All language subtitles for Death Row Confidential - Secrets of a Serial Killer S01E03

Okay, Bill.

It's unbelievable.

Hey, good job and stay safe.

All right, bye.

So Bill got a confession from NASO for
the murder of the girl

from Berkeley.

Most serial killers, you know, once
they're caught, held accountable,

provide more information.

But Joseph NASO?

No, he hasn't talked.

Right now, are you ready to admit
anything?

No. Over the years, I've talked to him
about taking credit for what he had

done. I'm not going to admit any killing
or any crime.

Did you do it? No.

If he has that personality trait that he
likes attention, that he likes being the

star, come on, Joe.

Tell the truth.

Take credit.

I'd love to hear that.

Seriously.

Seriously.

Seriously.

I'd love to see it.

A confession letter?

That Joe wrote?

Is this in Joe's handwriting?

That is Joe's handwriting.

I've never heard him confess the same.

That's surprising.

It's a bombshell. I mean, it's
everything that I want.

Holy.

Oh, my God, I got chills.

Damn. You guys do good work.

He just called me out of the blue.

So, wait, how did this happen?

So, apparently...

Bill used a ruse. He lied to me.

Back in 2020, before I even met Bill, he
was getting a lot of attention for

painting that he was doing from Death
Row in San Quentin.

His art was selling all over the world.
He was having magazines write about him.

Bill used that spotlight to convince Joe
that he knew powerful people, including

the governor.

And he said, hey,

You give up one of your crimes to law
enforcement, they are more apt to let

you out of jail, out of prison.

And he fell for it.

Joe Naso has always considered himself
the smartest guy in whatever room he is

in. But he got outsmarted by his
so-called friend on death row in San

Quentin.

I mean, to get a serial killer's
confession,

Signed in death row at San Quentin.

That's big.

For years, Bill sat on this confession.

He kept it safe in his cell.

I didn't even know about it until Bill
started to trust me.

And with the help of Bill's attorneys, I
was actually able to get a physical copy

of the confession.

And it was a bombshell.

The girl from Berkeley.

It was sometime in the late 1960s up to
the mid-70s that I saw a girl's ad to

model in the Berkeley Barb tabloid.

I called her, and we made a date to meet
in downtown Burke.

She said she would ride a bike to a
certain location at a certain time.

After she changed her bike, I drove her
to my home in Oakland.

I would be at home alone at that time of
day.

Once inside, we talked a bit to get
acquainted.

She was nice-looking with long brown
hair and seemed to have a good figure,

I'd guess about 5'4 and 120 pounds.

I didn't plan on dating her.

so I did not concentrate on her name,
and I don't recall it.

He said she did nude modeling, but I
said I was only interested in no more

than topless portraits.

We agreed on a fee.

I had her lay on her back on my sofa for
some topless shots.

During this session, I choked her to
death.

No violence, no sex, just a quick death.

I put her in a trash bag and into my car
trunk.

Late that night, I drove over the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and in the

low rail section, I stopped and quickly
put the bag over into the bay.

To this day, I have always felt much
regret and sorrow for this terrible act.

I would thank the Berkeley PD.

but have a record of a missing girl back
then who made a date to ride her bike up

to meet someone and vanished.

What does it feel like reading that out
loud?

Reading it out loud is very chilling.

The idea that...

somebody would ever read this and think,
oh, great, let's let him out into the

world. It's so preposterous. It just
also shows how insane he is.

When somebody's lying or giving a false
confession, they won't give minute

details.

So I feel that this is a legitimate
confession for the girl from Berkeley.

I got the confession over to Berkeley
PD, and I didn't hear anything for

months while they vetted it.

And then one day out of the blue, I got
word it was a big break.

So Berkeley PD contacted the FBI.

And I received a phone call from the
FBI.

And it was a girl named Lynn Ruth Conn.

And the FBI agent said, my head's spent.

Everything in that confession letter
matched up to the missing person report,

detail for detail.

Joe says she took her bike and she
chained the bike up. And that's in the

police report.

But the big detail for me was Lynn Ruth
Connis met a photographer when

she placed an ad in the Berkeley Bar.

All that matches up.

It's a confession letter that Joe told
Bill.

I think this confession just slammed the
door shut for the FBI.

I had the FBI contact me to see if I
could help them with a cold case.

And I said, well, what's in it for me?

She said, well, what do you like in it?

In this case, Jonas is never getting out
of prison.

But there is no expiration date on
justice.

Just because he's in jail for four
murders, that doesn't matter.

He needs to be held responsible for
every single one.

Having the FBI involved, it's a big
deal.

This confession letter, it's riling a
lot of people up, it seems.

But there's one person in this world who
deserves that confession letter more

than anybody.

And that's where I'm heading right now.

Thanks for meeting with me. Absolutely.

I'm here because I believe without any
doubt that I've

solved the mystery of what happened to
your sister.

A written confession is rare. And
believe me, there's a lot of people that

want a copy of that letter. But there's
one person who is the most important in

this particular case.

And that was Lee Connors.

Lynn Ruth's brother.

And he allowed me to come visit him to
share what I had with him.

Can you tell me a little bit about, you
know, who your sister was?

Absolutely, yeah.

This is a video that a friend of hers
sent me of Lynn and her when they were

15 years old or so.

That's Lynn hanging from the tree.

There's a place where she comes right up
to the camera, which I really like.

Lynn was a very loving person.

She was definitely the cooler older
sister.

I looked up to her. I wanted to be like
her.

She was an aspiring artist.

She was very talented. Things would just
flow from her.

This thing, this is her drawing of her
life.

She just puts such detail in things.

She wanted to go out to California
because she felt like there was not much

opportunities, especially in North
Carolina at the time.

But then that was it.

She was gone without a trace.

We just loved her so much, and we missed
her so much.

Just didn't understand what was going
on, you know?

Well, I believe without any doubt that I
solved the mystery of what happened to

your sister 49 years ago.

And she was taken from this earth by an
incredible monster named Joe Natho, an

informant. A guy that was in San Quentin
prison with Joe Natho. He sent me a

confession letter.

Because of your sister.

I have the confession letter with me.
It's up to you whether you want to read

it or not. I do.

You know, my mother always said, and I
want to say as well, you know, no matter

what happened, no matter what, how bad,
how good, whatever, I want to know what

happened. Just take care of this right
now.

Go ahead and take your time.

He says no violence.

In the sentence before that, he says,
during this session, I choked her to

death.

No violence.

That's not violent. Right. I thought the
same thing.

He has always felt much regret and
sorrow for this terrible act, be it he's

done it to several other ladies.

Yes.

What do you feel about it?

Things have lined up.

That never did seem to before.

I do kind of feel like he's responsible
for whatever happened to her.

Yeah.

My father kind of accepted the fact
right off the bat that something bad had

happened. But my mother, you know, would
never admit that this was something that

was put in the newspaper.

It's titled, A Mother's Plaintiff Plea
to Daughter.

It has been a year since I last heard
your voice on Mother's Day.

Lee and I came across the country in
August to try and help Berkeley Police

Homicide Inspector Dan Wolke, but
nothing.

I feel so guilty.

I never gave you enough time or money to
help you.

I know you were trying to make us
believe in you, and we love you so.

Please come back.

Ever since Lee and I have been
paralyzed, nothing is as important

anymore. Please come back. Your room is
waiting.

Although you don't have to stay for
long, we just want to know you're okay.

I appreciate you reading that to me.

Thank you so much for what you brought
and shown me.

I'm pretty confident that that's what
happened to her.

Hey, Bill, how are you?

You look good, man.

Well, thanks. I was going to say that I
looked old, but then I saw you and I was

like, I didn't feel so bad.

This is what I'm saying.

Hey, so I just pulled over right here
along the road. Okay.

Because I wanted to get back to you very
quickly and let you know how things are

developing. Okay. I turned the
confession letter over to Berkeley PD

and the FBI.

This page...

is growing legs on it. Really?

There's multiple law enforcement
agencies who are now getting involved

because of our investigation and because
of what you provided me.

Well, that's really good news.

You know, after more than 10 years doing
this, I never expected this to turn out

as positive as it has.

So I'm glad you called because I have
some news as well regarding my sentence

that was reduced.

Nerves racking. I'm shaking because this
is something I never expected.

You know, after 42 years in prison,
because of what the judge did in

lowering my sentence, now the California
Department of Corrections Parole Board

has granted me a parole hearing next
week.

Holy... Wow.

If they find me suitable, I will be
granted parole.

Wow, that is huge news.

It is. You know, after so many years, I
never thought...

that this opportunity would come up, and
now it has.

Now I will be judged upon my
rehabilitation and the person I am today

rather than the boy I was when I was 18
years old.

There's a lot of emotions going through
me right now, Ken.

To be honest with you, I'm kind of
speechless. I don't know how to feel

either. I mean, you've helped me
tremendously with these cases.

I'm just very happy for you because I
know that you were not the person you

were when you were 18.

I say judge you now, not judge you then.

And I really appreciate you, okay? And
stay safe and good luck with your parole

hearing. Yeah, I hope you'll be one of
the first people I call to let know what

happened. Okay, Bill. Okay, take care. I

want Bill to

get out.

And we're not just talking personally,
professionally as well.

I mean, between the original
investigation and Bill and I's work,

we've been able to tie Joe Naso to 10
murders, well on the way to the 26 that

he has claimed.

These murders span decades, from his
first kill in 1965 to number 9 and 10 on

his list that happened in the 1990s.

But no matter how many women Joe killed,
he never let it get in the way of being

what he thought was a good father,
always trying to show up for his two

sons, Charlie and David.

In fact, Joe and Charlie, his older son,
lived together, just the two of them,

for years.

And as I've continued digging through
the Yuba County police files, the ones

from the original investigation,

I'm seeing mention after mention of one
person.

Charlie Nathan.

Charlie and Joe spent time doing father
and son things that normal father and

son things shouldn't be.

Joe kept a log of, you know, taking
Charlie to courthouses in the Reno area,

down to how much he paid for those
visits.

Three very interesting things came out
of police interviews after Joe was

arrested in 2011.

Charlie told police that his dad got him
a prostitute.

And when she got belligerent, dad took
care of her.

Charlie also told police that during one
of their trips, he saw his dad dump a

body into the river.

You know, they made a lot of trips, Joe
and Charlie together, from their home in

Yuba City to Reno.

for reasons unknown to me.

And finally, Joe's wife, Judith, told
police Charlie told her that he saw Dad

kill a woman.

But because of his mental capacity and
mental health issues, it's not something

you can rely on. You couldn't tell
whether it's fantasy or true.

Charlie was a...

straight-A student going into his
freshman year of college.

And then shortly after that, he had this
schizophrenic break, couldn't maintain

school, had difficulty taking care of
himself, and he was diagnosed with

paranoid schizophrenic.

Just by me looking through the years of
Charlie Nace's development, his mug

shots in particular, you can see the
effect that his mental health has had on

him.

The question is...

Did Charlie's mental health issues come
from something that Natho did?

Individuals with schizophrenia often
have a genetic predisposition to the

disorder, and it is exacerbated by the
environment they're in. So if Charlie

already had something kind of brewing in
there, it wouldn't take much to turn

Charlie into having a significant mental
health crisis.

So although Joe Naso wants to portray
himself as father of the year, he in

fact has harmed Charlie Naso, in my
opinion, and Charlie Naso has become

another victim of Joe Naso.

Now knowing what I know about Charlie
and Joe's relationship, I want to go

back and look at a piece of evidence
that Carl Yoder, who used to run errands

for Joe Naso, found in Joe Naso's house.

Going through the house after Joe was
arrested, I did find an audio tape.

It was dated 1988, and it said Joe and
Chaz on it.

This was an audio recording of Ghost of
Natho and Charlie Natho.

And it was recorded by Charlie without
the knowledge of Joe.

Did he just say, why did you take

your clothes off in the kids' playroom?
That's what I heard.

And Joe said,

I don't know what you're talking about.

He said that for a specific reason.
That's interesting.

Almost as if some kid told him something

that Joe did something to him behind the
school.

That stood out to me because

I've got to think of the Rochester
murders.

Between 1971 and 1973, three young girls
were raped,

strangled, and bodies just dumped in
Rochester, New York.

They were never solved.

And coincidentally, they had the same
first name, last name, starting with the

same letters.

Joe not only grew up in Rochester, in
1971 and 1973 when these girls were

killed, he was making frequent trips
from the West Coast to Rochester to

visit his family.

There are so many similarities to Joe's
murders.

They were all raped and strangled, their
bodies dumped.

Investigators did look at Naso after his
arrest in Reno.

But from what I understand, Naso was
eliminated as a suspect.

I would eliminate him, too, because it's
not his M.O., I thought, to murder a

kid. But they have to look into it now.

I remember one of the Rochester victims'
names right off the bat because it's the

same name as one of his adult victims in
California, Carmen Colon.

And that right there is eerie enough.

It's too many coincidences. And I'm
wondering if Rod Chester had this tape,

had they taken Joe Naso as a suspect for
those murders a little bit more serious.

This tape changes everything.

So we're in Rochester, New York right
now. I'm here to speak to a detective

about the double initial murders.

I want to share what I've discovered
because I think Joe Nasa should be

seriously considered as a suspect.

Mark, thank you for meeting me and
allowing me to come up here to Rochester

to visit you.

Can you tell me a little bit about the
victims?

Yes, they all lived in the city of
Rochester proper.

They all were by themselves doing an
errand.

They were abducted on the street,
although not in the blitz sense that you

would think. They were apparently conned
into getting into a car, were driven

away, and then ultimately sexually
assaulted and murdered.

Created... You know, quite a media stir
and quite a stir in the public. What is

the link? What's the victimology here?
How is somebody possibly picking out

young girls with the same initials? Or
is this just some freak circumstance

that's beyond any logical reason?

Right, but all three were strangled. All
three were strangled.

I'm curious when and how Joe Naso's name
came up involved in this.

I got this call and said that they had
arrested this guy in California and that

he had killed a person named Carmen
Colon.

What did I think of that? And I was
like, whoa, that's insane.

And that he had this other very violent
history.

And that he at one time lived or was
born in Rochester. And I'm like, wow.

Another strange piece of evidence that I
came across was A cassette tape. Okay.

A recording between Joe Naso and his
son, Charlie.

wow i mean i'll tell you one thing we
both know an adamant denial

is far different than i don't know
anything about that Yeah. Right? I mean,

I don't know anything about that. Come
on. Right.

If somebody's going to accuse me, let
alone my child, of something that

heinous, I'm going to beat my chest and
say, no.

Okay? I mean, that's as good of an
admission as anything. I agree.

It's not just the tape.

Okay. There is other evidence that he
may have targeted underage girls.

Joe Naso was very detailed. He wrote
down everything. Where he went and got

gas in 1983.

What hotel he stayed at. He annotated
all this stuff.

And they found it all in the search
warrant. One of the things that he had

was deemed his rape journal.

In addition to that list of 10, during
the search warrant, we found a journal

written by Joseph Naso.

that we later referred to as the rape
journal because it was, in fact,

descriptions, sometimes dates, sometimes
names of women that he had raped.

There is evidence there that he
committed over 150

sex crimes starting in the 1950s.

The verbiage that he used was horrific.

I've got to be honest with you when I
tell you, I probably never read anything

more disturbing than that.

You think he went back to Rio to relive
it?

Yes. Okay.

So, as you can see, with the first one
there,

Rochester.

Wow.

This is...

This is gold, really, though. Yeah, I
mean, that's a lot of information. And

again, there's a lot of Rochester stuff
in there. I would either get my eyes

full or make a play or just follow her.
Stalking.

He wrote Stalking.

So I think this diary confirms a little
bit, too, that he would look at children

as victims, right? Yes.

It was a crime wave all by himself.

A 14-year-old girl someplace took her up
in the hills in Penfield near Panorama.

Okay, so Panorama Plaza is where
Michelle Mayenza was taken to eat

a burger at Carol's just before she was
killed.

So, NACO basically confesses the raping.

a child, a 14-year-old in there at the
exact same place where Michelle was last

seen. Yeah.

Yeah.

Those are all the notes that I got.

I think he, in my mind, as I sit here
today, is a very strong

suspect that needs significant
consideration.

I don't know how he could be discounted.

This project has grown a lot of
tentacles.

And it's touched a lot of different
agencies, a lot of different law

enforcement personnel.

Me and Bill have looked at cases that
have stumped police investigators and

experts for decades.

Bill has been in the mind of serial
killers.

He lived with these vile monsters, and
he got well-educated in the way they

think. I mean, I've worked with the best
FBI criminal profiles, but I would not

compare any of our knowledge to stand up
against Bill Nogueira's knowledge.

To have him outside of those prison
walls, I believe we could solve a lot

more cases.

Oh, man.

How you doing, Louie?

A bit nervous.

Wow.

This is new to me.

I've never been in front of a camera
before.

I've never been interviewed in a camera.

And there's light, there's everything.

Something new to me.

Never expected this after being 42
years.

In prison, 40 of those on death row.

What do you mean, you're first in and
out in 42 years?

Winning.

It was great.

I committed a terrible crime when I was
18 years old.

No justification, no excuse.

But I did it.

There's nothing I can do to change that.

But I can change the future.

Oh, man.

It's good to see you. Good to see you.
You look good.

Well, I appreciate that.

Wow.

Old, but good.

Oh, man. It's all good to see you. It's
so good.

Here we are. You're free.

I'm in California, meeting you for the
first time. It's blowing my mind. Yeah,

just looking at you is special, man.
Yeah.

When I saw Ken, I felt good.

I felt like an old friend I hadn't seen
in a long time.

It was good to hug him. It was good to
shake his hand.

He's my partner.

I would never have called a cop a
partner before because before he was the

enemy.

It's been a while, huh?

Long road.

Long road.

Well, how about all this, like being
outside? The air smells different.

Yeah. Everything is different. There's
no tension here.

He's always been there for me for 42
years, and I don't feel tension.

I can actually sleep.

So that's something really special.

Bill, I mean, he went into prison a
teenager, and he gets out a senior

citizen. Let that sink in.

He committed the crime. You have to do
the time.

But, you know, he lost his whole
adulthood.

Just gone.

Now he gets to get it back.

I remember being on a beach in
Jacksonville, Florida, and you calling

me early one morning.

You asked me, you're like, what are you
doing? And I'm like, I'm on a beach. And

I was like, and I apologized to you. And
you're like, why? Why are you

apologizing? I said, because you can't
do it. And you said, well, make me a

promise. You said, someday if I get out.

I can share that moment with you. I
remember that. Before I went to prison,

every morning I would take the bus, even
as a seven-year-old child, and I'd make

my way to the beach and I'd surf all
morning. Yeah? I haven't seen the beach

in 42 years, and I'm sure it misses me
like I miss it.

I'm a man of my word. I always keep my
promise.

What's making you emotional?

Well, that he loved the beach so much
and for him to get out of prison and

I can be a man of my word and show him
that, that's pretty emotional.

Here it comes.

Very cool.

I can still time the ocean like I used
to. I can tell when it's rising.

I stood on that same rock right there. I
can't tell you how many times.

You know, there's a lot of memories
here, but there's a fist in my stomach

that's gripped, and I can't hardly move
because every time I move, I feel like

this is going to disappear.

Like I'm going to wake up, and I'm going
to be in that cell again, and all this

has been a dream.

You know, I've woken up in the last 42
years.

More times than I can remember that I
hear that sound. I hear the wave, and I

smell it.

But you know what?

This ain't fake. This is real. I know it
is.

This opportunity is something I've
wished for for 42 years, and now I have

it. And I'm not going to let anybody
down.

That's the most important thing.

is that I'm going to cherish every
moment that I'm out.

Every moment that I'm free.

I'm going to make the best of it.

I have a small, small circle.

And I like it that way.

But I have respect for him. I have love
for him.

He's not like any partner I've ever had.

And now that Bill is out of prison,
There's no barriers anymore.

It's, you know, the cold case cop and
the convict.

It's crazy.

That combination right there, I think,
is going to put a hurt on a lot of cold

cases.

It's so weird that we get to sit here
and, you know, I'm not talking to you

behind bars.

You know what I mean? I'm sure it's even
weirder for you.

Yeah, it's surreal.

Never thought this moment would come.

I think about the last three years that
we've been in contact and how far we've

progressed. I mean, we had results.

I brought a couple of things here I felt
it was important to show you.

There's Pam Lampson.

Wow.

That's the one that he killed on Mt. Tam
and posed against a tree, and I went and

talked to her brother.

He altered the life of a whole family.

Just being here talking to you guys made
me a little shaky. Yeah, you know.

It's nice to know that he's in a place
where he can't harm anybody else.

Here is Lynn Ruth Connors.

I also met with her brother.

We just loved her so much and we missed
her so much and didn't understand what

was going on, you know.

He's grateful for the information that
you provided.

That's Rebecca Jean Dunn.

That's one of his Las Vegas victims.

This is Charlotte Cook.

That's a girl from Miami near Down
Peninsula.

Met with her family as well, her
daughters. That was very, very

emotional.

I hurt for them because they grew up
without their mother.

This has never been about me.

It's been about the victims and that we
brought them the answer. We gave them a

bit of justice.

They deserve it. They deserve the truth.

It feels good. I mean, it feels good.

We basically sold, in conjunction with
police, nine out of the ten on Joe

Nacer's list.

I mean, we did some great things.

But the future holds a lot more for us
because that list is only the top ten.

He killed 26 women, and I think that
together we really can solve unsolved

murders. And the number one thing on my
list is the number one thing on that

list.

A girl near Healdsburg.

Yeah, that's a big one. And I want that
one. It's like my white whale. I think

we can go through it.

The both of us together, and you start
picking it apart. You see things I don't

see sometimes. And the same way for us.
Exactly. We just have to get to work.

As a journalist, it's frustrating.

An inmate on death row helped the case
that I had been working on so hard for

years. But I'm grateful for what Bill
did.

The question is whether Naso will admit
everything he's done.

I'm not sure he has it in him. I don't
think he cares about anybody else

besides Joe.

Covering the story has been nothing like
I've ever experienced in my entire

career. And I would like to meet Bill
Noguera one day and just express

my gratitude for all this amazing work
he's done. I think he's an extraordinary

human being.

When serial killers strike, it's a
ripple effect that goes through

generations.

Hundreds, if not thousands of people's
lives are affected by one person's

actions.

Charlie Natho is a victim of his father,
Joe Natho.

Judah Natho is also a victim of Joe
Natho.

There's 26 women, their families.

communities, friends, neighbors, all
these people are victims of Jonatia.

One person, one monster, and all these
lives will never be the same.