The 2022 documentary “Worst Roommate Ever” highlighted the story of Dorothea Puente, who pleaded guilty to three homicides.
Puente, an American woman, was the mother of two daughters who have stayed out of the public eye.
Highlights
- Linda Bloom, one of Dorothea Puente’s daughters, discovered her birth mother’s identity in 1982, not knowing about her until then.
- She later met Dorothea in 1988, where they reconciled some aspects of their past, including Dorothea’s reasons for giving her up for adoption and her dubious claims about her occupation.
- Linda Bloom is a property manager and space planner in South Pasadena, working at 3780 Wiltern Center LLC since 2006.
Dorothea’s total number of homicides reached nine, though she was only convicted of three, with the jury deadlocked on the remaining six.
Season 1 of “Worst Roommate Ever” featured four cases: Puente, K.C. Joy, Youssef Khater, and Jamison Bachman.
Season 2 is scheduled to premiere on June 26, 2024.
Known as the “Death House Landlady,” Dorothea Puente, who was the sixth of seven children, died in prison from natural causes on March 27, 2011, at the age of 82.
Dorothea Puente’s Daughter, Linda Bloom, Didn’t Know About Her Until 1982!
Dorothea Puente had two daughters with her first husband, Fred McFaul, a soldier she married at 16 after fleeing a relative’s home.
The couple reportedly had two children between 1946 and 1948 but did not raise them.
Dorothea sent her elder daughter to live with relatives in Sacramento and placed her younger daughter, Linda Bloom, up for adoption.
Linda Bloom, Dorothea’s youngest daughter, is a property manager and space planner in South Pasadena.
Linda testified in court that Dorothea put her up for adoption when she was just three months old.
She was unaware of her birth mother, Dorothea Puente, until 1982 when she was expecting her child.
Later, Dorothea’s brother, James G. Gray, the oldest of six siblings, contacted Linda and provided her with details about her birth mother.
Linda recalled that Dorothea was warm and welcoming when they first started communicating.
Dorothea claimed to be a doctor in Sacramento, but Linda was skeptical, knowing it was unlikely true.
They finally met in August 1988 at Dorothea’s house on F Street when Linda visited while in Sacramento with her family.
During their meeting, Dorothea confessed that she loved Linda very much but gave her up for adoption due to a lack of resources. She also mentioned her troubled childhood.
Later, Linda learned more about the family history from the daughter of one of Dorothea’s brothers.
Although Dorothea had four husbands—Fred McFaul, Axel Bren Johansson, Roberto Jose Puente, and Pedro Montalvo—she had children only with her first husband, Fred.
Born Dorothea Helen Gray, she took the last name of her third husband, Roberto Jose Puente.
Linda Bloom is a Graduate of the University of Southern California
Linda Bloom, a property manager, has been working at 3780 Wiltern Center LLC since July 2006, nearly twenty years ago.
She worked at Carter Company Contractors and Developers from April 1982 until September 2003 for 21 years and 6 months.
Dorothea Puente may have looked every bit the placid old lady she played. But, in reality, she was in her early fifties and using her self-made status as a ‘pillar of the community’ to divert attention away… from what was buried and rotting in her garden. pic.twitter.com/kk45VMO0Wz
— RedHanded (@RedHandedthepod) February 9, 2023
Linda graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master’s in Business Administration in 1972. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Woodbury University in 1969.
Additional Information
- William Harder, who claims to be Dorothea Puente’s grandson, says he had a great relationship with her.
- Dorothea Puente lost her parents, Jesse James Gray and Trudie Mae Gray, as well as her older sister, in less than three years.
- Her father had been exposed to mustard gas during World War I. He returned with tuberculosis and severe depression, whereas her mother passed away in a motorcycle accident when she was 9.
