RICHARD RAMÍREZ: BIOGRAPHY AND VICTIMS - ARTE - 2024

Richard Ramírez (1960-2013) was an American serial killer and rapist, responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen people. He was dubbed as the night stalker or night prowler, as he used to attack his victims at night, specifically at their homes.

He committed his crimes between the years 1984 and 1985 almost all in the city of Los Angeles, California. She did not have a specific method of murder; in general, the modus operandi consisted of raping her victims and then savagely murdering them.

Although he was convicted of the murder of 13 people, the number of victims stands at more than 25. Many of them were only raped and beaten. It was with the passage of time that it deteriorated until it reached the murder.

Birth and family life

Richard Ramírez, whose first name is Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramírez, was born in El Paso, in the state of Texas on February 29, 1960. He was the youngest son of Mercedes Muñoz and Julián Ramírez, both Mexican immigrants.

The couple had a troubled and dysfunctional marriage. The father was a quite violent railroad worker who constantly beat his wife and children.

Like most serial killers, Ramírez had a childhood marked by violence and beatings. In fact, when he was still very young, he had an accident with a swing that left him unconscious.

He received a blow to the head while playing in the park and was sutured with at least 30 stitches. This trauma caused him seizures and he was diagnosed with epilepsy until puberty.

Childhood problems and bad influences

Known as Richard or Ricky, he had a troubled childhood, unsurprisingly and was heavily influenced by his older cousin Miguel Ramírez, known as Mike. It was a Green Beret that had returned from the Vietnam War.

Mike used to tell Ramírez stories about how he had tortured and mutilated Vietnamese women, anecdotes that he also corroborated with horrible photographs.

Ramírez as a teenager.

Mike was perhaps the worst influence Ramírez could have. The veteran not only proudly displayed the images in which he appeared raping, torturing and murdering people, but he also “taught” Ramírez the killing techniques he had learned in the army. They constantly met to smoke marijuana and talk about Satanism.

On the other hand, Richard used to see Mike beat up his wife. Apparently he liked having him as a spectator. It was perhaps this constant exposure to violence that made him numb.

At just 13 years old, Ramírez witnessed a murder; After a violent argument with his wife, his cousin Mike took a shotgun and shot his wife in the face. He went to jail but was incredibly free after claiming he was drugged.

The start of his criminal career

With the influence of his cousin still a child, his career as a criminal began early. He used to take drugs with Mike and, as is common with addicts, they went out to steal to maintain their vice. With this history it was logical that he would end up locked up soon.

In 1977, at just 17 years old, he was admitted to a juvenile correctional facility charged with a series of minor offenses. Five years later, in 1982 he was arrested and tried for possession of marijuana. However, he was able to be released on parole with charges.

Later he moved to San Francisco and then to Los Angeles. By that time he was already addicted to cocaine, and in addition to continuing to steal he began to take up arms and Satanism.

In 1983 he returned to jail on a car theft charge. She was released from prison the following year, but due to the lifestyle she had been leading, she was a really deteriorated person. Reforming was never an option. His years of smoking marijuana and eating junk food physically harmed him.

A curious detail is that it is said that Ramírez's favorite song was called "Night Prowler" by the band AC / DC. He used to listen to it when hunting his victims.

The theme tells the story of the fear that a person feels when being alone at home at night because apparently someone is approaching. This would then give her her famous nickname of The Night Prowler.

Victims

First murder

There was little time left for Ramírez to progress and go from robbery to violence. His first known murder occurred on June 28, 1984. After using cocaine, he left the house and took the car. He stopped outside a home on Glassell Park Street.

There lived a 79-year-old woman named Jennie Vincow. The killer entered through a window and attacked the woman. He sexually assaulted her and stabbed her multiple times.

Second murder

His next victims arrived on March 17, 1985. Ramírez went to the home of a 22-year-old girl named María Hernández. The girl lived with a partner named Dayle Okazaki.

He attacked Hernández in the garage but when he shot him the girl instinctively placed her hand and the bullet ricocheted off the keys. The victim fell to the ground and pretended to be dead. In an oversight the assassin managed to escape.

However, his partner was not so lucky. Hearing the shot Okazaki hid. But at one point she peeked out of her hiding place, the murderer saw her and ended her life.

By that time, the monster within him had fully awakened. Not satisfied with that attack, that same night he shot and killed Tsai Lian Yu.

Murder of the Zazzara marriage

Just 10 days after that attack, on March 27, Ramírez murdered the Zazzara couple. They were Vincent Zazzara, a 64-year-old Italian immigrant, owner of a pizzeria, and his 44-year-old wife Maxine. As he used to, the man was first shot dead.

Then he took his time with the woman. He first sexually assaulted her and subsequently stabbed her to death. But he didn't just settle for that. Ramírez tortured her by removing her eyes. Years later he would disdainfully claim that the victim was alive when he did so.

By that time the authorities had already launched a large-scale police operation. However, the investigation was unsuccessful.

The problem was, the killer didn't really have a set pattern. Sometimes he robbed his victims, other times not. Sometimes he would shoot them and other times he would stab them. The motive was never clear and this made police work difficult.

Murders of William and Lillie Doi

In April 1985, he attacked again. This time his victims were William and Lillie Doi, an elderly couple aged 66 and 63 respectively.

Ramírez broke into the house and shot the man. He immediately went up to the room where the wife was screaming, threatened her and beat her.

He took her to the dying husband to see him and later forced her to hand over the money and jewelry. He took her back to the room where he savagely undressed her and raped her. Severely injured, William Doi was able to call 911 although he was unable to tell them anything.

Still the emergency service was able to trace the call. After a while the police and an ambulance arrived, but by then the killer had escaped. The man did not survive but his wife did, who could give the description of the attacker.

Other victims

The Los Angeles community was completely alarmed. There was a kind of mass hysteria, fueled in part by what was reported in the press.

A month after the attack on the Doi spouses, on May 26, Ramírez entered the home of Malvia Keller, 83, and Wolfe Blanche, 80. He savagely attacked Marlvia with a hammer while she slept. He did the same with Wolfe, whom in addition to hitting he also raped. They were found a couple of days later. Only one managed to survive.

A day later, Ramírez found another victim. It was about Ruth Wilson, a 41-year-old woman who had a 12-year-old son. The killer broke a window in her house to enter, handcuffed the child and locked him in a closet. The woman, believing it to be an assault, quickly proceeded to give the criminal all the jewelry and money she had.

However, after receiving the loot, the man tied her up, took off her clothes and raped her. Fortunately for Wilson, Ramírez left her alive. This was perhaps the beginning of the end of the murderer since with the description of the woman, it was possible to make the first portrait of the criminal.

During the following months, the number of victims increased. There were then a dozen people who had been robbed, physically and sexually attacked, with indications in addition to the practice of satanic rituals.

But constant media and police pressure, aided by photographic descriptions of his surviving victims, forced Ramírez to leave Los Angeles in August. He moved to San Francisco and there caused new victims.

Arrest and conviction

The end for Ramírez would come with his next attack. On August 24, 1985, he attacked William Carns and his girlfriend. The man was seriously wounded by a gunshot and then searched for the girl. After undressing her, he began to rape her. Later, although he threatened her with the weapon, he decided not to kill her and the young woman called 911.

A neighbor who had seen the killer's vehicle found it suspicious and wrote down the license plate number. The next day the police gave him the information. Authorities located the vehicle, but not the criminal.

By analyzing the tracks, they were finally able to give the night prowler a face and name. When searching their database, they discovered Richard Ramírez, informed the media, and the photograph of the murderer was released.

Return to Los Angeles and arrest

On August 31, 1985, the criminal decided to return to Los Angeles by bus. He had no idea that he had been identified by the police, so he was completely off guard.

Although the bus station was full of policemen he was able to get out, but on the street he was soon recognized by people. He immediately understood that he had been discovered and when he felt cornered he tried to steal a car but did not succeed. He was almost lynched in the middle of the street but the police intervened.

After his arrest, Ramírez assured that he was not the murderer and did everything possible to delay the trial. He was initially charged with 14 murders and 31 crimes associated with his massacre.

However, due to the fact that he changed lawyers on several occasions and the fact that his crimes had been in several places, which brought some problems of jurisdiction, some of the charges were rejected to speed up the process.

Judgment

Almost three years after his arrest, the process to select the jury began on July 22, 1988. The case took a full year due to the amount of witnesses and evidence there were.

He was finally sentenced to 19 death sentences on November 7, 1989. He was held in San Quentin Prison, California. But the murderer did not die for his conviction. He passed away from liver failure on June 7, 2013 at the age of 53. 23 years had passed since he was sentenced to death.

Ramírez's psychological profile

During his trial, the defense tried to have Ramírez considered mentally disturbed. However, this did not serve to avoid his conviction. Psychologists indicated that the criminal did not fit into the group of normal killers.

And it is that although he had had a problematic childhood and adolescence, he never seemed to have a motive for his murders. It did not follow a specific pattern. His victims were of both sexes, of different races and ages.

The weapons he used were also varied. Although the knife was one of his favorites, he also used baseball bats, hammers, and various types of pistols.