The Night Stalker Richard Ramirez

Serial Killers are some of the most terrifying people to exist, from their terrible acts of harassment to killings. Richard Ramirez is rated one of the worst serial killers there is, to be defined as a serial killer you have to kill more than three people which he exceeded with his big number of Fourteen. Ramirez had a troubled childhood which led him to commit these crimes as he got older. He comitted crimes that included rape, murder, and burgluary. He was known as “The Night Stalker”, he was convicted in 1989 and was handed several death sentences for the 14 victims he murdered. At the end of his trail, he was sentenced to death and spent the rest of his sentence at California’s San Quentin Prison.

Richard Ramirez was born to Hispanic immigrant parents Mercedes and Julian on February 29, 1960. Mercedes worked in a boot factory where she was exposed to many different chemicals when she was pregnant with him. When Ramirez was two years old, a dresser fell on his head and caused ‘Forehead Laceration’. At five years old, he was left unconscious by being hit in the head by a swing which left him with epilepsy seizures. Richard claims his entire family experienced physical abuse from his father. At twelve years old, he was exposed to pictures of raped vietnamese women by his older cousin, Veteran Miguel Ramirez. At age thirteen, Miguel shot his wife with “little richie” present. Ramirez dropped out of school his freshman year of highschool, soon after he was arrested for his very first time for marijuana possession in 1977. Later, he moved to California moving onto cocaine possession, burglary, and an interest in satanism. In 1981, he was arrested two more times for auto theft and once again in 1984 and during that time he started to lose himself and fail to maintain his personal hygiene.

Eventually, his crimes of burglary fell through and he started to commit murder crimes. On April 10, 1984 Ramirez killed his first victim, Mei Leung, was found dead in the area Ramirez was living in an apartment basement. Mei was found by her brother, who said Mei had lost her dollar and wandered off to find it. He went looking for her only to find her beaten, raped, and stabbed, she was left hanging over a pipe, according to police. June 28, Jennie Vincow was found dead in her bedroom by her son. Her front door had been open and window screens had been off, and living room items were scattered. She had been stabbed multiple times in the chest, legs, arms, and neck. Her throat had been slashed straight across, and she was sexually assaulted. Her dress and stockings were torn, but she was covered with a blanket. Fingerprints were lifted off the window screen and matched the defendant. Nine months later, March 17, Maria Hernandez arrived in her home whom she shared with roomate Dayle Okazaki. She heard a strange noise behind her as she entered her garage, then she was faced with the defendant holding a gun towards her. As she lifted her hand to protect her face, the gun fired towards her hand which made her drop her keys and allow the defendant to enter her home while she managed to lift herself back up and go inside to find the defendant leaving. As she entered her home she found her roommate, Dayle, laying dead on her kitchen floor. Maria called the cops and was able to identify the defendant in a police lineup. Later on that night before midnight, Tsai-Lian Yu was heard by a man who was in his second floor home and heard/saw Yu crawling and asking for help. She had been forced off the road by the defendant in his own vehicle and pulled out of the car. She had been shot twice in the chest and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The witness was able to see the defendant drive off and get his license plate number, he was able to identify him at trial. March 28 at around 8:30 pm, Bruno Polo went to the home of the owner of the pizzeria that he managed, Vincent Zazzara. He found the door open and called out Vincent’s name but got no answer, he placed the receipts that he originally had been there for in their slot and left. The next morning when Polo had not heard from Zazzara he returned to his home with a fellow employee, the found Vincnet laying dead on his couch with a bullet in his head. His wife, Maxine, was found in her own bedroom with a sheet pulled over her. Her shirt had been pulled up exposing her and her bottoms rolled at her ankles, she was shot in the neck and head. Also stabbed in the chest, abdomen, head, cheek, neck, public area, and her eyes had been removed.

Several others had gone through the same type of injuries and deaths. On May 14, Billie Doi was shot in monterey park. May 30th, Carol Kyle was robbed and raped in Burbank, she survived. June 1st, Mable Bell and her sister florence bludgeoned to death. July 2nd, Mary Louise Cannon was throat slashed in Arcadia. July 5th, Whitney Bennet was beaten with a tire iron in Sierra Madre and survived. July 7th, Joyce Nelson was beaten to death in Monterey Park, Sophie Dickman was raped in Monterey Park, she survived. July 20th Max and Lela Kneiding were shot in Glendale, Chainarong Khovanath was shot in Sun Valley. August 8th, Elyas Abowath was shot in Diamond Bar. August 24, Bill Carns was shot in the head three times in Mission Viejo and survived.

August 25, 1985, was the last night Richard Ramriez would commit his actions. He was seen outside of a Mission Viejo home, where he left a footprint, a witness was able to write down a license plate number before he fled. His car was found a couple days later, they were able to lift fingerprints from the car to make a match and put his actual name and photos out there in order to catch him. Between residents and survivors of the local area, they were able to identify him and arrest him on August 31 when he was seen trying to carjacking someones vehicle. Tons of people helped to beat down the serial killer until police arrived. Ramirez waited as his trail had gotten postponed several times. On September 20, 1989, the jury finally reached a guilty verdict on 43 charges, including 13 counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder, 11 sexual assault charges and 14 burglary charges. The convicted murderer was formally sentenced to death in the gas chamber on November 7, 1989, and was sent to San Quentin Prison in California to spend the remainder of his days.

Richard had gained tons of supporters during his trail, mainly satanic viewed people. He went on to marry one of his supporters, Doreen Lioy, in 1996, he was also linked to more vicious crimes. After 24 years on death row, Richard died on June 7, 2013, at the age of Fifty-Three from complications related to B-cell lymphoma. Ramirez’s death came shortly after he was taken to Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, California.

Richard Ramriez was a heartless, cold man who did not care about the crimes he committed. He deserved the sentencing he received, if only he had been arrested sooner. The definition of a serial killer is someone who kills more than three people, which he exceeded beyond the “limit”. There was not an exact reasoning giving as to why all these crimes were committed, but I am not sure any good explaining could tell why he thought to hurt so many people. Analyzing the evidence that was used to identify the various different victims in this case, it is great that so many new inventions can help find these types of killers faster.  

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