Accused serial killer Joseph Naso, who has a mound of circumstantial and at least a few bits of physical evidence againt him in four decades-old Northern California murders, will be allowed to defend himself at trial, a judge decided yesterday. Naso remains vehement about his innocence, and claims that a public defender which the judge now says would be allowed, despite Naso being a millionaire would be too overworked and would not have sufficient time to devote to Naso's defense. "I don't want this case to drag on for years. I want to be out of here as soon as I can, maybe later this year." Keep hopin', Naso!
The obviously stubborn, clearly scary, and allegedly murderous 78-year-old will be arraigned on four counts of first-degree murder on February 29 in a Marin County court. The trial would then begin within 60 days, and Naso will have to rely on a third party to deliver him any law books he may need to prepare his defense. He'll perhaps want to construct a strategy pertaining to cases in which a man is found with photos of apparently dead women, bound in uncomfortable positions, and naked, and claims that these are art despite the fact that he had a hit list of ten women, at least four of whom ended up dead, and authorities have identified several victims among the photos. The pure coincidence angle isn't likely to cut it.
Naso has no formal training as a lawyer, but claims he knows his case better than a new lawyer would.
To recap, the clearest piece of physical evidence linking Naso to one of the murders is that DNA from Naso's wife, who still lives in the East Bay, was found on pantyhose used to strangle one of the victims.
[Marin IJ]
