Sacramento Area Local News

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― Fascination with serial killers like Charles Manson is driving a market that some call sick and twisted -- a place where buying and selling serial killer merchandise is all the rage.

There are hundreds of auctions taking place on the internet for things like serial killer trading cards and merchandise from a little old lady in Sacramento.

"I think people just couldn't fathom that this little old lady could kill seven people and bury them in her yard as though she was putting in geraniums," said John Cabera.

Dorothea Montalvo Puente wasn't planting flowers, but burying bodies. Seven victims were found in the yard surrounding the old Victorian house on F Street, a yard that has since been paved over.

The dead were tenants Puente had taken into her downtown Sacramento boarding house. She poisoned them, and then buried them in order to steal their social security checks.

John Cabrera was the seasoned detective on the Puente case, and the retired sergeant not only helped solve it, but actually dug up some of the bodies. "I kept pulling on what I thought was a root… all of a sudden it broke loose and there I sat with my back in the hole holding up a leg bone," he said.

It wouldn't take long for the story of the little-old-lady-turned-serial-killer to hit the global stage. It's a case few have forgotten.

Not too long after Puente was convicted, twisted fascination with the story turned to people trying to make a profit.

"All kinds of different things where you can buy t-shirts, sweatshirts," Cabrera said.

The t-shirts had a picture of Puente with the words, "Room for Rent." There was also a fake menu featuring made-up items like "head cheese, elbow macaroni" and "kidney pie."

Those are just sick snapshots of the bigger picture, what some call "murderabilia," profiting off the deeds of a serial killer.

Several websites try to make a killing off the stuff. We found one with serial killer merchandise for sale, with hundreds of auctions urging customers to bid. "As long as there's a market, you're going to find people profiting off things like this," Cabrera said.

You can find things like original artwork from killer John Wayne Gacey for $300, or a lock of Charles Manson's hair for $850. There are also more modestly priced letters from serial killers.

We found one supposedly written by Dorothea Puente. In preparing this story, we bid on the letter to take a closer look at it, and our $10 bid won the item.

Once the website figured out we were a TV station, we were told we couldn't buy the item.

"That doesn't surprise me," Cabrera said. "Obviously, they don't want to draw any major attention to whatever they're trying to do."

But Tod Bohannon has no problem with attention. He's the founder of MurderAuction.com, one of the largest private collection sites in the country of what he calls "serial killer artifacts."

"Arthur Shawcross did this," Bohannon said, holding a portrait of a woman. "He's the Genessee River Killer from New York. He killed about 12 prostitutes."

"It's not much different than me collection comic books or World War Two memorabilia," he added.

So what motivates someone to buy one of these items?

"When you own a piece of this memorabilia, or a trading card or something they've actually touched… that's like owning a pair of shoes from Michael Jordan," Cabrera said.

And just like Mike, serial killers have their very own trading cards, including the little old lady from Sacramento.

For the people who live today at the old Puente house, it's tough not to pay attention to its history. We asked them what they think about people coming by the house to look at the famous site.

"It happens a lot," Terry Hayner said. "You just have to get used to it, I guess."

Terry is not only used to it, she even owns some Puente murderabilia. "She was also a cook," she said, holding a Puente cookbook. "She has this potato soup that's pretty good."

Better than pretty good was the new item of Puente memorabilia she picked up after our interview: A picture with John Cabrera, the man who cracked the case.

"It still fascinates a lot of people," Cabrera said. "It always has and it always will."

Congress is thinking about trying to make it harder for "murderabilia" to hit the market. There's a proposal that would make it a felony for inmates to mail items for interstate commerce, but there would be no penalty for those who buy and sell the stuff.

There is also a law in California that prevents inmates from profiting off of their crimes called the "Son of Sam" law. However, not every state has similar laws.

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