The Night Stalker
by Keisha Emelly
The Night Stalker?
"We've all got the power in our hands to kill, but most people are afraid to use it. The ones who aren't afraid, control life itself."
Richard Ramirez
Ricardo Richard Muñoz Ramírez 'The Night Stalker' who was born on 28 February 1960 in El Paso, Texas, to Julian & Mercedes Ramírez. The youngest child of six his siblings (Ruben, Joseph, Robert, Ruth and Richardo). Epileptic & described by his father as being "a good boy", until his involvement to the dark side, Drugs.
Richard admired his father, but at the age of 12, he found a new hero, his cousin, Miguel (or mike), a Vietnam veteran and ex-Green Beret.
'The Night Stalker' Childhood - Drugs, Candy and Satanism
During his mother pregnancy with Richard was very difficult because of the chemical fumes she inhaled at her job at the loot factory caused her body to try and reject the fetus. At the age of two, Richard almost died when a dresser fell on him and caused him suffering a concussion.
Growing up, Richard was a quiet loner, in fifth grade, it was discovered that he had epilepsy, though doctors has said that he would grow out of it. In result, he was being removed from his position as a quarterback on the school's football team. In seventh g
At the age of 10, Richard started spending his nights at the cemetry and began to smoke marijuana. When he was 12, his cousin Miguel returned from his second tour in Vietnam and they began bonding together.
Miguel, who keep on telling Richard a fascinating stories about the torture and mutilation that he had inflicted on Vietnamese women during his time in the Vietnam War, he also corroborated these stories with horrific polaroid pictures.
Richard Ramírez and his cousin smoked marijuana together, Richard's became a very rebellion teenager that led to pretty crime to fuel his drug habit, that made him further alienated from his Catholic parents.
At the age of 13, Miguel who was irritated by his nagging wife, decided to shoot and kill his wife, whilst Richard was present. The murdering scene of Miguel's wife death, affected Richard's life for the rest of his life.
He had begun burglarizing people's homes, committing pretty theft, skipping school & becoming addicted to cannabis.
The Mode Operation
The most frequent mode of operation of 'Night Stalker' was to break into a home, through an unlocked or open window at night. However unlike other serial killers, his crimes were frightening because that no patters or whatsoever. His victims were random ones of chances and opportunity. In some crimes, he used a handgun or knife, a crowbar, or even using his fists. Some victims were sexually assaulted some victims were murdered, but others were permitted to live.
The Orange Toyota Station Wagon
The big break in the case came on 24 Aug 1985. Broke into the mediterranean village apartment of Bill Carns (29) and his fiancée Inez Erikson (27). He shots Bill Carns in the head and raped his Fiancée. He demanded her to swear her love for satan, and forced her to perform oral intercourse on him. Later on he tied her and left. Inez Erikson struggled to the window and saw the car Ramirez was driving. She was able to give a brief description on both Ramirez and his orange orange Toyota Station Wagon. A teenager who was working on his bike on his garage spotted the car going on a circle through the neighborhood, and identified the car from new reports and wrote down half its license plate number.
The stolen car was found on 28 Aug, The police were able to contain one fingerprint that was on the mirror of the vehicle. The prints belonged to Richard Muñoz Ramirez.
He was described a 25 Year old drifter from Texas with a long rap sheet.
The Serial Killer - Foot Prints
March 27, Ramirez shot Vincent Zazarra (64) and his wife Maxine (44). Mrs. Zazzara's body was mutilated with several stab wound and a T-shaped carving on her left breast. The autopsy process 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. Soon the police realized a serial killer was on the loose.
Pentagram
May 29, 1985, He attacked Malvial Keller (83) & her disabled sister, Blanche Wolfe (80) beating each with a hammer. He then 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, slashed Wilson once, and then bound her and her son together, and left.
Sketches
2 months after killing the Zazzara couple, Ramirez attacked again. The next victim--Harold Wu (66) was shot in the head, and his wife, Jean Wu (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. Those who survived his attacks, provided the police with a description - Hispanic, long dark hair, and foul smelling.
"I Love to Kill People"
Fingerprint
The procedure for creating a DNA fingerprint consists of first obtaining a sample of cells containing DNA (e.g., from skin, blood, or hair), extracting the DNA & purifying it.
The DNA is then cut at specific points along the strand with substances called restriction enzymes = This produces fragments of varying lengths that are sorted by placing them on a gel and then subjecting the gel to an electric current, the shorter the fragment the more quickly it will move toward the positive pole (anode).
The sorted and double-stranded DNA fragments are then subjected to a blotting technique, which they are split into single strands and transferred to a nylon sheet. The fragments undergo autoradiography in which they are exposed to DNA probe, pieces of synthetic DNA that have been made radioactive and that bind to the minisatellites. A piece of X-ray film is then exposed to the fragments, and a dark mark is produced at any point where a radioactive probe has become attached. The resultant pattern of these marks can then be analyzed.
e.g #1
Conclusion
Two days after his mugshots were broadcast on National Television, printed on every major newspaper in California. The next day after Ramirez was identified, chased and surrounded also severely beaten by an angry mob in East Los Angeles when he was trying to steal a car, Police had to break up the mob to prevent them from killing Ramirez.
Jury selection for the case started on July 22nd 1988 and on September 20 1989, He was found guilty of 13 counts of murder, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries. On Nov 7 1989 he was sentenced to die in California's Gas Chamber. His trial was one of the most difficult and longest criminal trials in American history, taking four years to finalize.
By some estimates, he could be in his early 70's before the execution is carried out, Due to the lengthy California appeals process