Fifth Body Unearthed in Yard of Boardinghouse Is Identified

SACRAMENTO — Coroner’s investigators identified a fifth body Monday in the case of a grandmotherly boardinghouse manager suspected of killing elderly tenants to collect their government assistance checks.

Officers said X-rays helped determine that remains unearthed from the yard of the two-story Victorian house were those of James Albert Gallop, 63.

His was one of seven bodies that authorities found buried in shallow graves six blocks from the state Capitol grounds last month.

An eighth body found along the Sacramento River three years ago is also believed to be that of a former resident of Dorothea Montalvo Puente’s boardinghouse.

Meanwhile, police have released on $3,000 bail an accused accessory to murder, Ismael Carrasco Florez, 46, a tile worker and former handyman for Puente. He was arrested Saturday after it was learned that he had admitted building a coffin-like pine box for Puente and helping her dump it. It had a man’s body inside.

Officers said they were unable to find any relatives of Gallop, who came to live in the house after Puente was released from prison in 1985. Puente has served prison sentences for drugging and robbing elderly bar patrons and for forgery.

Police Capt. Michael O’Kane said investigators are still trying to identify the three remaining bodies unearthed and to find other missing people who have been linked to Puente.

Victims identified earlier were Ben Fink, 55; Alvaro (Bert) Montoya, 52; Dorothy Miller, 65, and Vera Martin, 65, all one-time Puente tenants.

Puente, 59, has been charged only with the murder of Montoya, but the district attorney’s office has said she will be charged with additional murders in future hearings. She is being held without bail in Sacramento County Jail.

Coroner’s investigators are still seeking the cause of death for the eight bodies recovered so far.