SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – A jury has recommended death for convicted serial killer Joseph Naso, a 79-year-old former photographer convicted in the decades-old murders of four Northern California women.
The panel deliberated for about four hours Tuesday in the penalty phase of the trial after hearing closing arguments from Naso, who represented himself and had asked the jury to spare his life.
Naso was previously convicted of murdering Roxene Roggasch, Carmen Colon, Pamela Parsons and Tracy Tafoya, prostitutes with matching initials who were strangled and dumped in rural areas.
The murders were cold cases until 2009, when probation officers in Reno, Nev., conducted a routine firearms search of Naso's home and found a macabre collection of evidence that led to his conviction.
Marin County Superior Court Judge Andrew Sweet will have the final say on Naso's sentence.
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