California Serial Killer Murdered Elderly Victims to Fulfill Her Shopping Obsession: 'I Got Desperate to Buy Things'

A serial killer from California, who received a life sentence from court for murdering elderly women for money, is speaking up for the first time in three decades. Dana Gray, was 36 years old when she killed two women in Los Angeles and attempted to murder another one, The Independent reported.

In 1994, three women were found dead within weeks of each other in the Canyon Lake area, The Independent reported. Norma Davis, 86, was the first to be murdered by stabbing and strangling, on Valentine's Day of that year.

A couple of days later, June Roberts, 66, was killed by strangling. In both cases, valuables and credit cards had been stolen from the victims' homes.

After Roberts' death, her daughter noted transactions on the victim's credit card, The Independent reported. Gray had purchased clothes, cowboy boots, perfume, vodka, massages, and a ski mask soon after the murder.

Investigators visited the places where the card was swiped and received the perpetrator's description from the witnesses. She was described as a petite, and well-dressed blonde by the witnesses.

On March 16, Dora Beebe, 87, was beaten to death with a steam iron in her Sun City condo, The Independent reported. Beebe's body was found by her boyfriend later that day. It was eventually revealed that Gray knocked on her door, pretending to be lost. After Beebe opened the door, Gray reportedly killed her.

Police arrested Gray, when Dorinda Hawkins, 58, survived her attack on March 10 and informed authorities about her, The Independent reported. Hawkins, who worked at an antique shop, was attacked by Gray, who strangled her with a phone cord and left the scene after stealing $5 from her purse and $20 from the cash register.

Hawkins was alive and breathing after the strangling and immediately reported to the police about the incident.

Hawkins described Gray to police and told them that the last thing she remembers before losing consciousness was the attacker saying, "Relax. Just relax," The Independent reported.

She told them, how the delivered phrase felt like it came from a doctor or nurse. In the past, Gray worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Inland Valley Regional Medical Center.

Deputy Tom Lohman, of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, shared that they were tipped by a bank teller about Gray, when she tried to use a credit card that belonged to one of the victims, LA Times reported. Lohman further added that Gray was picked out as the attacker by Hawkins from a photographic lineup.

The detectives arrested Gray and she confessed to the thefts but not the killings, The Independent reported. "I got desperate to buy things," she told detectives. "Shopping puts me at rest."

Her case went to a trial for the murder charges. In 1998, Gray changed her plea to guilty, admitting to the Beebe and Roberts killings and the attempted murder of Hawkins. As part of the plea deal, she was not charged with the third murder and got sentenced to life without parole.

Gray has now spent almost three decades behind bars, The Independent reported. Despite multiple offers of interviews, she has never spoken to any outlet. The reason she is opening up now is because she wants her voice to help other incarcerated women have a chance to rehabilitate themselves.

"It’s time for a rebranding," Gray said, The Independent reported. "We have more to offer the community and want to help. We can change division, change people’s thoughts about committing crime. We could stop it from happening. It’s possible, I truly believe it."

Gray states in her interview that women are given fewer opportunities in comparison to men to change their lives outside the prison, Independent reported.

"Most women are taught to just sit down, shut up, do what you’re told," Gray told The Independent in a recent interview. "That’s why we don’t fight back. That’s why we’re an easy population to manipulate. But it’s time that changed."