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THE NIGHT STALKERTHE NIGHT STALKER
Case Background Richard Ramirez was arrested for thirteen murders, five attempted
murders, six rapes, three lewd acts on children, two kidnappings, three acts of forced oral copulation, four counts of sodomy, five robberies and fourteen burglaries. He was convicted on 43 of those counts at 2:20 on September 20th, 1989, in a Los Angeles county courtroom in California. He was subsequently given the death sentence on October 3rd of that same year.
Habitual drug user and (self proclaimed) Satanist
This case is significant to the case of law as it allows for the study of psychological issues which contribute to the behaviour of serial killers.
It is also important in that Ramirez was different from other criminals
Crimes different in nature as he varied methods
Traveled to different cities
He did not have a specific victim type (ie. Bundy whose victims had long dark hair parted down the middle or Gacy whose victims were young males)
Family Richard was born in 1960 in El Paso, Texas to hard working Mexican
immigrants, Julian and Mercedes
All five Ramirez children had health problems; Richard was epileptic, but otherwise healthy
US Government throughout the 1950s was conducting nuclear bomb tests in nearby New Mexico, and as it happened, the fallout from the bombs was carried by the wind to settle in El Paso
All family members were physically beaten by the father for any wrong doing
While he had many siblings to spend time with, he was very influenced by his cousin, Michael, a Vietnam War Veteran
Showed Richard photos of the rape and torture of Vietnamese women at age 12
○ Richard was sexually aroused by these images although he knew it was wrong
Taught Richard to shoot a gun and use a knife
Michael killed his wife in front of 12 year old Richard
This was only the beginning of a life of hatred and crime
The Crimes Ramirez moved to Los Angeles at age 18 where he associated with
other scandalous people
He purchased a master set of keys to Toyota and Honda cars. Nightly he drove around Los Angeles looking for homes to rob
Once he mastered these burglaries, he took it to the next level to include torture and murder Burglary turned into brutal murder of 79 year old Jennie Vincow
His murder routines included rape, torture, mutilation and necrophilia
Became known as the “Night Stalker”
Crimes marked by satanic mutilations on his victims as well as sexual abuse of women who were sometimes forced to sing praises of Satan
His victims ranged in age from the young children to the elderly
Continued Killing and rape spree of 11 victims continued between the months of
June and August of 1985
On August 24, he traveled 50 miles out of Los Angeles and broke into the home of Bill Carns and fiancé Inez Erickson
He shot Carns and raped Erickson
He tied her up, but she managed to reach the window and see the car Ramirez was driving
A teenager wrote down the license plate number of the same car after noticing it cruising suspicious
This allowed the police to find the abandoned car which had Ramirez’s fingerprints
The identity of the Night Stalker became known and a warrant was issued for his arrest, and his picture was available to the public. He was captured by civilians the next day
Mobbed and beaten as he tried to steal a car
Prosecution After many delays, the trial began in January of 1989
LA County prosecutor, Phil Halpin intended to introduce at least 400 exhibits as evidence including finger prints, ballistics evidence and shoe imprints
It was also reported that in jail in 1985, Ramirez referred to himself as the “super criminal”, admitting he loves to kill and killed 20 people.
Halpin used circumstantial evidence to link Ramirez with the show prints at the crime scenes, with his appearance in the vicinity of the crimes, with his shifting MO, with the possession of stolen items from the victims homes
Also had “signature evidence”, pentagram
Prosecution rested after using 137 witnesses and 521 exhibits
Defense After the prosecution rested its case it became clear the defense strategy would be
that the eight eye witnesses wrongly identified Ramirez
Arturo and Daniel Hernandez, Ramirez’s lawyers did not know enough about legal procedure, and did not have assistance from Ramirez who did not seem interested
When asked to assist he said, “Dying doesn't scare me. I'll be in hell. With Satan”
Hernandez’s hired a more experienced lawyer
Defense claimed prosecutions evidence was inconclusive or defective
Found that there were unidentified fingerprints as well as hair and blood samples that did not belong to Ramirez nor his victims
Defense called on Julian Ramirez, Richard’s as an alibi to say that Richard was in El Paso beginning in May
Prosecution found that Ramirez was in fact in Los Angeles during the time his father stated having dental work
The defense never claimed the client was innocent, but rather tried to prove the prosecution was faulty
One lawyer argued that Richard may actually be the devil, and in that case, the devil deserves sympathy too
Evidence Summary Bullets
Compared bullets of crime scenes in the same night; evidence of a serial killer
Shoe prints Ramirez’s Avia shoe prints were at the scene of the crime as well as on the
face of a victim
In jail he said that he killed at least 20 people and loved all that blood Shows no remorse and admitted to being a “super criminal”
Finger prints Ramirez’s fingerprint were found in the abandoned car he had stolen
matched those found at crime scenes At the time fingerprints were only useful once the suspect was identified
Pentagrams Numerous Satanic pentagrams left at crime scenes, in a car the bore
Ramirez’s fingerprints, on a victim’s thigh, and in his prison cell
Decision and Sentence On September 20, 1989 Ramirez was found
guilty on 43 counts He was sentenced to death on nineteen counts Added a speech to the court:
He has sat in a cell for the past 22 years on death row Experts familiar with the case say they are only about
halfway through the appeals in which case Ramirez will be waiting until he is 71, if he is still alive.
"You do not understand me. I do not expect you to. You are not capable of it. I am beyond your experience. I am beyond good and evil. Legions of the night, night breed, repeat not the errors of night prowler and show no mercy. I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells within us all."
TheoryA few theories may be used to explain criminal behaviour
The Ecological School Criminal behaviours are fostered or encouraged in certain environments
He was not from an affluent area, and associated himself with drug addicts and psycho cousin
Socialization Did not develop proper social skills as a result of upbringing, peers,
mentors
In his upbringing he was abused for any wrong doing
In moving to Los Angeles he associated with scandalous people
Cousin Michael was a major influence and mentor in his life
Never got direction in his thoughts
Theories Continued
Biological Trait Theory 1959 during her pregnancy with Richard, Mercedes a boot factory
mixing pigments and chemicals used on the boots. She was mixing chemicals such as benzene, xylene and toluene and unfortunately in that era, the toxicity of these chemicals was unknown.
Psychological Factors Was psychologically damaged in being taught to shoot a gun, use a
knife and rape women, witnessing a murder at a young age○ Repressed emotions
Addictions may lead to psychiatric disorders as well He is a sociopath May possible have a neurological dysfunction associated with the
crime as his siblings and many other people undergo abuse as children and do not become serial killers
Works Cited Barnes, Ed. “In California, Killers Sit on ‘Symbolic’ Death Row for Decades,
Costing Billions Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/ us/ 2010/ 03/ 22/ california-killers-sit-symbolic-death-row-decades-costing-billions/ #ixzz1JQ2e9S8T.” FOX News. N.p., 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://www.foxnews.com/ us/ 2010/ 03/ 22/ california-killers-sit-symbolic-death-row-decades-costing-billions/>.
Bruno, Anthony, and Katherine Ramsland, PhD. “The Night Stalker: Serial Killer Richard Ramirez.” TruTV. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://www.trutv.com/ library/ crime/ serial_killers/ notorious/ ramirez/ trial_9.html>.
“Capture and Trial.” Richard Ramirez. World News. WN, n.p., N/ A. World News Digest. Web. Transcript. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://wn.com/ Richard_Ram%C3%ADrez>.
Grise, Jennifer. Richard Ramirez. NYU. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, Dec. 2000. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nyu.edu/ classes/ keefer/ ww1/ grise.html>.
Montaldo, Charles. “The End of the Night Stalker.” About. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://crime.about.com/ od/ serial/ p/ nightstalker2.htm>.