Joseph Naso, a death row inmate convicted of four Northern California murders, allegedly told a fellow prisoner he was responsible for 26 killings, according to a preview of an upcoming Oxygen documentary.
William Noguera, a former death row inmate who says he spent a decade speaking with Naso at San Quentin State Prison, told filmmakers that Naso described additional victims beyond the four for which he was convicted. Noguera said he compiled more than 300 pages of notes from conversations with Naso and turned them over to retired FBI investigator and cold-case detective Ken Mains, who is now examining potential links to unsolved cases.
Naso, 91, was found guilty in 2013 of the murders of Roxene Roggasch, 18, in 1977; Carmen Colon, 22, in 1978; Pamela Parsons, 38, in 1993; and Tracy Tafoya, 31, in 1994. Prosecutors said the four women, all of whom had worked as prostitutes, were strangled and left in rural areas of Northern California. Authorities dubbed him the "alphabet" or "double initial killer" because the victims' first and last names shared initials.
Noguera told documentary filmmakers that Naso admitted to photographing the posed bodies and to episodes of necrophilia. According to Noguera, a note recovered from Naso's Reno, Nevada, home listing 10 names had been interpreted by investigators as a tally of victims; Naso allegedly told Noguera those were his "top 10," and that he had killed 26 women. Noguera also described a coin collection found in Naso's home that he said contained 26 coins representing "trophies" for each murder.
Mains, who has reviewed Noguera's material, said in the documentary preview that he had not seen anything like the records and believes the notes merit further investigation. "Our two minds, cop and convict, working together. I know that I can solve unsolved murders. Let's get them," Mains said in the clip.
Naso lived for decades in Reno and worked as a photographer and youth baseball coach while raising two children. His arrest followed a 2010 probation check at his home in which an officer found photographs of women who appeared dead or unconscious, mannequin parts and lingerie. Investigators subsequently recovered a journal in which Naso detailed stalking and sexual assaults dating back to the 1950s, according to court records and interviews cited in the documentary preview.
Authorities briefly investigated whether Naso could be linked to a series of child deaths in Rochester, New York, where he once lived; those victims were girls between 10 and 12 whose names also fit a double-initial pattern. Investigators later said DNA and journal entries did not connect Naso to the Rochester cases, and he was not charged in those deaths.
Naso represented himself at trial and was sentenced to death for the four confirmed murders. He neither confessed in court nor explained his motives, according to court transcripts. In interviews excerpted in advance publicity for the documentary, Noguera and Mains describe Naso recounting a troubled childhood, including alleged abuse and early sexual behavior, as part of what Naso purportedly told Noguera about the origins of his crimes.
Noguera was convicted of a 1983 murder and spent nearly four decades on death row before his sentence was reversed in 2022; he was released last month. He said he had been assigned to work with elderly inmates and developed a relationship with Naso over approximately 10 years. Noguera said he gave his notes to Mains after concluding they could help solve unresolved cases.
The documentary, Death Row Confidential: Secrets of a Serial Killer, is scheduled to air Sept. 13. In previews, detectives and former inmates say they hope the material will prompt new examinations of cold cases, including several unsolved killings from the 1970s and 1980s that investigators have at times considered possibly linked to Naso. One case mentioned in promotional material is the 1976 disappearance and death of Lynn Ruth Connes, 20, who vanished from Berkeley.
Authorities have not announced new charges tied to Noguera's claims. Mains told filmmakers he intended to pursue leads and review Noguera's documentation with law enforcement. Naso remains on death row, and prosecutors and cold-case investigators continue to examine evidence in unsolved cases to determine whether they can be linked to him.