Gruesome Details Emerge in Joseph Naso Hearing

Naso represents himself in case.

The Nevada probation officer for alleged serial killer Joseph Naso  testified today that photos of nude and partially nude women were found in  Naso's Reno home during a search last year.

Officer Roger Jacobs of the Nevada Department of Public Safety's  Division of Parole and Probation, said the women were in "unnatural poses"  and appeared to be asleep, semi-conscious or unconscious.

Naso was arrested for violating his probation by having ammunition  in his home during a search on April 13, 2010, the day the photos were found.

His preliminary hearing began in Marin County Superior Court this  afternoon, 35 years to the day that Roxene Roggasch, 18, of Oakland, was  found on the side of a road near Fairfax on Jan. 10, 1977.

Naso is charged with her murder and with three others -- one in  Contra Costa County and two in Yuba County in 1993 and 1994.

All the victims were reputed prostitutes, whose first and last  names began with the same letter.

The other victims are Tracy Tafoya, 31, Pamela Parsons, 38, and  22-year-old East Bay resident Carmen Colon.

Jacobs said he and another probation officer, who will testify  Wednesday, also found a list containing 10 unnamed "girls" followed by a  geographic location. The list of locations included, "Near Port Costa, near  Loganitas (sic), near Mt. Tam, near Berkeley, near Heldsburg (sic), Mendocino  County," and a Yuba County location.

Four of the listed locations are believed to be linked to areas  where his alleged victims were found.

 Deputy District Attorney Rosemary Slote said the other six  locations on the list are still under investigation.

  Naso, 78, who was a self-employed photographer of models, was on  three years of probation for a felony larceny in El Dorado County, but his  probation was transferred to Nevada.

 Jacobs also testified he and Officer Wesley Jackson found  ammunition in Naso's Medgar Avenue home and a "for sale" ad for two guns.

Jacobs said Naso responded to the advertisement and touched a gun  when he met with the seller.

Naso, who was representing himself, asked Jacobs how possession of  the list would be considered a crime.

 "The totality of what I saw...led me to believe a crime had  occurred that was connected to that list," Jacobs said regarding the photos.

Jacobs said that could include larceny, sexual assault, homicide  or a property crime.

 Naso's preliminary hearing is expected to last until at least Jan.  20 and possibly longer.

Judge Andrew Sweet today continually admonished Naso not to  comment on the evidence being presented but to ask questions during his  cross-examinations of the witnesses.

The hearing resumes at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
   
 

Bay City News

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