Fifth Victim Identified In Boardinghouse Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ The fifth of seven bodies found buried in the yard of a boardinghouse has been identified as that of a 63-year-old transient, authorities said.

The identification of James Albert Gallop was made with the help of X-rays, which detected metal sutures in his head from brain surgery, coroners officials announced Monday.

Police Capt. Michael O’Kane described Gallop as a transient.

Coroners investigators said they expected to have the two remaining bodies identified by the end of the week.

The seven bodies were unearthed last month in the yard of Dorothea Montalvo Puente’s Victorian rooming house here. Police believe the victims were tenants killed for their Social Security checks.

Puente, 59, has been charged with one count of murder in the case, and additional counts are expected to be filed in January, officials said. Puente is being held without bail and faces a Jan. 18 preliminary hearing.

The victims were believed killed this year, officials said.

In addition, police believe a man whose body was discovered in a wooden box along the Sacramento River in Sutter County on New Year’s Day 1986 had been one of Puente’s tenants.

On Saturday, police arrested Ismael Carrasco Florez, 46, a Sacramento handyman they believe built the box for Puente.

Florez was released on $3,000 bail after being booked on suspicion of being an accessory to murder.