A new Oxygen documentary revisits the crimes of Joseph Naso and features a fellow death-row inmate's claim that the convicted killer confessed to murdering 26 women, a claim that has prompted renewed scrutiny of unsolved cases in California.
Naso, a former photographer who was convicted in 2013 of four murders and sentenced to death, is at the center of "Death Row Confidential: Secrets of a Serial Killer," which premieres Sept. 13. The series includes interviews with William Noguera, a fellow inmate who said he spent more than a decade building trust with Naso at San Quentin State Prison and documented what he described as extensive confessions and clues.
Noguera, who is also on death row for a 1983 murder, told producers that Naso admitted to killing many more women than those for which he was convicted. "He's guilty of more than anyone knows," Noguera says in a preview of the series. Noguera said he compiled a roughly 300-page dossier that includes cryptic clues, locations and partial confessions, and that he turned those materials over to retired FBI task force investigator Ken Mains, who has taken on the work pro bono.
According to Noguera, Naso at one point wrote a statement describing how he purportedly lured a woman who had answered a modeling ad, drove her across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and dumped her body nearby — a description that investigators say matches the disappearance of Berkeley resident Lynn Ruth Connes in the 1970s. Noguera also said items found during a search of Naso's home included a coin collection with 26 gold heads that, he claimed, represented trophies taken from victims.
Naso was convicted of murdering Roxene Roggasch in 1977, Carmen Colon in 1978, Pamela Parsons in 1993 and Tracy Tafoya in 1994. Prosecutors during the 2013 trial pointed to photographs appearing to show dead women among Naso's belongings and what they described as a "hit list" containing ten cryptic descriptions of female victims. Jurors returned a death sentence after finding him guilty of the four killings.
During the time Noguera said he spent with Naso, he persuaded Naso to put some admissions in writing by offering the prospect of a transfer that might allow him contact with his sons. Noguera told producers he recorded and wrote down conversations and later worked with Mains to try to match details from those documents to cold cases. Mains told the documentary team that the material has yielded investigative leads that warrant re-examination by law enforcement.
Investigators and advocates say linking confessions from inside prison to unsolved cases is complex and requires corroboration. Naso never publicly named additional victims during his trial, and some earlier probes had investigated and discounted his connection to other notorious sets of murders. For example, authorities previously examined Naso in relation to the 1970s "Alphabet Murders" of three children in Rochester, New York, but said DNA excluded him as a suspect in those child killings.
The new claims described in the documentary have prompted law enforcement agencies across California and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to re-examine unsolved homicides and missing-person reports that might fit patterns or details Noguera attributes to Naso. Investigators have said they will treat new tips and documentary material as potential leads while emphasizing the need for physical evidence or corroborating records before adding charges in cold cases.
Naso's case has long drawn attention because of his double life: he worked as a photographer, coached Little League and raised a family while authorities say he carried out violent crimes over decades. Court records and media reporting from his 2013 prosecution referenced a diary that allegedly contained accounts of more than 100 sexual assaults dating to the 1950s, some involving underage victims.
Family members of long-unsolved cases have received fresh attention as retired investigators and Noguera attempt to match the dossier's clues to missing-persons files and evidence that remain in police archives. Noguera has said that his primary motivation has been to provide closure to victims' relatives. "But now they know what really happened to her," he told one outlet, referring to a case he said matches details collected from Naso.
Officials caution that inmate-sourced confessions can be unreliable, and public agencies generally require verifiable links before reopening or attributing crimes. Mains, who has worked on cold-case investigations previously, told documentary producers that he believes combining investigative experience with material gathered inside prisons can produce leads worth following.
Oxygen's "Death Row Confidential: Secrets of a Serial Killer" presents interviews and material from Noguera, Mains and other participants; its premiere may prompt more tips and inquiries from viewers, retired investigators and families. Law enforcement agencies contacted for comment outside the documentary have said they will review credible new information in keeping with standard investigative practice. Naso has maintained his innocence in media interviews since his conviction; the claims outlined in the documentary have not been independently verified by court findings linking him to 26 murders.
As authorities and retired investigators revisit files, the documentary underscores the challenges of resolving decades-old violent crimes and the continuing demand from victims' families for answers. The series frames Noguera's allegations and Mains's subsequent efforts as part of a broader attempt to revisit and, where possible, close cold cases that may be connected to Naso's decades-long criminal history.