Serial killer Joseph Naso left 2 bodies on Mt. Tam in 1977, according to new documentary
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Convicted serial killer Joseph Naso is now claiming he murdered a woman on Marin County's Mt. Tamalpais in 1977, according to an upcoming documentary. It's a case the police have attributed to different man known as "The Dating Game Killer." With one serial killer dead and the other, 91 years old in a prison hospital, some might question why this story is important. For the I-Team's Dan Noyes and for other investigators, it comes down to the families of the victims, who deserve the truth.
Rodney Alcala was in the middle of his killing spree when he appeared on ABC's "The Dating Game" in 1978.
Female contestant: "Bachelor #1."
Rodney Alcala: "Yes?"
Female contestant: "What's your best time?"
Alcala: "The best time is night, at nighttime. (laughter)"
The female contestant actually chose him that day but wound up canceling the date because Alcala was "too creepy" in her words. Alcala was later convicted of killing seven women and girls in the Los Angeles area and New York, and in 2011, he became the primary suspect in the death of 19-year-old Pamela Lambson on Mt. Tam.
But a different story is emerging from San Quentin's death row and convicted serial killer Joseph Naso.
VIDEO: Serial killer Joseph Naso claims 26 victims in Northern California, according to new documentary
Bill Noguera told the I-Team, "It was a running joke for him, because another serial killer had been accused." Noguera is a former death row inmate to whom Naso turned for protection. He told us, during conversations over the course of 10 years, Naso admitted to killing 26 women, including Pamela Lambson.
"He gave me a lot of little details that matched," Noguera said. "One of them was that he met her at an A's game."
Naso told Noguera he had a fake press ID and pretended to be the Oakland A's photographer, that he arranged to meet Pamela Lambson at Fisherman's Wharf in October 1977 and drove her to Mt. Tam. Noguera says Naso explained why he posed Lambson's body against a tree, found by a jogger just off Panoramic Highway two miles north of the Mountain Home Inn. "'And she just drove me crazy about being an entertainer, and these photographs were because she was going to be a star, and she was dating one of the players from the A's. So, I posed her, now she's getting all the entertainment and all the exposure she needs.'"
Bill Noguera contacted cold case detective Ken Mains who helped put the case together.
Dan Noyes: "What was the most compelling evidence that Naso killed Pam Lambson?"
Ken Mains: "One, that he admitted killing some girl, a blonde-haired girl in a white outfit that he met at Fisherman's Wharf."
For a new documentary series that starts September 13 on Oxygen, "Death Row Confidential: Secrets of a Serial Killer," Ken Mains contacted the victim's brother who now lives in Southern California. Michael Lambson says Pamela told him about her scheduled meeting with a photographer at Fisherman's Wharf.
Mains said, "And Michael was very apprehensive about that, and she said, 'Oh, don't worry, he could be my dad,' meaning he was older, you know, that doesn't fit Rodney Alcala at all."
Bill Noguera tells us Naso described leaving a second victim on Mt. Tam -- a young woman with red hair and blue eyes in May 1975. "He's an extremely twisted, narcissistic, rapist, serial killer that has no qualities of redemption," Noguera said. "This man was built to kill, and that's what he did for a very long time."
The I-Team has confirmed with the Marin County Sheriff's office that they've received this new information from the cold case detective, but they are hesitant to interview Naso again. His death penalty appeal is moving forward in the six killings for which he's convicted.
Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.
