Sacramento - City of Blood (Book Review)

Sacramento – City of Blood (Book Review)
Writer and Creator: Phil D’Asaro
Artwork: Max Moda, Samir Simao, Mike Stefan, Frederick Allison Jr., Marcelo Salaza, Warin Johnson, Andy Tui, Gregory Woronchak
Price: $13.00
Overviewed by: Paul Dale Roberts, HPI’s Esoteric Detective – Halo Paranormal Investigations
Comments: I don’t know what to call this incredible publication. Should I call it a book? Maybe a comic book graphic novel? Or an encyclopedia of crime in Sacramento? If you have never been to Sacramento and want to know about its dark history, I truly recommend this book. The artwork throughout this book will knock your socks off. Sacramento truly does have a dark side and as a paranormal investigator, I have investigated some of these crime scenes. Let’s start at the beginning of this book and take you to the very end. Phil D’Asaro starts off with his foreword, in which he talks about how the Sacramento News and Review reported that between 1971 and 1992, 15% of serial killers committed their crimes in and around Sacramento.

Phil starts off with the blood massacre of Native Americans. The 49ers of the Gold Rush were slaughtering Native Americans left and right. Would you believe that in 1856, a bounty of 25 cents per Indian scalp was offered by the State government, then in 1860 the price was $5.00 for a scalp. 49ers ransacked and pillaged whole villages, with the slaughter of many Native Americans. No wonder Sacramento is so haunted. I have investigated Old Sacramento, and in this book, I learn something new. Phil takes us back to October 20, 1853, and introduces us to a killer prostitute named Ida Brewer. Ida killed a total of 3 people and somehow was acquitted and set free and with her last killing, she was convicted, fined and ordered to leave Sacramento. She moved to Dutch Flats where she resumed her career as a prostitute.

Then we have Karen Greenlee that practiced necrophilia who worked at the Sacramento Memorial Lawn Mortuary. Karen bragged of having sex with 20 to 40 male corpses. Yep, Karen Greenlee was a real ghoul! Moving onto Emily Harris, Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army who spent some time in Sacramento. Phil D’Asaro highlights their dirty deeds. In 1979, I lived in an apartment on W Street in Sacramento and learned that Emily, Patty and the SLA actually lived a few houses down from where I lived on W Street. Also, in this book is the information on Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme of the Charles Manson Clan and how she tried to assassinate former President Gerald Ford at the State Capitol. Stories on serial killer Dorothea Puente. I actually investigated her boarding home and captured some floating orbs on her roof and captured one EVP of a man saying “go away”.

Then you have the monster named Theresa Knorr who killed her first husband and two daughters. Serial killers Gerald & Charlene Gallego are in this book and one of their abductions of a young girl happened at Sunrise Mall. My paranormal team went to the exact location where the abduction took place and captured an EVP of a woman screaming. As I read this book and look at the graphic detailed artwork, I am getting chills up and down my spine. Some of these cases mentioned in this book bring back morbid memories of some of our cases here in Sacramento. Phil D’Asaro talks about Mike Bowers who on January 16, 2001, drove his 18-wheeler weighing 39 tons into the State Capitol. At the time, I was working at the Secretary of State building and some of our security cameras were used in this investigation. As I move on with this book, Phil goes into detail about Richard Trenton Chase aka The Vampire of Sacramento. I investigated the home of the victims, and this was featured in a documentary called “Conversations with a Serial Killer” by TwoFour Productions in England. I am telling you this book is really bringing back the memories. What else will I find in this book? Here is one I am not familiar with. The Mad Killer aka the Insane Killer aka The Basher of 1941 Sacramento who killed many men and dumped their bodies into the Sacramento River. The next story is about the East Area Rapist aka The Golden State Killer. When they captured this monster, I had an urge to drive by his house. When I arrived at his house, I saw the police tape all around his house. It was a normal looking house, with a nice lawn. Who would have ever thought this serial killer lived in this nice family home?

As I move along in this book you will get the gory details of Theodore “Ted” John Kaczynski aka The Unabomber. Phil D’Asaro then talks about Morris Solomon Jr. aka The Handyman Killer. More memories as I investigated a murder site of Morris Solomon Jr. at William Land Park. At the murder site where Morris brought a girl and killed her. At this murder site we captured many orbs and mist in our photographs. Another case that Phil talks about is the case of the Pizza Thrill Killer aka Eric Royce Leonard. I must say that Phil and the artists in this book really did an incredible job. I thought I knew everything about the dark history of Sacramento, but to my shocking revelation, I learned about other horrific cases in Sacramento that I had no idea about. I recommend this book to all you crime buffs out there and I also recommend this book to aspiring paranormal investigators. Crime scenes are the most haunted places on the planet, because that negative energy never leaves, and the brutal crimes replay itself as negative residual energy. This book will keep you right on the edge-of-your seat! Be prepared to be scared!