Serial Killers Part.1: Richard Ramirez

Richard Ramirez, often known as the “Night Stalker,” was an American serial murderer who murdered at least 14 people and tortured many more before being apprehended in 1985

Richard Ramirez: Who Was He?

Richard Ramirez was a serial murderer in the United States who murdered at least 14 people and raped and tortured at least two dozen others, largely in the spring and summer of 1985. He became a prolific drug user and had an interest in Satanism after suffering epilepsy as a youngster, which became a calling card for detectives at his murder sites. Ramirez was arrested in August 1985 and condemned to death at the end of his trial in 1989.He spent the rest of his days at San Quentin Prison in California, where he died of cancer on June 7, 2013, at the age of 53.

Early Years

Ricardo Leyva Muoz Ramirez was born in El Paso, Texas, on February 29, 1960, the fifth child of Mexican immigrants Mercedes and Julian Ramirez. Ramirez, sometimes known as Richard or Ricky, had several head traumas as a child and began having epileptic fits after being struck unconscious by a swing at the age of five.

Ramirez was strongly affected as a teenager by his elder cousin, Miguel, who had recently returned from the Vietnam War. Miguel told Ramirez about the torture and mutilation he had perpetrated on multiple Vietnamese women as they smoked marijuana together, with photographic proof to back up his claims. Ramirez watched his cousin murder his wife when he was 13 years old.

Ramirez dropped out of ninth grade and was arrested for the first time for marijuana possession in 1977. He immediately traveled to California, where he developed a cocaine addiction, burglary, and a fascination with Satanism. In 1981 and 1984, he was jailed twice in the Los Angeles region for vehicle theft, and he began to disregard his personal hygiene.

Murders

On June 28, 1984, Ramirez’s (then) first known murder occurred; the victim was 79-year-old Jennie Vincow, who was sexually abused, stabbed, and killed during a house burglary. Following it, there was a wave of savage murders, rapes, and robberies that claimed the lives of scores of people.

Ramirez hit again about nine months later. He assaulted Maria Hernandez, who managed to flee, on March 17, 1985, and then killed her roommate, Dayle Okazaki. Not content with these attacks, Ramirez shot and murdered Tsai-Lian Yu the same evening, causing a media frenzy and earning him the moniker “Valley Intruder.”

On March 27, Ramirez shot and killed Vincent Zazzara, 64, and his 44-year-old wife, Maxine, employing a method that would become a pattern for the killer: the husband was shot first, then the wife was viciously attacked and stabbed to death. Ramirez also gouged out Maxine Zazzara’s eyes in this case.

Ramirez resumed his assault pattern on seniors William and Lillie Doi in May 1985, despite a full-scale police effort yielding no tangible results. Over the next two months, his murder rate increased, with a dozen more victims claimed in a flurry of burglary, assault, and savage violence, complete with Satanic rituals. The Los Angeles Police Department responded by forming a special task team, with assistance from the FBI.

Ramirez was forced to flee the Los Angeles region in August due to constant media and police pressure, as well as accounts from his surviving victims. On August 17, he traveled north to San Francisco, where he murdered two more people, Peter and Barbara Pan.The “Valley Intruder” label was no longer valid due to his recognizable M.O., which included Satanic iconography; the press immediately devised a new appellation, the “Night Stalker,” because most of his assaults took place at night in his victims’ houses.

Arrest

Ramirez was apprehended shortly after his final night of horror on August 24, 1985. He was first seen outside a Mission Viejo residence, where he unintentionally left a footprint, before the witness saw his vehicle and license plate. After Ramirez raped and shot another lady at her home, the victim gave a precise description of her assailant, who had compelled her to profess her love for Satan.

A few days later, Ramirez’s abandoned automobile was discovered, replete with enough of a fingerprint to make a match, and his criminal record allowed the authorities to finally identify the “Night Stalker.” Ramirez was apprehended on August 31 after being seriously battered by East L.A. residents while trying two carjackings, thanks to national TV and print media coverage showcasing his jail portrait and a sequence of hints from witnesses and survivors.

Conviction, Sentencing, and Trial

Ramirez sat in jail while his trial was repeatedly postponed due to a slew of motions and back-and-forth between prosecutors and defense attorneys. Some of the accusations against Ramirez were withdrawn to speed up what was becoming a protracted trip to justice due to the geographical dispersion of the offenses, which also complicated the scope of the trial with jurisdictional difficulties.

The jury selection procedure was completed on July 22, 1988, and the trial began in January of the following year. Ramirez gathered a cult-like following of fans at this time, many of whom were black-clad Satan worshipers. For his court appearances, Ramirez wore a lot of black and dark sunglasses.

Wife, Death, and the Last Years

Ramirez married Doreen Lioy, 41, one of his supporters, while detained in 1996. In 2006, his long-awaited appeal was heard by the California State Supreme Court, but it was dismissed.

Ramirez was later tied to other heinous acts. In 2009, a DNA sample linked him to the rape and death of a 9-year-old girl in San Francisco on April 10, 1984.

Ramirez died on June 7, 2013, at the age of 53, from symptoms connected to B-cell lymphoma, after nearly 24 years on death row. Ramirez died shortly after being transferred to Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, California, according to San Quentin correctional guards.