Nude Photos Found in Accused Serial Killer's Home, Witness Testifies

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 Tuesday 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 Service