HBO is reportedly developing a true crime series about Dorothea Puente, the Sacramento boarding house owner whose case remains one of the city’s most infamous. The project is said to center on the killings linked to her F Street home in downtown Sacramento during the 1980s.
Puente was convicted of drugging, killing, and burying tenants in the backyard of her boarding house. After their deaths, she also collected their Social Security benefits.
What the new series is based on
According to Deadline, Oscar-winning actor Geena Davis will star in the series and executive produce it. A release date has not been announced, and HBO has not shared additional details publicly.
The case drew national attention in November 1988, when police found seven bodies buried in Puente’s backyard. Officers later tracked her down in Los Angeles, where she was arrested.
| Key Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Main setting | Boarding house on F Street in downtown Sacramento |
| Crime | Drugging, killing, and burying tenants |
| Discovery | Seven bodies found in the backyard in November 1988 |
| Lead actor | Geena Davis |
| Status | No release date announced |
How the case ended
On Nov. 18, 1988, KCRA 3 chartered a jet with reporter Mike Boyd to Los Angeles. Authorities then used that same chartered jet to bring Puente back to Sacramento, where Boyd conducted an exclusive interview with the serial killer.
Boyd was allowed to ask only a short set of questions and was not permitted to bring up the case. Puente was later sentenced to life in prison and died in 2011 of natural causes at age 82.
Puente’s story has been revisited before in Netflix’s Worst Roommate Ever and on Very Local’s Hometown Tragedy. KCRA 3 said it reached out to HBO for more information about the new series.
