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Richard Ramirez

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ub3rst4r (talk | contribs) at 16:54, 7 June 2013 (→‎Trial and conviction: changed wording to past tense (in order to reflect that he was not executed and died of natural causes)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the serial killer. For the noise musician, see Richard Ramirez (musician).
Richard Ramirez
File:Richard Ramirez arrest mug shot.jpg
1984 arrest mug shot of Ramirez that was circulated among the media
Born
Ricardo Muñoz Ramirez

(1960-02-29)February 29, 1960
El Paso, Texas
DiedJune 7, 2013(2013-06-07) (aged 53)[3]
San Quentin, California
Cause of deathNatural causes
Other namesThe Night Stalker
Parent(s)Mercedes Ramirez
Julian Ramirez
Conviction(s)
Criminal penaltyDeath penalty
Details
Victims14+ [1]
Span of crimes
April 10, 1984[2] – August 24, 1985
CountryUnited States
State(s)California
Date apprehended
August 31, 1985

Ricardo "Richard" Muñoz Ramirez (February 29, 1960 - June 7, 2013)[4] was an American convicted serial killer awaiting execution on California's death row.[5][6] Prior to his capture, Ramirez was dubbed the "Night Stalker" by the news media.[7]

Early life

Ramirez was born in El Paso, Texas, the youngest of Julian and Mercedes Ramirez's five children.[8] His father, a policeman who later became a laborer on the Santa Fe railroad,[9] was abusive and believed in corporal punishment.[10]

As a child, Ramirez sustained two serious head injuries: one which occurred when a dresser fell on top of him and the second when he was knocked out by a swing. He also suffered from frequent epileptic seizures which he eventually grew out of.[11]

As a child, Ramirez was influenced by his cousin, Mike, a Special Forces veteran who boasted of his gruesome exploits during the Vietnam War and showed him Polaroid pictures of his victims.[12] These included pictures of Mike raping a Vietnamese woman. The last picture of that series showed Mike posing with the woman's severed head.[13] Ramirez was present the night Mike shot and killed his wife, and her blood spattered on Ramirez's face.[citation needed] Ramirez was 13 years old at the time. After the murder, his behavior changed dramatically; he dropped out of school, began using drugs, and adopted odd sleeping habits.[14]

"Night Stalker" crimes

On April 10, 1984, 9-year old Mei Leung was found dead in a hotel basement where Ramirez was living at the time. In 2009, Ramirez's DNA was matched to DNA obtained at the 1984 crime scene.[15]

On June 28, 1984, 79-year-old Jennie Vincow was found dead in her apartment. She had been stabbed repeatedly, and her throat was slashed so severely she was almost decapitated.[16]

On February 21, 1985, sisters Christina and Mary Caldwell, aged 58 and 71, were found dead in their home. They each were stabbed dozens of times.

On March 17, 1985, Ramirez attacked 22-year-old Angela Barrios outside her home. He shot her before entering her house. Inside was Dayle Okazaki, age 34, whom Ramirez immediately shot and killed. Barrios survived. The bullet had ricocheted off the keys she held in her hands, as she lifted them to protect herself. Within an hour of killing Okazaki, Ramirez struck again in Monterey Park. He attacked 30-year-old Tsai-Lian Yu and pulled her out of her car onto the road. He shot her several times and fled.[17] A police officer found her still breathing, but she died before the ambulance arrived. The two attacks occurring on the same day bolstered media attention, and in turn caused panic and fear among the public. The news media dubbed the attacker, who was described as having long curly hair, bulging eyes and wide-spaced rotting teeth, "The Walk-in Killer" and "The Valley Intruder".

On March 27, Ramirez shot Vincent Zazzara, age 64, and his wife Maxine, age 44. Mrs. Zazzara's body was mutilated with several stab wounds and a T-carving on her left breast, and her eyes were gouged out. The autopsy determined that the mutilations were post-mortem. Ramirez left footprints in the flower beds, which the police photographed and cast. This was virtually the only evidence that the police had at the time. Bullets found at the scene were matched to those found at previous attacks, and the police realized a serial killer was on the loose. Vincent and Maxine's bodies were discovered in their Whittier home by their son, Peter.[18]

By this time, a multi-county police investigation was in operation. The law enforcement agencies worked through the month of April with no additional attacks by Ramirez. Two months after killing the Zazzara couple, Ramirez attacked a Chinese couple: Harold Wu, age 66, who was shot in the head; and his wife, Jean Wu, age 63, who was punched, bound, and then violently raped. For unknown reasons, Ramirez decided to let her live. Ramirez's attacks were now in full throttle. He left behind more clues to his identity, and was named "The Night Stalker" by the media. Survivors of his attacks provided the police with a description of a tall Hispanic man with long dark hair.

On May 30, 1985, Ramirez attacked Malvial Keller, 83, and her disabled sister, Blanche Wolfe, 80, beating each with a hammer. Ramirez attempted to rape Keller, but failed. Using lipstick, he drew pentagrams on Keller's thigh and on the wall in the bedroom. Wolfe survived the attack. The next day, Ruth Wilson, 41, was bound, raped, and sodomized by Ramirez, while her 12-year-old son was locked in a closet. Ramirez slashed Wilson once, and then bound her and her son together, and left.[19]

On June 2, 1985, Edward Wildgans, 29, was shot and killed by Ramirez. His girlfriend was raped several times by Ramirez but survived. From early June through early July, three more women were killed. Two had their throats slit, one was beaten to death, and all three had their homes invaded. On July 5, sixteen-year-old Whitney Bennett survived after being beaten with a tire iron by Ramirez.

On July 7, Linda Fortuna, 63, was attacked and Ramirez tried to rape her, but failed.

On July 20, he again struck twice. In Sun Valley he shot and killed a 32-year-old man, Chitat Assawahem. His wife Sakima, 29, was beaten and forced to perform oral intercourse. Ramirez then collected valuables and proceeded to leave. Later in the same day a Glendale couple, Maxson Kneiding, 66, and his wife Lela, also 66, were shot and their corpses mutilated.

On August 6, Ramirez shot both Christopher Petersen, 38, and his wife, Virginia, 27, in the head. Miraculously, they both survived. On August 8, Ramirez attacked a Diamond Bar couple, fatally shooting Ahmed Zia, 35, before raping, sodomizing, and forcing Zia's wife, Suu Kyi, 28, to perform fellatio on him. The description of their attacker fit the previous ones given for "The Walk-in Killer".

Ramirez then left Los Angeles, and on August 17, he shot to death a 66-year-old man in San Francisco, also shooting and beating his wife. The wife survived her wounds and was able to identify her attacker as "The Walk-in Killer" from police sketches. Since "The Walk-in Killer" no longer fit the modus operandi of the attacker, the news media re-dubbed him the "Night Stalker".

The next big break in the case came on August 24, 1985. Ramirez traveled 50 miles south of Los Angeles to Mission Viejo, and broke into the Mediterranean Village apartment of Bill Carns, 29, and his fiancée, Inez Erickson, 27. Ramirez shot Carns in the head and raped Erickson. He demanded she swear her love for Satan and afterwards, forced her to perform oral intercourse on him. He then tied her and left. Erickson struggled to the window and saw the car Ramirez was driving. She was able to give a description of both Ramirez and his orange Toyota station wagon.[20] A teenager later identified the car from news reports and wrote down half its license plate number. The stolen car was found on August 28, and police were able to obtain one fingerprint that was on the mirror of the vehicle. The prints belonged to Richard Muñoz Ramirez, who was described as a 25-year-old drifter from Texas with a long rap sheet that included many arrests for traffic and illegal drug violations.[21]

Capture

Two days later, his mugshots were broadcast on national television and printed on the cover of every major newspaper in California.[22] The next day Ramirez was identified, chased, surrounded, and severely beaten by an angry mob in East Los Angeles as he was trying to steal a car. Police had to break up the mob to prevent them from killing Ramirez.

Trial and conviction

2007 mugshot of Ramirez

Jury selection for the case started on July 22, 1988, and on September 20, 1989, he was found guilty of 13 counts of murder, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries.[23] During the penalty phase of the trial on November 7, 1989, he was sentenced to die in California's gas chamber. The trial of Richard Ramirez was one of the most difficult and longest criminal trials in American history, taking over four years to finalize.[24] Nearly 1,600 prospective jurors were interviewed. More than one hundred witnesses testified, and while a number of witnesses had a difficult time recalling certain facts four years after the crimes, others were quite certain of the identity of Richard Ramirez.

On August 3, 1988, the Los Angeles Times reported that some jail employees overheard Ramirez planning to shoot the prosecutor with a gun, which Ramirez intended to have smuggled into the courtroom.[25] Consequently, a metal detector was installed outside the courtroom and intensive searches were conducted on people entering. On August 14, the trial was interrupted because one of the jurors, Phyllis Singletary, did not arrive at the courtroom. Later that day she was found shot to death in her apartment. The jury was terrified; they could not help wondering if Ramirez had somehow directed this event from inside his prison cell, and if he could reach other jury members. However, Ramirez was not responsible for Singletary's death; she had been shot and killed by her boyfriend, who later committed suicide with the same weapon in a hotel.[26] The alternate juror who replaced Singletary was too frightened to return to her home.

By the time of the trial, Ramirez had fans who were writing him letters and paying him visits.[27] Beginning in 1985, freelance magazine editor Doreen Lioy[28] wrote him nearly 75 letters during his incarceration.[29] In 1988 he proposed to her, and on October 3, 1996, they were married in California's San Quentin State Prison.[30] Lioy has stated that she will commit suicide when Ramirez is executed.[31] By some estimates, he could have been in his early seventies before his execution was carried out, due to the lengthy California appeals process.[32]

Appeals

On August 7, 2006 his first round of state appeals ended unsuccessfully when the California Supreme Court upheld his convictions and death sentence.[33] On September 7, 2006, the California Supreme Court denied his request for a rehearing.[34]

References

  1. ^ Chris McNab (1 September 2010). Serial Killer Timelines: Illustrated Day-By-Day Accounts of the World's Most Gruesome Murders. Ulysses Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-56975-816-8. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  2. ^ Vives, Ruben (October 23, 2009). "San Francisco police link 'Night Stalker' Richard Ramirez to girl's 1984 slaying". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ Lloyd, Jonathan (2012-07-22). ""Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez Dies | NBC Southern California". Nbclosangeles.com. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  4. ^ The Night Stalker by Philip Carlo pg.191 ch.20, "Richard was born on February 29, 1960, at 2:07 A.M."
  5. ^ Peter Fimrite (20). "INSIDE DEATH ROW". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved 22 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "RICHARD RAMIREZ". LostVault.com Penpals. Vault Systems. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  7. ^ Juan Ignacio Blanco. "Ricardo Muñoz RAMIREZ". Murderpedia. http://murderpedia.org. Retrieved 21 May 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "I'M YOUR NIGHT PROWLER: Interview with Richard Ramirez" (Interview). FEAST OF HATE AND FEAR. Issue 6: FEAST OF HATE AND FEAR. 1996. Retrieved 21 May 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. ^ "Biography". Crine and investigation network UK. AETN UK. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  10. ^ "The Night Stalker – Richard Ramirez". True Crime Stories. http://truecrimes.wordpress.com/. Retrieved 22 May 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "The Night Stalker – Richard Ramirez". TRUE CRIME STORIES. TRUE CRIME STOIRES. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  12. ^ Jennifer Grise (2000). "RICHARD RAMIREZ". http://www.nyu.edu/classes. http://www.nyu.edu. Retrieved 22 May 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= and |work= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "RICHARD RAMIREZ". Murderpedia. Serialkillercalendar.com. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  14. ^ Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker — 'A Good Boy' — Crime Library on truTV.com
  15. ^ Vives, Ruben (October 23, 2009). "San Francisco police link 'Night Stalker' Richard Ramirez to girl's 1984 slaying". Los Angeles Times.
  16. ^ Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker — 'A Good Boy' — Crime Library on truTV.com
  17. ^ Joseph Geringer. ""Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez: From the Bowels of Hell". Murderpedia. CrimeLibrary.com. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  18. ^ Anthony Bruno. "The Night Stalker: Serial Killer Richard Ramirez ("If You Look At Me Again, I'll Shoot You!")". Crime Library. Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  19. ^ Charles Montaldo. "Richard Ramirez - The Night Stalker". About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  20. ^ Anthony Bruno. "The Night Stalker: Serial Killer Richard Ramirez ( "I Love Satan")". Crime Library. Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  21. ^ "CRIME FILE - Famous criminal: Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker". Crime and investigation network UK. AETN UK. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  22. ^ "About Richard". Richard 'The Night Stalker' Ramirez. "The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers". Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  23. ^ Chen, Edwin (September 21, 1989). "Ramirez Guilty on All Night Stalker Murder Charges". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
  24. ^ Charles Montaldo. "The End of the Night Stalker - Richard Ramirez" (Article). About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  25. ^ Chen, Edwin (August 3, 1988). "Night Stalker Prosecutor Tells of Death Threat". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-09-17.
  26. ^ Katherine Ramsland, PhD. "The Night Stalker: Serial Killer Richard Ramirez (The Los Angeles Trial)". Crime Library. Turner Entertainment Networks. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  27. ^ Peter Fimrite, Michael Taylor (27). "No shortage of women who dream of snaring a husband on Death Row". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved 22 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  28. ^ "The Night Stalker's wife". CNN. Cable News Network, Inc. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  29. ^ "Richard Ramirez". Answers. Answers Corporation. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  30. ^ Anthony Bruno. "The Night Stalker: "Satanists Don't Wear Gold" (The marriage of Richard Ramirez and Doreen Lioy)". Crime Library. Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  31. ^ A&E Biography Richard Ramirez part 5/5 - YouTube
  32. ^ In California, Killers Sit on 'Symbolic' Death Row for Decades, Costing Billions | Fox News
  33. ^ (search case no. S012944).
  34. ^ SUPREME COURT MINUTES WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

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