{"id":7651,"date":"2026-06-21T18:31:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T18:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/21\/these-murder-cases-shocked-sacramento-county-where-are-convicted-killers-now\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T18:31:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T18:31:55","slug":"these-murder-cases-shocked-sacramento-county-where-are-convicted-killers-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/21\/these-murder-cases-shocked-sacramento-county-where-are-convicted-killers-now\/","title":{"rendered":"These murder cases shocked Sacramento County. Where are convicted killers now?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From a landlady who poisoned her tenants to a serial killer who drank the blood of his victims, Sacramento County has seen its share of high-profile crimes over the past 40 years.<\/p>\n

Read more The DOJ is investigating Gavin Newsom and his wife. Here\u2019s what to know<\/a><\/p>\n

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Notable cases range from deaths tied to the Unabomber and the Golden State Killer to the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard.<\/p>\n

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Although some of the people convicted of those crimes died behind bars, others remain incarcerated in state prisons across California.<\/p>\n

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Where are the inmates connected to famous Sacramento County cases now?<\/p>\n

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The Sacramento Bee checked state correctional records to find out:<\/p>\n

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Who was the Vampire of Sacramento?<\/h2>\n

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Serial killer Richard Chase gained his gruesome nickname \u2014 the Vampire of Sacramento \u2014 after killing six people in the Sacramento area pver a one-month period in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n

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In addition to raping and mutilating his victims\u2019 corpses, Chase drank their blood.<\/p>\n

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In 1979, a jury convicted Chase, then 28, of murdering six people, including a pregnant woman and two children<\/u>, The Washington Post reported.<\/p>\n

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Chase received the death sentence.<\/p>\n

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While incarcerated in what was then known as San Quentin State Prison, Chase died by suicide in 1980.<\/p>\n

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Couple convicted of \u2018sex slave\u2019 murders<\/h2>\n

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A Sacramento couple were nicknamed the \u201cSex Slave Killers\u201d after participating in a two-year, cross-state crime spree that resulted in the deaths of nine women and one man.<\/p>\n

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Charlene Williams, then 24, lured women into cars so her 32-year-old husband, Gerald Gallego, could rape and kill them<\/u>., SFGate reported.<\/p>\n

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Gallego and Williams were captured in 1980, and Williams testified against her husband to receive a lesser sentence.<\/p>\n

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Gallego was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping, and sentenced to death. He also received two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

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In 1997, Williams was released from a Nevada prison at age 41 after serving 17 years behind bars.<\/p>\n

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Gallego, 56, died of cancer in prison<\/u> in 2002, SFGate reported.<\/p>\n

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What happened to the Unabomber?<\/h2>\n

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Known as the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski carried out a 17-year mail bombing campaign across the country starting in 1978.<\/p>\n

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His bombs killed three men \u2014 including two Sacramento residents \u2014 and injured almost two dozen people.<\/p>\n

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Kaczynski, then 53, was arrested in 1996. Investigators found bomb materials and a live bomb in his remote Montana cabin, along with 40,000 journal pages detailing his crimes.<\/p>\n

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Kaczynski pled guilty to all federal charges in 1998, and was sentenced to four consecutive life terms plus 30 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n

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The 81-year-old died by suicide<\/u> at a North Carolina prison in 2023 after being diagnosed with cancer, NBC News reported.<\/p>\n

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How many people did Golden State Killer murder?<\/h2>\n

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Serial killer James DeAngelo murdered more than a dozen people and participated in dozens of rapes, burglaries and attempted murders involving at least 62 victims between 1974 and 1986 in 11 California counties.<\/p>\n

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The crimes were traced back to the so-called Golden State Killer in 2018 after authorities discovered DNA left behind<\/u> at the crime scene was similar to one of his relatives\u2019 genetic material, The Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n

Read more Natomas residents decry lack of public hearings on Upper Westside plan | Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

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DeAngelo, then 72, was arrested in Citrus Heights in 2018.<\/p>\n

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Two years later, the former police officer pled guilty to 13 murders and 13 kidnappings, and received multiple consecutive life sentences.<\/p>\n

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DeAngelo, 80, was incarcerated in California as of Thursday, June 18, according to inmate records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

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However, state records listed the name of the prison as \u201cnot disclosable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sacramento boardinghouse was hunting grounds for killer<\/h2>\n

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In the 1980s, Dorothea Puente murdered homeless people staying at her downtown Sacramento boardinghouse and buried their bodies in her backyard, The Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n

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Puentes, then 59, was arrested in 1988 after police questioned her about the disappearance of a man that was staying at the home and found seven bodies buried in her backyard.<\/p>\n

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Investigators later accused Puente of lethally poisoning her victims<\/u> in order to cash their Society Security checks, Sactown Magazine said<\/p>\n

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Puente was tried on nine counts of first-degree murder in 1993, but convicted of three killings after the other cases ended in mistrial.<\/p>\n

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The 82-year-old woman died in prison in 2011.<\/p>\n

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Who kidnapped Jaycee Dugard?<\/h2>\n

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In 1991, Phillip and Nancy Garrido kidnapped 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard from a South Lake Tahoe street, The Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n

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Over an 18-year period, the married couple kept Dugard captive in a backyard compound in Antioch. Phillip Garrido repeatedly raped her and fathered two daughters with her.<\/p>\n

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Dugard was rescued in 2009.<\/p>\n

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Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison for kidnapping and rape, while his wife received 36 years to life.<\/p>\n

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As of Thursday, Nancy Garrido, 70, was serving her sentence at the California Institution for Women in Chino, according to state records.<\/p>\n

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Phillip Garrido, 75, was behind bars at an undisclosed California state prison, records show.<\/p>\n

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How many people died in Good Guys hostage crisis?<\/h2>\n

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In 1991, four Vietnamese refugees held about 40 people hostage at a Good Guys electronics store in south Sacramento, The Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n

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A Sacramento County Sheriff\u2019s Department sniper shot at one of the hostage takers and missed, the situation turned chaotic.<\/p>\n

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The crisis ended with the death of three hostages, and three of the men holding them prisoner.<\/p>\n

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Long Khac Nguyen and Pham Khac Nguyen and Cuong Tran were killed, while a fourth hostage taker, Loi Khac Nguyen, was injured.<\/p>\n

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In 1995, Loi received 49 consecutive life sentences.<\/p>\n

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As of Thursday, the 59-year-old was incarcerated at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad.<\/p>\n

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Man killed his children in Sacramento church<\/h2>\n

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In 2022, David Mora fatally shot his three daughters during a court-ordered family visit at The Church in Sacramento, as well as a 59-year-old man who was chaperoning the supervised visit.<\/p>\n

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Mora, 39, then died by suicide.<\/p>\n

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