Want to get spooky? Try this bar crawl named after Sacramento serial killer Dorothea Puente
Sacramento locals and thrill-seekers can channel the city’s eerie history this Halloween weekend with a bar crawl named after Dorothea Puente, the infamous landlady-turned-killer.
The bar crawl is yet another quirky addition to the legacy of Puente, who drugged and murdered as many as nine victims while operating a Sacramento boarding house during the 1980s. Puente was convicted of killing three residents and died in prison in 2011.
Today, a copy of her recipe for garbanzo bean salad and the bar crawl are framed on the wall of Puente’s former home at 1426 F St. Owners Barbara Holmes and Tom Williams bought the two-story Victorian home in 2010 and have since leaned into the home’s gruesome history.
In 2015, filmmaker Nicholas Coles compiled the bar crawl list while researching for his documentary “The House Is Innocent.” The list features 10 locations, many of which have ties to Puente — a renowned barfly during her time in Sacramento. Puente was arrested in 1988 in Los Angeles after a patron recognized her sitting in a bar.
The bar crawl’s origins go back decades, with Coles saying he took inspiration from a 1994 document put together by some of the jurors on Puente’s case. The document, shared with The Sacramento Bee, centers around a three-day reunion for jurors in Nov. 1994, nearly one year after they reached a verdict on Puente’s case. The gathering took place in Sacramento and featured a number of stops including the Sacramento Superior Court, Sutter Memorial Hospital, Talk of the Town hair salon and Henry’s Bar.
The reunion was an attempt by the jurors to come “back to reality,” said Peter Vlautin, one of Puente’s court-appointed lawyers who attended a dinner with the jurors during their reunion. The group had grown close over the months working on the case.
“People who didn’t know each other were put together, and for nine months, they were working day in and day out deciding life and death issues,” Vlautin said. “It’s quite a position we put these jurors in.”
The trial was particularly difficult for the jurors as it was moved to Monterey, 200 miles from Sacramento, after concerns that widespread publicity in Puente’s home county would prevent her from receiving a fair trial. Once there, it lasted months and included hundreds of witnesses. The jurors went on to deliberate for 24 days, the longest jury deliberation in California history at that time.
“The jurors had been through nine months of trauma,” Vlautin said.
Eleven of the twelve jurors involved in the case could not be reached for comment. One former juror, Earl Jimerson, said he did not attend the reunion.
The Dorothea Puente Bar Crawl, as collected by Nicholas Coles
Dorothea Puente was a renowned barfly. She frequented the bars near her house and in Downtown. She was known to shout rounds of drinks and solicit for new tenants in these drinking establishments. Many of these bars have barely changed since her time. Chances are if you went out for a drink in Downtown Sacramento in the last ‘80s, you probably had a drink with her. In fact, one of the signs of being a true Sacramentan is if you’ve shared a drink with Dorothea Puente!
Dorothea’s drink of choice: Vodka and Grapefruit Juice
Henry’s Lounge
1117 9th St., Sacramento, CA 95818
According to long time bartender Marjorie Harper, Dorothea would always take the same seat at the bar — second from the end.
Round Corner Tavern
2333 S St., Sacramento, CA 95816
Dorothea Puente actually ran the kitchen in this bar for a period of time in 1982 with business partner Ruth Monroe (who provided the capital). Ruth moved in with Dorothea at 1426 F Street and within two weeks fell ill and died. It would not be until 1988 that Dorothea would be charged with her murder.
Zebra Club
1900 P St., Sacramento, CA 95811
This is the bar where Dorothea befriended and drugged then 74-year-old Malcolm McKenzie in 1982. Dorothea escorted the “sick feeling” McKenzie home and robbed him blind. She was eventually arrested and found guilty of this crime (along with two other similar incidents) and spent five years in jail.
Joe’s Corner Bar (Now Sandra Dee’s)
601 15th St., Sacramento, CA 95814
Around the corner from her house, Dorothea would cash her tenant’s social security checks at this establishment. She’d also establish tabs for her tenants so they could drink there with her.
Torch Club
904 15th St., Sacramento, CA 95814
Dorothea would frequent this bar where she’d mix with politicians, businessmen, journalists and working class folk. (Just don’t mention her name at this bar — they’ll kick you out!).
Other bars she was known to visit:
Flame Club
2130 16th St., Sacramento, CA 95818
Press Club
1809 Capitol Ave., Sacramento, CA 95811
Old Ironsides
1901 10th St., Sacramento, CA 95811
Monte Carlo Bar
3514 W 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90020
This is the bar where Dorothea befriend an elderly gentleman, Chuck Willgues, while on the run in Los Angeles (and boy did she move fast — not only finding out how much social security he received, but also hinting, not subtly, that they should move in together even before they had one date!). Chuck would later recognize Dorothea on the television news and contact the police. His one request before they arrested her: He wanted to go on that first date!
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
