The Becoming of the Night Stalker

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One of California's most notorious serial killers, Richard Ramirez, was known for killing 14 people and torturing many more victims in the summer of 1985. The satanist was born in Texas to immigrant parents but grew up heavily influenced by his older cousin who was not the best role model for a teenage boy. Together they smoked and told stories about how the cousin would torture women. Richard, at the age of 13, even saw his cousin murder his wife. In his young adult years, Richard was arrested multiple times for marijuana posession, grand theft auto, and burglary. This was just the beginning of the becoming of the night stalker.

His first victim, 79 year old Jennie was robbed, sexually assaulted, stabbed, and killed at her house on June 28th, 1984. Months later Maria, his next victim, was attacked but escaped. So how did Ramirez handle this? Easy solution. He killed the roomate instead. He also went ahead and shot another lady that same evening. 10 days later, Ramirez killed a man and assualted and stabbed the wife. He also gauged the lady's eyes out, which was a pattern that would be shown with his upcoming victims. Over the next few months, Ramirez would continue to kill and assault his victims while completing Satanic rituals.

The L.A.P.D went ahead and opened an entire search unit and were able to get descriptions of Ramirez. Because of this, Ramirez knew he couldn't stay and had no choice but to flee to San Francisco where he continued his murders. His murders almost always included his signature Satanic symbol and mostly took place at night, hence the name "The Night Stalker."

On his final few murders, his victims were able to take note of Ramirez's car and license plate number and even shared accounts on how he made them swear their love for Satan. Police were able to find Ramirez's car and fingerprints that matched his identity. Media coverage leveraged the search and led to the capture of Richard Ramirez on August 31. On September 20, 1989, the jury came to a guilty verdict on 43 charges including murders, attempted murders, assualts, and burglaries. Ramirez was sentenced to death by gas chamber on November 7, 1989. While in prison and death row, he married his supporter, Doreen Lioy. He died at 53 on June 7, 2013 from health complications, still on death row.

The Night Stalker is just one of many serial killers who we are told strangely fascinating stories about. The next time you're out alone at night, keep an eye out. Someone is always watching.