Vanessa Richardson

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Before we get started, you should know this episode contains descriptions of child abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and murder.

Today we conclude our deep dive on Dorothea Puente, a scammer turned serial killer who posed as a caretaker to gain people's trust and bleed them dry.

Dorothea hid her crimes in plain sight, but eventually people caught on to the woman known as the Death House Landlady, and the true extent of her heartless crimes was revealed.

And as always, we'll be asking the question, what makes a killer?

By 1982, 53-year-old Dorothea Puente had drugged and killed one of her boarding house tenants, a woman in her 60s named Ruth Monroe.

Shortly afterward, Dorothea drugged and robbed a man in his 70s named Malcolm McKenzie after meeting him at a bar.

Dorothea thought she was getting away with her escalating crimes.

But in reality, Malcolm, who'd been paralyzed but conscious while Dorothea robbed him, had gone to the police.

And so did Ruth's son, William.

While investigators couldn't prove that Dorothea had killed Ruth, William did hand over paperwork that showed Dorothea had been stealing money from her.

So officers geared up to arrest Dorothea on charges of theft,

forgery and parole violation, since she wasn't supposed to be running a boarding house in the first place.

However, Dorothea heard through the grapevine that they were closing in on her, so she packed her bags and caught a taxi to the airport, where she planned to flee to Mexico, the country that she lied about being from.

But as Dorothea loaded her baggage onto the taxi and envisioned the new life she was about to embark on, her dreams were quickly dashed.

The cab barely pulled away from Dorothea's house before police surrounded her.

They arrested Dorothea and ultimately she was charged with multiple counts of theft and fraud.

Dorothea didn't bother trying to fight her charges.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison with the possibility of parole after three.