Joseph Naso Trial: Prosecutor reads from diary in which suspected serial killer allegedly detailed attacks
(CBS/AP) SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - A California prosecutor on Wednesday read from the diary of a former photographer that authorities say showed how the man charged with killing four women stalked and approached victims.
Marin County prosecutor Rosemary Slote read from the diary of Joseph Naso during closing arguments at his trial. She said the entries date back to the 1950s and give descriptions of rape and sexual assault, the Marin Independent Journal reported.
Prosecutors have called some 70 witnesses during the two-month trial as they sought to prove that Naso, a former commercial photographer from Reno, Nev., drugged and photographed victims before strangling them.
The 79-year-old Naso is acting as his own attorney and is scheduled to give his closing argument on Friday. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Numerous entries in the diary contained scrawled accounts of approaching women and offering them a ride home. In the diary, prosecutors said Naso would describe how he would "put it to her," often in his car, reports the Marin Independent Journal. The sites of the alleged attacks included Cleveland; Kansas City; Buffalo; Rochester, N.Y.; Wichita, Kan.; Berkeley; and London, reports the paper.
"Outside the front door I overpowered her and ravaged her," read the entry set in London. "I couldn't help myself."
Other passages described incidents in Cleveland, Kansas City, Buffalo, Rochester, N.Y., Wichita, Kan., and Berkeley, Calif.
Naso has pleaded not guilty to the murders of four prostitutes, all of whom had matching first and last initials. He also is being investigated as a potential suspect in several unsolved killings.
Naso called five witnesses in his defense and has been admonished several times by the judge for his behavior.
Naso was arrested after a routine check by probation officers of his Reno home turned up numerous photographs of unconscious women in various states of undress. Investigators also discovered DNA matching Naso's profile on at least one victim, Roxene Roggasch.
Naso characterized the photographs as his art and said all of his "models" were willing participants.
He showed the jury dozens of photographs he took of weddings, landscapes and family members along with what he called "glamour" or "cheesecake" photographs of nude women. He said he never forced any of them to do anything.
Prosecutors, however, claimed he kept a list of his victims and mementos of his crimes.
Naso is charged with killing Roggasch in 1977, Carmen Colon in 1978, Pamela Parsons in 1993 and Tracy Tafoya in 1994.
Closing arguments were delayed briefly as the court investigated a truck bearing the words "Joseph Naso killed my sister" that was parked in the jury lot.
A district attorney's inspector and Naso's private detective looked into the matter and concluded no contact was made with jurors.