David Leath and Ed Dossett had been childhood friends. David Leath married Dossett's widow about six months after Ed Dossett died in what was then ruled an agricultural accident, as they said he was trampled by cattle. The level of morphine in Dossett's body was more than double the expected therapeutic level the injuries to his body were "not sufficient to be the cause of death."

That ruling was changed to murder and, although Raynella is not on trial for the murder of her first husband, she is charged with that murder.

In 1995, Raynella Dossett-Leath was charged with attempted murder. She was accused of firing several shots at Steve Walker inside her barn. Investigators believe she argued with Walker over a child who may have been her first husband's illegitimate son. She was never convicted in that case.

There has been a fight over the family farm. David Leath's daughter from a previous marriage, Cynthia Leath-Wilkerson, is suing because she believes her step-mother killed her father and shouldn't receive anything from his estate.

In court documents Wilkerson states, "She comes into the court with the most unclean of hands, bloody hands, which should bar her from having anything to do with the estate of her victim."

The courts nullified Leath's missing will and awarded David Leath's daughter, by a previous marriage, Cindy Leath Wilkerson, is entitled to half of her father's probate estate, which in this case includes personal property, cash and vehicles. About 180 acres of land is at stake in a separate legal action still pending in Knox County Circuit Court.

During opening statements Monday, special prosecutor Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire told jurors Dossett-Leath planned and executed the killing of her husband before staging it to look like a suicide. Leath was shot once in the forehead in the bedroom of the couple’s home.

The defendant’s attorney, James Bell, told jurors that Dossett-Leath would not and could not kill Leath, and that the physical evidence does not support the state’s case.

Eight women and six men were selected as jurors for this case, which is expected to last about two weeks.

They sat in the dive bars where she trolled for victims, toured the narrow rooms of the Victorian home where several boarders were given sleeping pill cocktails before they slowly slipped from unconsciousness to death, and walked over the garden where Puente had planted flowers over their corpses.

Dorothea Puente's rose garden

Dusk was spreading gloomily over the backyard when juror Joe Martin rushed back into the house, visibly shaken.

"You can't see much back there," he told the paper. "But you feel a lot. It's weird."

After a year of weighing the testimony, the jury found Puente guilty of murdering Dorothy Miller, Benjamin Fink and Leona Carpenter.

Puente showed no emotion when the verdict was read.

Charlie, happy that another school day had come to an end, walked gingerly up the side walk towards his home.  As he opened the front door and walked into the living room, nothing immediately seemed out of the ordinary. "Hello, is anyone home?" he called out into the quiet house.  There was no response.  Not even a bark from his dog. Such quiet was unusual. With some trepidation, Charlie walked toward his parents' bedroom.  A strange feeling of dread welled up inside him.

Julie Otero

Joseph Otero

Joseph Otero II

Josephine Otero

Investigators were stunned at this daytime execution-style multiple murder in such a quiet neighborhood.

From the very beginning of this case, police have been very cautious about revealing the details of the murders. What they did say was that all four of the victims had been strangled with lengths of cord cut from a Venetian blind. There were no cords like that in he house, so the killer had brought the cords, hoods, tape, wire cutters and possibly a gun with him.

According to Capt. Paul Dotson of the Wichita Police Department, semen was found throughout the house, and it appeared as though the killer had masturbated on some of the victims, although none had been sexually assaulted.  Joseph Otero's watch was missing from the scene and has never been recovered.  Aside from Julie Otero's purse being dumped and the missing watch, there was no real evidence of forced entry, robbery, or a struggle.

The coroner determined that all four murders occurred well before noon and very likely around 8 or nine in the morning. Police theorized that while Joseph Otero was driving the older three children to school that the murderer gained entry into the house where Julie and her two younger children were by themselves. Once the killer subdued and bound the three of them, he waited for Joseph to come home to take the younger two children to school and caught him by surprise. Someone had put the Oteros' notoriously unfriendly large dog out in back of the house.

The killer hung around for about an hour an a half, then took the Otero family car and left it parked near Dillons grocery not far away. Otero's neighbors noticed a man, possibly with a dark complexion, leaving Otero's home in their car.

The Otero's car was discovered in Oliver Square's parking lot

Police initially wondered just who these Oteros were and what they had done to warrant this brutal execution. Several things they learned suggested motives, but nothing conclusive.

Joseph Otero had been born in Puerto Rico and, after moving to the States, began a career in the military. Just before his death, he had retired from the Air Force where he was a flight instructor and mechanic. He was physically very fit and was an excellent boxer. His colleagues liked him and no one could voice a motive for his slaying.

The same type of report came back on Julie. She had recently been caught in a downsizing at Coleman Company, but she would have been rehired when business picked up again. She, too, was a friendly person and a very good mother. Like her husband, she was very accomplished in the art of self-defense. She had extensive training in judo.   Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

A police sketch of the man believed to have been seen in the area

So, what to make of this case? This brilliantly planned and orchestrated crime which required surveillance, perfect timing, and the ability to subdue a group of people who were normally more than capable to defending themselves. It had the hallmarks of a military operation, but then there were these nagging details that the police didn't want to discuss. Police Chief Floyd Hannon told the Wichita Eagle in January of 1974 that "the way in which family members were slain indicates a fetish on the part of the assailant." 

As it turns out, none of the rotting flesh in the alligator pond was found to be human.  In a 1957 interview with the San Antonio Light, Dolores "Buddy" Goodwin stated that Joe, never put no people in that alligator tank, she said.   Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire wouldn't do a thing like that. He wasn't no horrible monster Joe was a sweet, kind, good man, and he never hurt nobody unless he was driven to it There were just two murders, she said.  While it is possible that Joe never fed anyone to his alligators, it was speculated by the original investigators that he simply cleaned up any remaining flesh and bone.

In 1939, Clifton Wheeler pled guilty for his part in disposing of the bodies, and was sentenced to two years in prison.  Following his release, he opened up his own bar.  However, his notoriety preceded him and he was unable to show his face in public without being hounded by the press or chastised by local residents.  Wheeler eventually left the area and was never heard from again.  Joes alligators were eventually seized by the state of Texas and donated to the San Antonio Zoo, where they lived out the remainder of their lives as tourist attractions. 

While we may never know exactly how many people Joe Ball killed, or if any of them ever ended up as gator food, his cult-like popularity lives on to this day.  Known throughout the crime world as the Butcher of Elmendorf and the Bluebeard of South Texas, the story of the Alligator Man is sure to be one that will live on for generations to come.