Ramirez Finds a Hero:
By the age of 18, Richard was a habitual drug user and chronic candy eater, resulting in tooth decay and extreme halitosis. He also became involved in Satan worshipping and his general poor appearance enhanced his satanic persona. Already arrested on numerous drug and theft charges, Ramirez decided to move to southern California. There he advanced from simple theft to breaking and entering into homes. He became very proficient at it and eventually began to linger in the homes of his victims.
On June 28, 1984, his burglaries turned into something far more evil. Ramirez entered through an opened window of Glassel Park resident, Jennie Vincow, age 79. According to Philip Carlo's book, 'The Night Stalker,' he became angry after not finding anything of value to steal, and began stabbing the sleeping Vincow, eventually slitting her throat. The act of killing aroused him sexually, and he had sex with the corpse before leaving.
Ramirez remained quiet for eight months, but the memory he savored of his last killing had run dry. He needed more. On March 17, 1985, Ramirez jumped 22-year-old Angela Barrio outside her condo. He shot her, kicked her out of the way, and headed into her condo. Inside, was roommate, Dayle Okazaki, age 34, who Ramirez immediately shot and killed. Barrio remained alive out of pure luck. 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 jumped 30-year-old Tsai-Lian Yu and pulled her out of her car onto the road. He shot several bullets into her and fled. A policeman found her still breathing, but she died before the ambulance arrived. Ramirez's thirst was not quenched. He then murdered an eight-year-old girl from Eagle Rock, just three days after killing Tsai-Lian Yu.
On March 27, Ramirez shot Vincent Zazarra, age 64, and his wife Maxine, age 44. Mrs. Zazzara's body was mutilated with several stab wounds, 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. Bullets found at the scene were matched to those found at previous attacks, and the police realized a serial killer was on the loose.
Two months after killing the Zazzara couple, Ramirez attacked again. Harold Wu, age 66, was shot in the head, and his wife, Jean Wu, age 63, 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. Those who survived his attacks, provided the police with a description - Hispanic, long dark hair, and foul smelling.
On May 29, 1985, Ramirez attacked Malvial Keller, 83, and her invalid sister, Blanche Wolfe, 80, beating each with a hammer. Ramirez attempted to rape Keller, but failed. Using lipstick, he drew a pentagram on Keller's thigh and on the wall in the bedroom. Blanche 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.
- June 27 - Ramirez raped a 6-year-old girl in Acadia.
- June 28 - Patty Higgins, age 32, was beaten and her throat slit.
- July 2 - Mary Cannon, age 75, was beaten and her throat slit.
- July 5 - Deidre Palmer, age 16, survived being beaten with a tire iron.
- July 7 - Joyce Lucille Nelson, 61, was bludgeoned to death.
- July 7 - Linda Fortuna, 63, was attacked and Ramirez tried to rape her, but failed.
- July 20 - Maxson Kneiling, 66, and his wife Lela, also 66, were shot and their corpses, mutilated.
- July 20, Chitat Assawahem, 31, was shot and his wife Sakima, 29, was beaten then forced to perform oral sex. Ramirez then collected $30,000 in valuables, but before leaving, he sodomized the couple's eight-year-old son.
- August 6 - Ramirez shot both Christopher Petersen, 38, and his wife, Virginia, 27, in the head. Both somehow survived.
- August 8 - Ramirez shot Ahmed Zia, 35, and raped and sodomized his wife, Suu Kyi, 28, and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
A teenager wrote down the license plate number of the same car, after noticing it cruising suspiciously in the neighborhood.
The information from Erickson and the young man enabled police to locate the abandoned car, and get fingerprints from inside. A computer match was made of the prints, and identification of the Night Stalker became known. On August 30, 1985, the arrest warrant for Richard Ramirez was issued and his picture released to the public.
A Face Revealed:
On August 30, 1985, an arrest warrant for Richard Ramirez was issued and his face revealed to the public. Ramirez, unaware that his picture was all over the newspapers, got off of a Greyhound bus, and walked into a liquor store. The woman working inside recognized him and began yelling that he was the Night Stalker. Shocked, he quickly fled the store and headed toward the heavily populated Hispanic area of east Los Angeles. A small mob had formed and were following close behind him.
Ramirez tried to steal a car, but the owner was underneath it doing repairs. When Ramirez started the engine, the man pulled out from beneath the car and began chasing Ramirez. The mob that was in pursuit of Ramirez, now armed with steal rods, caught up with him. He was subdued, while some of the mob beat him, until the police arrived. Reportedly, Ramirez raised his hands to the police, begging for protection, and identified himself as the Night Stalker.
Because of the endless appeals on the part of the defense, the Ramirez trial did not end for over four years. One such appeal was to overturn the decision by a judge, for refusing to remove Judge Tynan from the case. In addition, defense attorney, Daniel Hernandez, suffered from stress, which resulted in numerous medical delays.
During the trial, Ramirez attracted several groupies who wrote to him regularly. The trial scene had haunts of the Charlie Manson trial, with women hanging around, clad in black robes. When one of the juror's failed to show up one day, and was discovered dead in her apartment from a gun shot wound, many wondered if some of Ramirez's followers were responsible. But in actuality, it was the woman's boyfriend who killed her, during an argument that erupted while discussing the Ramirez case.
In 1996, Ramirez tied the knot with one of his groupies. She is 41-year-old Doreen Lioy, who has described herself as a virgin, prior to her marriage to Ramirez. Since death-row inmates are not permitted to have conjugal visits, then she may still be a virgin, not that anyone would care, other then Ramirez, who said her virginity is what attracted him to her.
Doreen Lioy believes her husband is innocent of the charges against him. Lioy, who was raised as a Catholic, respects Ramirez's Satanic worship. This was demonstrated when she gave him a silver wedding band to wear, since Satanic worshipers do not wear gold.
On September, 20, 1989, The Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez, was found guilty on 43 counts in Los Angeles County, including 13 murders, and charges including burglary, sodomy, and rape. He was sentenced to death on each count of murder. After receiving his sentence, Ramirez responded, "Big deal," he said. "Death always went with the territory." and told reporters, "I'll see you in Disneyland." Currently Ramirez is in San Quentin Prison, where he sits on death row, until he is out of appeals.
He has already outlived some of the victims that survived his attack.
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