collection included an image of a woman in a fur coat, said Ahana, the prosecutor. Patton's daughter has identified the coat as a rabbit fur coat that belonged to her mother.

"Oh, Jesus," Naso said, smirking skeptically."

Source: Marin Independent Journal CRIME



Other Possible Connections 

According to the Tahoe Daily Tribune, "Among the files of South Lake Tahoe's cold cases lies the murder of 17-year-old Kathleen Keohane in 1976. Keohane’s body was found beneath the Truckee River Bridge. Her skull had been fractured with an unknown blunt object. No suspects and no motives were ever established in the case."

"Then there's the 1976 death of Marina Mitchell. Mitchell disappeared from the American River Canyon. Searchers scoured the area for weeks before her badly decomposed body turned up not far from where she was last seen. Due to few leads and seemingly no motives, foul play was ruled out. But investigators admitted they would likely never know how Mitchell died."

"These two cases share similarities with the homicides allegedly committed by Joseph Naso. But no solid connection has been made, and Naso is not a suspect in either the murder of Keohane or the death of Mitchell."



The New York Alphabet Murders

In 1971- 1973 a case in the Rochester New York area, happened where 3 young girls were raped and strangled. Each girl's first and last name started with matching letters. In this case, the names also matched the city they were found. In an ironic twist, one of those girls had the same name as one of Naso's California victims:

Carmen Colon, 10 in Churchville
Michelle Maenza, 11 in Macedon
Wanda Walkowicz, 11 in Webster

Joseph Naso who lived in Rochester at the time of the murders, was a suspect in this case after his arrest for the California alphabet murders. Hundreds of people were questioned including Kenneth Bianchi the man who was arrested for The Hillside Stranglers case, along with his cousin Angelo Buono. Bianchi was an ice cream man in the Rochester area at the time, but later moved to Los Angeles with his cousin Angelo. This is where the Hillside Strangler(s) case occurred.

Strangling was the method of death in all three cases.

2007- Joseph Naso was cleared when DNA from the victims did not match his DNA from the California case. Bianchi

January 12, 2012-  during his preliminary hearing, his alleged "rape diary" when was entered into evidence. It mentioned the death of a girl in the "Buffalo woods," a possible allusion to Upstate New York, which is there the Rochester area is location.

Naso's ledger entry: "Girl in north Buffalo woods. She was real pretty. Had to knock her out first."

No one has ever been held liable for the deaths of these 3 young girls.




If you look through the web and research Joseph Naso, there are so many people out there looking for loved ones and those that are seeking justice for the women unnamed in Naso's Rape Diary. So many theories. I wish for each of those women to be give a name, and a face. They deserve to remembered by SOMEBODY. While Naso is currently on Death Row, it would be nice for him to KNOW that he must answer for each and every single woman he hurt and/or violated. 


Still Unknown:



"Girl near Heldsburg, Mendocinco Co"

" Girl on Mt. Tam"

"Girl from Miami near down peninsula"

"Girl from Berkeley"


If you are a friend or family member of any of the women here, and feel any information here is incorrect, feel free to contact me: paranormalanna@gmail.com


Comments

  1. Could the girl from Berkely be Ruth Lynn Connes who disappeared in 1976 when she met to meet a photographer who answered her ad to be a model?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts