Wouldn’t this man look like a relative of our current governor Arif Muhammad Khan, some Supreme Court judge or a high society figure?
Never mind, he was once an aviator. But after hearing the whole story, we will get a different picture. Anyway, let’s take a journey into the life of Joseph Naso, a man with many levels. That history covers several events from the 1970s to 2021. It is presented in different parts as it is sometimes difficult for the readers to read and understand.
Naso was born in Rochester in 1934 and served in the Air Force in the 1950s. On that occasion he met his first wife, Judith, married and had a son, Charles. It was then that his son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and Naso spent his later years caring for him. After 18 years of marriage, Naso and Judith divorced, although he would later visit her frequently in the East Bay Area, where she lived. Naso was known as a prelance photographer during this period.
After the divorce, Nassau toured the West Coast, living in San Francisco and Nevada. While he lived in California, he took classes at community colleges in Oakland in the mid-1970s and lived in San Francisco’s Mission District in the 1980s. In 1994, he was jailed for petty theft in Sutter County near Yuba City.
In 1995, Naso, a freelance photographer, walked into a department store in Oakland, California and attempted to steal 30 pairs of women’s underwear. People then thought it absurd that a man in his sixties would be arrested for a heinous theft usually associated with juvenile delinquents. In 2003, he was arrested again for shoplifting a local food coil in Sacramento.
On April 13, 2010, authorized officer Wes Jackson made a surprise home visit when Naso, who had been released on parole, failed to show up on time to sign. A chance visit from parole officer Wes Jackson turns his life upside down.
Upon entering the house, Jackson notices an advertisement for a gun, and several cartridges haphazardly in an ashtray. The bullets were a clear violation of Naso’s parole, which gave officers a warrant to search his home. He was arrested and jailed for probation violations and spent the following year in a Nevada prison.
Everything that was seen in that house confused the police. They assumed it must be a gun because they saw the bullet and eventually found it hidden behind the fridge. There were 4 guns in total. Ammunition, handcuffs, policemen’s uniforms etc. were also recovered.
They got semi-nude photos and full nude photos of many young women. There were thousands of images that fell into the bondage category. In some other films, there were films where women were killed or acted as such.
Joseph Naso’s explanation for it was that it was all just pictures taken by him as part of his professional career, and that none of it was real.
Another strange thing an officer found in the house. It was a room. The room could only be opened from outside. Moreover, the door had a small gap. It was equivalent to a room where criminals were housed in prisons and the like. It was built in such a way that food and other things could be given through the gap. It was a powerful piece of evidence that led to someone being imprisoned and tortured.
A diary was found in his bedroom. It contained partial information about several women. This diary later became known as the ‘Dump Journal’ in court. The verbatim words contained in these journals have not yet been released to the public, but in a nutshell… the women were lured, driven into their homes, raped by force or threats, drugged or unconscious, then strangled to death and taken away. It is not written in a straightforward manner, but hints are given so that the meaning can be deciphered if desired, and supporting images are also provided. In some parts, he explained how to torture and kill all the women he was interested in or familiar with.
Now the most talked about piece of evidence the police get is a short list. It mentioned ten women numbered from one to ten. But there were no names. The name given to that piece of paper was ‘List of 10’. In it, the place where he supposedly met the young women was recorded. The policemen who checked the list were stunned. 6 women were killed during that period out of 6 locations in the list. The identity of the other 4 women on the list is yet to be ascertained. However, the police have some guesses, but they have yet to get enough evidence from anywhere. After this, the police began to understand that Naso was not just an ordinary criminal. They started studying the cases in detail. The entire US went on notice.
Below is a complete list of the ten presented at Naso’s trial.
1. Girl near Healdsburg Mendocino Co.
2. The Girl Near Port Costa (Probably: Carmen Colon)
3. The Girl Near Loganitas (Possibility: Roxene Roggasch)
4. The girl in Tam
5. Girl from Miami near Down Peninsula
6. The Girl From Berkeley
7. 839 The Lady from Leavenworth (Possibility: Sharieea Patton)
8. The Girl in the Woodlands (Near Nevada County) (Possibility: Sara Dylan or Sara Shapiro)
9. Girl from Linda (Yuba County) (Pamela Parsons found in 1993) (Pamela Parsons)
10. The Girl From MRIV (Graveyard) (Possibility: Tracy Tafoya)
Now let the police study the case and then we can go to those women.
On January 10, 1977, Roxene Roggasch was found dead near Fairfax, California. Four pairs of female panty hose were wrapped around her body. The limbs were bound by two. One was inserted into the mouth. One was worn by Roxanne Roggash. The police concluded that she had been dead for only a day. She was 18 when she died. In that case, the police initially adopted an easiest remedy. As Roggash was suspected of prostitution, the police closely watched a local pimp, who arrested him on charges of assaulting the woman. But due to lack of sufficient evidence, he had to be released and the case was frozen. Her family denied that Roggash was a prostitute.
Naso’s DNA and that of another person were found on the pantyhose Roggash was wearing when the body was found. (Police still have no clue who this other person is.) Rogash’s ex-wife’s DNA was found on the pantyhose around his neck. That would provide a strong link in this case. This incident happened later.
A year later in Contra Costa County, a highway patrol officer investigating reports of a cattle shooting found a naked body dumped on the Carquinas Scenic Highway, a road between Crockett and Port Costa, on August 13, 1978. The body was later identified as Carmen Colon (22). She was only 22 years old.
In that case too, no evidence was found at that time, so everyone forgot it as a cold case. Later, when Naso’s case came to light, Naso’s DNA was partially matched with DNA from skin taken from between her fingernails. This is Naso’s second noose.
Naso’s murders ended, but 15 years later another woman, Pamela Parsons (38), a waitress who worked not far from Naso’s residence, was found dead on September 19, 1993, on Simpson-Dantoni Road in Yuba County. She had ligature marks on her wrists and neck and a broken hyoid bone.
Years after Pamela Parson’s murder, police opened 2 safe lockers with keys obtained from Naso and found photos of Pamela, newspaper clippings and documents related to her death. Also found in Naso’s home were numerous 1993 writings, logs, and a calendar of his daily activities with Parsons. Authorities also learned of pictures of Parsons taped to the top of a news article about her death. The photos were taken just 1.5 miles from where her body was found. Finally, ‘The Girl From Linda’ was marked as number 9 on the list. This evidence also held up strongly against Naso in court.
A year later, 31-year-old Tracy Tafoya was found dead in Yuba County. She was drugged, raped and dumped in a cemetery.
She was presumed dead a week before her body was found. According to ABC News 10, Naso was living on Cooper Avenue in Yuba City at the time. There were newspaper clippings about her death and photos of her in Nassau.
The last entry on the list mentioned a girl from Marysville, next to which is written (Cemetery).’ Tracy Tafoya was dumped near the Marysville Cemetery near Naso’s home.
Two other victims on the list have been identified.
Sharieea Patton, 56, known as the ‘Lady from 839 Leavenworth’, was murdered in 1981. Naso lived on the ground floor of the building he lived in in the Bay Area before he disappeared. Her body washed ashore near the Naval Net Depot near Tiburon, California.
Another victim was Sara Dylan (Sara Dylan – Sara Shapiro), also known as Renee Shapiro. She was last seen alive in 1992 at a Bob Dylan concert in Hawaii. A skull suspected to be hers was later found in a cave 12 years later.
Police believe Dylan was listed as ‘Girl in Woodland (Near Nevada County)’ on Naso’s list. There is an amazing fact about their name, they changed their name to Renee Shapiro out of admiration for Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan’s ex-wife’s name is Sara. After that she was known as Sarah Dillon. Shapiro followed Dylan around the country and abroad. The singer’s manager and security team were aware of this. Although her name was changed, her friends jokingly called her Sarah Saprio. No one knows if Naso knew this name. If so, this may be an alphabet murder like in Agatha Christie’s novel.
Shapiro was last seen on her way to a Dylan concert at San Francisco’s Warfield Theater in May 1992, and authorities believe she was dead.
With the help of her biological mother’s DNA, in 1998 police were able to match her DNA to a skull found in Nevada County. Dylan’s passport and driver’s license were found in a safe deposit box in Nassau’s Reno. Also on a piece of paper Naso had written ‘May 4th 1992 Monday Evening’. It was the date of one of Dylan’s two concerts at Warfield.
Many new names are emerging. Those are all cases with similar names that have been killed in California over the years.
South Lake Tahoe’s cold case files include the 1976 murder of 17-year-old Kathleen Keohane. Keohane’s body was found under the Truckee River Bridge. Her skull was crushed by something sharp. No suspects or motive have yet been identified in the case.
Mitchell disappeared from the American River Canyon in 1976. Searchers combed the area for weeks. Her decomposed body washed ashore not far from where she was last seen. Foul play was ruled out because the leads were short and there was no intent. But investigators admitted they may never know how Mitchell died.
25 Nov 1980 Saratoga Springs, 125 Church St. Apt.
When Shella Shepherd didn’t show up Monday at Worldwide Educational Services, where she was taking typing and clerical classes, a classmate went to her apartment to check on her. No one came to the door. According to them, around 10 am on Tuesday, her mother, aunt and uncle came to the apartment to find out what was wrong. Thinking the door was locked or trapped, the uncle used the fire escape to enter the upstairs unit. He learned from Shepherd’s brother that she hadn’t locked the window. So when they reached the bedroom, they found her murdered. She was found naked, bound, gagged and with a five-inch steak knife in her abdomen. She was tied with shoelaces and her neck was tied with a piece of terry cloth. Pathologists at the time determined she had not been sexually assaulted. Investigators believe she was strangled to death two days before she was found and stabbed after she died. Sheila Shepherd was 22 years old when her body was found. The woman was married at the time of her death but was separated at the time of her death. Her husband was initially seen as a suspect, but police said he lived in California and had a good alibi. Their daughter, a toddler, lived with relatives outside New York. Sheila Shepherd was 22 years old when her body was found. The woman was married at the time of her death but was separated at the time of her death. Her husband was initially seen as a suspect, but police said he lived in California and had a good alibi. Their daughter, a toddler, lived with relatives outside New York. Sheila Shepherd was 22 years old when her body was found. The woman was married at the time of her death but was separated at the time of her death. Her husband was initially seen as a suspect, but police said he lived in California and had a good alibi. Their daughter, a toddler, lived with relatives outside New York.
Saratoga Springs police have never tested DNA in the Shepherd case, and don’t yet know if investigators will be able to test any evidence collected 38 years ago in a lab.
Saratoga Springs pathologist Dr. The autopsy was performed by Jack Paston. Former Chief Forensic Pathologist of the New York State Police, Dr. Investigators later consulted with Michael Baden. She was stabbed after she died. No arrests were made in the days immediately following the murder or in the 38 years that followed.
Facts of the case
Naso was active mainly in Northern California. But he has also lived in Rochester, Reno, London, England, etc. Also traveled to unknown places while in the Air Force from 1953-1957. Where he went to spend his vacations is a fact that the authorities still doubt.
Authorities believe Joseph Naso killed at least 10 women, but only six have been identified. According to his own rape diary, he sexually assaulted more than 100 women.
All the deaths had some common characteristics. In all cases, the women were found strangled and dumped naked in the countryside. All of them had problems with either drugs or alcohol. Or it is reported that they were prostitutes. The most interesting similarity among the victims was their unique names. All four of the murdered women had alliterative initials meaning the first and last part of their name started with the same letter. This detail attracted the interest of the investigators, because a few years ago, Rochestel, who was born Naso, had committed another series of murders, and the victims had the same initials as the first and last names. The murders were called the Alphabet Murders.
Police are investigating; But we go further back. After the Alphabet Murders. After that we can come back to Nassau.
In the mid-seventies, in Rochester, three teenagers were murdered. All three of Naso’s alleged victims had first and last names that started with the same letter. One of them, Carmen Colon, even had the same name as one of Naso’s alleged victims. When Naso’s arrest became public, New York’s cold case detectives opened up their old files. But it became clear that while the names of the victims were similar, others did not match. Because the women involved in the Naso case were somewhat older and mostly prostitutes. In the original ‘Alphabet Murders’, the victims were young. Colon, Michelle Mensah, and Wanda Walkowicz were all between 10 and 12 years old. It seemed a coincidence that they were from the same area where Naso stayed for his Vikriyas and that he visited his relatives during the same period. Police ruled Naso out when DNA from the California murders did not match DNA left on Walkowicz.
The disappearance of the children was as follows.
The Alphabet Murders took place in Rochester, New York. It was founded in 1817 by the descendants of the Puritans in search of fertile farmland after the American Revolution. Rochester was named after Colonel Nathaniel Rochester. It is also known as ‘Flower City’ and ‘Flour City’ because of its seed and mill trade. It is also known as one of the snowiest cities in America with an annual snowfall of 89 inches.
On November 16, 1971, 10-year-old Carmen Colon went outside to collect her grandfather’s prescription from the chemist. Carmen was originally from Puerto Rico. Everyone remembers her as a bright smile and a very nice girl. Jack’s Pharmacy is on West Main Street, just two blocks from her home. She left at 4:20pm on an overcast, rainy Wednesday afternoon. When Carmen arrived, the chemist told her the prescription was not ready. According to the store clerk, he felt Carmen was in a hurry. ‘I want to go, I want to go’. She said that and hurried out the front door.
According to the witness, Carmen entered a car parked near the pharmacy. Carmen delayed returning home and her grandmother contacted the police at 7:50 p.m.
Sighted by motorists on Interstate 490 about 50 minutes after Carmen left the pharmacy; A child running away from a vehicle naked from the waist up; The person who followed dragged her into the vehicle and drove away before anyone could resist. At that point she was screaming and waving her arms and tried to get someone to stop her but no one did. The vehicle was described as a dark colored Ford Pinto hatchback.
A witness came forward and said they saw a little girl being grabbed by the driver and carried back to the car. The little boy matched Carmen’s description. But all these details were known later.
November 18, 1971. Two days later, two teenagers were riding their bikes near a gully near the village of Churchville. They found Carmen Colón’s partially naked body on a rarely traveled road near the Chilean border. She was last seen wearing a shirt with socks and sneakers. Churchville is about 12 miles from where Carmen was last seen alive. Her coat was found in a culvert 300 meters away from the body. Carmen’s pants were found 12 days later on November 30. Pants was near the service road where she was last seen running on the interstate.
An autopsy revealed that Carmen had been raped and suffered a fractured skull and vertebrae. All over her body were extensive scratches made by the killer’s fingernails. The cause of death was strangulation by someone who confronted her. No DNA profile obtained.
News of Carmen’s abduction and murder immediately sparked a media frenzy. The Rochester newspapers, “Times Union” and “Democrat & Chronicle,” offered a combined $2,500 ($15,000 in 2020 minimum) reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of Carmen’s killer. Investigators nabbed several suspects, but unfortunately, all of them were acquitted. The investigation dragged on. In 1972, five large billboards with Carmen’s image were placed around the Rochester Expressway. ‘Do you know who killed Carmen Colon?’ It had the title. Again this led to many hints from people, but none of them came to anything. The police may have thought that Carmen’s kidnapping and murder were an isolated incident.
After 17 months
On Monday, April 2, 1973, at 5 p.m., red-haired, 11-year-old Wanda Walkowicz disappeared from her East Side neighborhood in Rochester. Wanda is described as a tomboy. Her mother had sent her to Hillside Delicatessen to buy groceries for the evening meal. Wanda purchased $8.52 worth of groceries, including tuna fish, milk, cupcakes, and cat food. Wanda met some friends at Boss Delicatessen. A friend saw Wanda leaving the store. As Wanda’s friend exited the store, she walked slowly behind them, trying to carry what looked like a heavy grocery bag. Her friends did not wait for her because it was raining. They turned to see her struggling with her bag. They also saw a big brown car passing them slowly. When they turned around again, the car and Wanda were gone.
Joyce Walkovich called police at 8 p.m. to report Wanda missing. Around 50 police officers launched a massive search in the area. It covers several square miles, including the area around the Genesee River where Wanda loves to go and play. The next day at 10:15 p.m., a state police officer found her body in a dam. It was outside the Bay Bridge Rest Center in Webster. She was found on her sister Michelle’s 10th birthday. Wanda was found fully clothed on a hillside off State Route 104. It is about 7 1/2 miles from Rochester. The position of her body suggests that she was most likely thrown from a vehicle and washed ashore.
Wanda’s autopsy reveals she was strangled from behind. There were ligature marks on her neck, indicating she may have been strangled with a belt. Wanda had several defensive wounds. She was also raped and later straightened her clothes. Sperm was found along with pubic hair on her clothes and underwear. Her autopsy showed she had eaten a custard meal shortly before her death. A lot of white cat fur was found on her clothes. Walkowicz had a cat, but not a cat with white fur.
This time the reward for information leading to the kidnapping and murder of Wanda Walkovich was $10,000 (more than $58,000 in 2020). After news broke of Wanda’s disappearance and murder, witnesses came forward and reported seeing a child talking to the driver near the passenger door of a small brown vehicle. Another anonymous witness reported that a man with red hair matching Wanda’s description forced her into a light-colored Dodge Dart on Congee Avenue between 5:30 and 6 p.m. the day Wanda went missing.
When asked by reporters if there was any connection between the kidnappings/murders of Carmon and Wanda, police said they don’t think so at this time. The case was investigated but no lead was found and it also became a cold case.
7 months later
On Monday, November 26, 1973, 11-year-old Michelle Mensah from the Webster Crescent neighborhood was reported missing by her mother, Caroline. Michelle is described as a fat shy girl. Her mother had left her purse in a store. Michel was sent there to see if it could be recovered. But she didn’t come back. Michelle was last seen by some of her classmates around 3:20 p.m. She was walking by herself to Goodman Plaza, a local shopping plaza. She ran into her uncle in the parking lot of the shopping plaza, who offered to give her a ride home. The distance was short so she told him no and decided to walk home.
A witness claims he saw Michelle sitting in the passenger seat of a four-door beige or tan vehicle 10 minutes after speaking with her uncle. This vehicle was in an intersection and then took off at a high rate of speed down Ackerman Street before turning onto Weber Avenue. The witness said that the girl was crying.
According to police, at 5:30 p.m., a man stopped to help a driver with what appeared to be a flat tire (see elsewhere that there was an accident with a vehicle – perhaps a witness sitting in a vehicle may have felt the same way). The vehicle was parked on Route 350 in the town of Walworth. This man looked very scary and had grabbed the girl’s wrist. The man who came to help started walking towards the man and the child and the man started walking towards him in a threatening manner. The good Samaritan got back in the vehicle and drove off.
The description given by the witness helped the police to make a complete sketch of the body. He was described as a white male between 25 and 35 years old with black hair, about 6 feet tall and 165 pounds. He wore a blue or dark colored ski-type vest with jeans tucked into brown cowboy boots with side belt buckles. For several days there was a beard growth and long dirty fingernails. He also remembers that the man was standing with the number plate of the vehicle hidden. If it is still there, it is possible that the number plate is fake.
Michelle’s body was found on November 28 at 10.30 am. She was lying face down in a ditch by the side of a country road in the town of Macedon. Macedon is about 15 miles from Rochester. Her coat was found two yards from the road. Police speculate that Cote was found in the back seat of the killer’s vehicle after the body was dumped.
Michelle’s autopsy revealed that she was strangled from behind. There were ligature marks on her neck that looked like they came from some thin rope. Michelle also had blunt force trauma. After her death, she was raped and stripped. Sperm was found on her body and underwear. Michelle’s stomach contents indicated that she had eaten a hamburger with onions at least an hour before her death. White cat fur was also found on her clothing.
Another witness comes forward and says he saw Michelle and her killer at Carroll’s Restaurant in Penfield around 4:30 p.m.
Looking at the three cases together, there are some similarities. Each child comes from a poor Catholic family with only one parent. In Carmen’s case, she lived with her grandparents. Wanda lived with her mother and two younger sisters. Her father was dead. Michelle lived with her mother and older brother. His birthday was the day after she was kidnapped. that all three had few friends; They also reported experiencing bullying and problems related to poor academic performance. All three were teenagers who disappeared between 3:30 and 5:30 pm on a dark and rainy day. All their dead bodies were found in nearby areas. All three were raped and strangled shortly before their death. Each girl appears to have willingly left with her captor. This leads police to believe it could be someone posing as a police officer or fireman. If there is someone like that, the police think that he might have been taken into confidence because he has a uniform like that. The most striking similarity was that each of the girls had the same letter in their first names as their last names. Also, each was dumped in an area near a town that started with the same letter as their name. This leads police to believe it could be someone posing as a police officer or fireman. If there is someone like that, the police think that he might have been taken into confidence because he has a uniform like that. The most striking similarity was that each of the girls had the same letter in their first names as their last names. Also, each was dumped in an area near a town that started with the same letter as their name. This leads police to believe it could be someone posing as a police officer or fireman. If there is someone like that, the police think that he might have been taken into confidence because he has a uniform like that. The most striking similarity was that each of the girls had the same letter in their first names as their last names. Also, each was dumped in an area near a town that started with the same letter as their name.
Rochester State Police still have an open investigation into the murders of Carmen, Wanda and Michelle. No one has been charged till date. DNA testing is ongoing. Perhaps genealogical DNA evidence can be proven later through touching data bases.
There were too many suspects in all these cases. But no clear evidence was found. That’s how police blamed California’s Alphabet Murders on Naso alone. Only in 4 cases it was possible to establish any evidence. Everything else was just supporting evidence.
San Rafael, Calif. (Reuters)
Prosecutors have brought a Nebraska woman to testify in a murder trial against Nassau on charges of first-degree murder in the slayings of four prostitutes in the 1970s. A 76-year-old artist told a California court Tuesday that accused serial killer Joseph Naso raped her in a car half a century ago, which will help prosecutors prove that Naso had a long history of sexual assault.
The silver-haired woman, wearing dark glasses and bangs, appeared upset but remained unmoved when cross-examined in Marin County Superior Court about the 1961 incident. The woman who testified Tuesday was a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley in December 1961 when she met Naso at a bus stop. He offered to take her home. The next night, they met at the same bus stop and she again accepted a ride. She developed a headache and Naso forced her to take at least one pill, she said.
‘He forced his finger into my mouth’. The woman said that after taking the pill, she started seeing stars and asked Naso to take her home, but he drove in the wrong direction. When she tried to jump out of the car, he stopped her, his hand covering her mouth, nose and neck, she said. He took her to a field where her skirt was torn, the zipper was broken, and he raped her, she said.
“I used drugs. I was afraid for my life. ‘
“I didn’t know where I was. I was raped. I was afraid that he would kill me.
Naso finally took the woman home that night. A few days later, she reported the incident to the police, who arrested him. The district attorney declined to file charges. (It is seen in some notes that the police did not pay much attention to sexual assaults during that period.)
Tuesday, September 17, 2013, San Rafael, California
The panel deliberated for nearly four hours before reaching a decision on the penalty phase of the case. Closing arguments were heard from Naso.
Naso was found guilty of four counts of murder in the deaths of prostitutes – Roxanne Roggash, Carmen Colon, Pamela Parsons and Tracy Tafoya.
‘He was not the monster that killed these women,’ Naso told the jury.
A jury on Tuesday recommended the death penalty for Joseph Naso, a 79-year-old former photographer convicted of murdering four Northern California women spanning decades.
Although the jury recommended death, Naso was unlikely to be executed if the judge agreed with the panel. There are already 725 inmates on California’s death row, and executions have been on hold since 2006 when a federal judge ordered a review of California’s execution protocol. It also takes at least a year for prison officials to get a judge’s approval.
88-year-old Joseph Naso is now in limbo, and some of the relatives of his brutal victims wished Naso 110 years to live. He will soon face trial in two more cases. How many murders he actually committed is something only he knows.
There was evidence in Naso’s case that could have been saved if he had argued the case with a lawyer. Naso faced the case emotionally and by the time Naso realized that facts matter in court, the case was out of his hands. Legal experts believe that he dared to prosecute himself because of his arrogance and overconfidence, and if he had been a lawyer, he would have been able to give the court the benefit of the doubt by submitting several objections based on reports of DNA evidence.
Some believe that California’s stay of execution is meant to allow Naso to spend more time in prison, during which time he will change his mind and release evidence on the rest of his crimes. In any case, this birth he is unlikely to see the outside world in any way.
