Alphabet Murders

Between 1977 and 1994, a serial killer murdered four women in California. As the first and last name of each victim began with the same letter of the alphabet, the press dubbed the murderer the Alphabet Killer. The police believe the victims, Roxene Roggasch (18), Carmen Colon (22), Pamela Parson (38), and Tracy Tafoya (31), were prostitutes. 

In April 2011, police arrested a 77-year-old named Joseph Naso in Reno, Nevada and charged him with murdering all four women. Naso resided in Rochester during the early 1970s. 

 Naso’s trial began on June 18, 2013, and after conviction on August 20, 2013, the judge formally sentenced him to death on November 22, 2013. He is currently on death row at San Quentin Prison.

Because of the similarities in the cases, Rochester police considered Naso a person of interest in the deaths of the Rochester victims until tests showed his DNA did not match the semen samples recovered from the body of Wanda Walkowicz. Naso said his victims having double initials was pure coincidence.