You Won’t Believe Where All the Worst Roommates Are Now—From Jail to, Well, Dead

Dorothea Puente (Season 1)

Dorothea Puente was an American serial killer who ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California. Born on January 9, 1929, she was convicted of murdering several elderly and mentally disabled boarders and burying their bodies in her yard in the late 1980s.

Puente was known for taking in tenants who were often overlooked by society, such as the elderly and people with disabilities, then drugging and killing them to collect their Social Security checks and other benefits.

Her criminal activities came to light in 1988 when a tenant went missing, and police found several bodies buried in her garden. In 1993, Puente was convicted of three murders, although she was suspected of many more. She was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and died in prison on March 27, 2011.

K.C. Joy (Season 1)

K.C. Joy, whose full name is Kwang Chol Joy, is an individual who was convicted of the murder of his roommate, Maribel Ramos, in 2013. Ramos was a U.S. Army veteran and a student at California State University, Fullerton. The case garnered significant media attention due to the nature of their relationship and the circumstances surrounding Ramos’s disappearance and death.

Joy was arrested and charged with her murder. During the trial, evidence was presented showing that Joy had conducted internet searches on how long it takes for a human body to decompose, and surveillance footage captured him driving to the area where Ramos’s body was found. Additionally, it was suggested that Joy killed Ramos after a confrontation over her rejection of his romantic advances.

In 2014, Joy was found guilty of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Today, KC Joy is an inmate at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, California. He was eligible for parole in October 2023 but was denied for another three years.

Youssef Khater (Season 1)

Youssef Khater is a former marathon runner and convicted criminal of Palestinian and Chilean descent. He is notorious for his involvement in a series of fraudulent schemes and violent crimes across multiple countries, including Denmark, Chile, and Costa Rica.

Khater’s most notorious crime occurred in Chile, where he attempted to murder a fellow backpacker, an American woman named Jordan K. He lured her to a deserted building, where he beat her and buried her alive. Miraculously, Jordan managed to survive and was rescued.

Khater was arrested and convicted of attempted murder and fraud, resulting in a mere 600-day prison sentence in Chile. His current whereabouts are unknown, he was last seen in Hjorring, Denmark, in February 2022.

Jamison Bachman (Season 1)

Jamison Bachman was a notorious serial squatter who used his legal knowledge and manipulative tactics to exploit tenancy laws, leaving a trail of devastated landlords and roommates.

His most infamous case involved Alex Miller, a woman from Philadelphia who took him in as a roommate. Bachman’s behavior quickly turned hostile, culminating in a terrifying ordeal for Miller. The legal system often found itself at a disadvantage due to Bachman’s deep knowledge of tenant laws and his ability to manipulate them to his benefit.

In November 2017, Bachman was arrested for assaulting his brother, Harry Bachman, with a weapon. While awaiting trial, Bachman was found dead in his jail cell in December 2017, having died by suicide.

Janie Ridd (Season 2)

Season 2 of Worst Roommate Ever opens with the story of Rachel and Janie Ridd. The two women became best friends, moving in together in 1995. They even co-parented Rachel’s young son together. But after sharing a home for several years, Rachel fell deathly ill countless times, with no explanation.

Rachel found herself in and out of hospital with a mysterious illness, and around the same time, the FBI began investigating Janie over buying a bacteria called Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) on the dark web.

Ridd was eventually charged with, and convicted of, aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, attempted aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, and attempted acquisition of a weapon of mass destruction. In 2020, she pleaded guilty to attempted intentional abuse of a disabled or elder adult and attempted possession of a weapon of mass destruction.

“I really have a hard time believing that the person I’ve known for 25 years, my best friend and roommate, could do what she did,” Rachel said in the series. “But it was diabolical, it was evil. It was plotted and planned so perfectly.”

Ridd served just over two years before being granted parole and released, in January 2022. According to a LinkedIn profile appearing to belong to her, Ridd still lives in Utah and works in an education center.

Tammy Fritz (Season 2)

James “Bo” Bowden and Tammy Fritz’s husband Rich became fast friends after meeting in the mid-90s. When Rich died, Bo moved in with Tammy to help care for her son. By 2009, Tammy was being investigated for identity theft, credit card fraud, and check fraud. She was so desperate for money that she took out a life insurance policy on Bo and tried to have him killed to claim the payout. Thankfully, she was unsuccessful.

On May 26, 2015, The Gazette reported that Fritz was sentenced to 48 years in prison for two counts of attempted first-degree murder as well as two counts of solicitation of attempted first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. She is being held at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility at the moment, and her projected parole hearing is in August 2034.

Scott Pettigrew (Season 2)

Scott Pettigrew moved in with Anita Mimie Cowen in 2016. Things quickly turned sour when he stopped paying rent, and trashed the house. On June 9, 2016, Anita Cowen sought a protection order from Pettigrew and requested that the judge evict him. “I am being terrorized daily in my own home,” Cowen said. “Escalating each day. I need help.”

She was granted a restraining order against Pettigrew, but just four days later, Cowen was found dead. Her body was floating in her backyard pool with cuts and bruises all over her face and body and chunks of hair pulled out of her head.

Pettigrew was convicted of first-degree murder, elder abuse, and violating a protective order. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He’s currently an inmate at California State Prison, Corcoran. He will first be eligible for parole in April 2033.

Michael Dudley (Season 2)

In December 2022, Michael Dudley was convicted of the second-degree murders of his rental tenants, Jessica Lewis and Austin Wenner. He was sentenced to over 46 years in prison. Court documents alleged that Dudley dismembered Lewis and Wenner after killing them, separated their bodies into multiple bags, and tried to hide them in different bodies of water. He’s inmate number 760742 at the Washington State Penitentiary.