A California serial murderer known as the ‘Alphabet killer’, convicted of killing four women in 2013, actually had 26 victims, according to a death row confidant. Joseph Naso was sentenced to death 12 years ago for the murders of Roxene Roggasch, Carmen Colon, Pamela Parsons and Tracy Tafoya, which occurred in the 1970s and 1990s. The women’s first and last names all began with the same letter, earning the former photographer his moniker.
In a new Oxygen documentary, “Death Row Confidential: Secrets of a Serial Killer,” fellow inmate William Noguera claims Naso confessed to 26 murders. Noguera, who was locked up with Naso in San Quentin State Prison, says he wrote down everything Naso told him. “He’s guilty of more murders than anyone knows,” Noguera says in a preview of the series, which airs on September 13.
Noguera was part of a programme to assist elderly prisoners and got to know Naso over a decade. When he mentioned that police had a list of 10 victims, Naso laughed and said, “They got it all wrong. Yeah, I killed them women, yes. But those aren’t my top – those aren’t my list of 10. Those are my top 10.” Noguera also claims that a coin collection with 26 gold heads found at Naso’s home represents his trophies for each murder.
After his dealings with Naso, Noguera compiled a 300-page document with clues and partial confessions, hoping to lead investigators to more victims. The case was taken up by retired FBI task force investigator Ken Mains, who also features in the documentary. Despite the claims, Naso has not commented on the alleged additional killings.
Naso, a father-of-two and Little League coach, was arrested in 2009 when police found evidence linking him to the four murders at his California home. The stash included photographs of the women’s bodies, a detailed list of references to the murders, and a journal with graphic descriptions of rape and torture. Despite this, Naso maintained his innocence during his trial, telling the jury he was “not the monster that killed these women.”
