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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Night Stalker

Richard Ramirez was referred to as the Night Stalker.

Richard was described by his father as being "a good boy," until his involvement with drugs. 
Richard admired his father, but at the age of 12, he found a new hero, his cousin, Mike, a Vietnam veteran and ex-Green Beret.

Mike, home from Vietnam, shared gruesome pictures of rape and human torture with Richard,
who became fascinated with the pictorial brutality. The two spent a lot of time together, smoking pot and talking about war. On one such day, Mike's wife began to complain about Mike's laziness. Mike's reaction was to kill her by shooting her in the face, in front of Richard. Because of Mike's war record, he was sentenced to seven years for the killing.

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.

His burglaries turned into something far more evil. Ramirez entered through an opened window of Glassel Park resident, Jennie Vincow, age 79. 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.

He then murdered Tsai-Lian Yuan, an eight-year-old girl.
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.

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.
Those who survived his attacks, provided the police with a description - Hispanic, long dark hair, and foul smelling.

Ramirez attacked Malvial Keller, 83, and her invalid sister, Blanche Wolfe, 80, beating each with a hammer. 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.

Ramirez's 1985 killing and rape spree continued:

* 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.

On Aug. 24, 1985, Ramirez broke into the home of Bill Carns, 29, and his fiance, 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 sex on him. He then tied her and left.

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.

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.
Richard often drew the five-point pentagram, a symbol sometimes associated with Satanism, on his own body. At his trial, he would shout "Hail Satan!" in open court.

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. Ramirez said her virginity is what attracted him to her.

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.

Ramirez was a big fan of hard rock and heavy metal bands that sang about hell and the devil.
His favorite bands were Golden Earring, Judas priest, Sabbath and Zeppelin.
He was said to be a fan of AC/DC and, in particular, their song "Night Prowler",which describes sneaking into a girl's room at night. He wore an AC/DC shirt and left an AC/DC hat at a crime scene. 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Richard Ramirez was not charged with the murder of the little girl'she not 6 she was 9. His DNA was however found at the scene.