(intense music) - Hail Satan. - [Reporter] Richard Ramirez,
a drifter from El Paso, Texas, and a self-described Satan worshiper, began his reign of terror in June 1984. By the time of his arrest 14 months later Ramirez had gone on a
killing rampage so grizzly that Deputy District Attorney Phil Halpin said Ramirez had probably
rewritten the book on serial murders. A map with pins marking
locations of murders, 13 of them, and assaults, vicious attacks, showed that Ramirez moved
quickly, killing and leaving, heading to another area to kill again. - [Narrator] Night is meant to
be a time of rest and peace, but on occasion, something
entirely different happens. Sometimes peaceful sleep
is anything but peaceful. Some nights you are not as
alone as you may hope to be. Without making so much
as a peep, something, or rather someone could
be lurking in the shadows. As much as this sounds like the beginning of a typical scary story
made up to spook you, it is actually the beginning of something much more horrific and 100% true. This is the truth behind the serial killer who infamously haunted the streets of the greater Los Angeles
area in the early 1980s. This is the nightmarish
tale of the Night Stalker. What is up EWU crew? The story we have for you today is one you are probably familiar with, though you may not know the half of it. The tale of Richard Ramirez will convince you to double check the lock on your own doors before going to sleep, because, as you'll soon realize, the most terrifying monsters in this world are the ones who walk among us. Now, let's get into it. Ricardo Leyva Munoz Ramirez was born on February 29th,
1960 in El Paso, Texas. Ricardo, who was most often referred to as Richard throughout his life, was the youngest of his five siblings. Richard's parents, Julian
and Mercedes Ramirez, had initially moved from
Juarez, Mexico to El Paso when Julian had the opportunity to work on the Santa Fe Railroad. Julian, who had been a Mexican national and former policeman from Juarez, was known to be quick to anger and often took his frustrations
out on whoever was nearby. Unfortunately for Richard,
he was all too often Julian's personal punching bag. Physical abuse has a wide range of negative effects on people, especially children when
they experience abuse from a young age. For Richard violence was a
part of his everyday life. And this was only exacerbated when Richard's older cousin,
Miguel, Mike, Ramirez, decided to take him under his wing. As a decorated United
States Army Green Beret, Mike was no stranger to violence and would come to shape Richard into the monster he inevitably became. After returning home from
various combat zones, Mike would provide Richard
with detailed re-tellings of his gory and gruesome
pursuits during the Vietnam War. Mike glorified every aspect of
his abuse of Vietnamese women and would even show Richard
Polaroid photos of his victims, who were often bound and gagged while Mike posed with their bodies. In addition to Mike's willingness to expose young Richard to stories of his own violent endeavors, he also taught him some
of the various skills he had picked up in the military, horrifically including
stealthy ways to commit murder. Mike was one of Richard's closest friends for the majority of his
childhood and early adolescence. So, when Mike wasn't around, Richard was left feeling rather alone. This sense of lonesomeness, combined with his father's
constant maltreatment, led Richard to frequently
sneak out of the house. In the middle of the night,
Richard would slip out just to go sleep in his
town's local cemetery. There he found a little bit of peace in one of the strangest locations. Though any sort of peace was
not easily found for Richard. By the time he was 13 years old he witnessed death firsthand. More so than that, he
witnessed his cousin, his role model, murder his
own wife in cold blood. On May 4th, 1973, Richard watched intently as Mike used a 38 caliber revolver to settle a domestic argument
with his wife, Jessie, by shooting her in the face. Instead of interfering or
trying to assist Jessie after she had been shot,
Richard simply sat back and took in the scene before him. After Jessie's murder and
Mike's subsequent arrest, Richard withdrew from his
family and his peers at school. Already known to be quiet, he became even more closed off than he had been prior to the incident. As Mike was sent to prison for his crimes, Richard was once again alone. His older sister, Ruth, noticed Richard's strange behavior and was well aware of the
harm he had constantly faced within the walls of their parents' home. So she offered Richard the chance to come live with her
and her husband, Roberto, for as long as he needed. Richard accepted the offer graciously, hoping that it would serve as an escape from his father's anger. Though moving in with Ruth seemed like a good idea at the time, it would ultimately shape Richard, and not in a good way. What Ruth had not known about her husband, was that he was a notorious peeping Tom. In the middle of the night, Roberto would leave the house
to go on creepy excursions around the neighborhood. He would peer through the windows of women and young girls alike,
for the thrill of it all. Once Richard moved in with them, Roberto started taking Richard
on his nocturnal endeavors, and even taught Richard the
tricks of not getting caught. Instead of serving as the good influence Richard so desperately needed, Roberto ultimately led Richard
down another dark path. While living with his sister, Richard began experimenting with drugs and started to rely on smoking
marijuana and taking LSD. With his newfound love for hallucinogenics and all things wicked, Richard even took up Satanism. He enjoyed researching satanic practices, and even declared he wished to live by whatever means pleased him. Richard's interest in evil practices, abusing drugs, and spying on
women increased significantly when his favorite cousin Mike was eventually released
from prison in 1977. Despite the fact that he
murdered his wife in cold blood just years before, Mike was eventually found not guilty of Jessie's murder by reason of insanity. As a result of his release, he once again became the
strongest male figure in Richard's life. With the combined influence
of Mike and Roberto, Richard started to realize
what he wanted out of life. Unlike some people who
have career-driven goals and big dreams of success, Richard wanted nothing more than to be a real life super villain and to be the one who
always came out on top. The thing about Richard Ramirez was that no one could convince him to do anything he did not want to do. Moreover, if he wanted something, he would take it for himself. So, Richard tested his luck
with small, petty crimes. He stole from stores and spied on women in his neighborhood at night, in the same way, Roberto had taught him. These petty crimes were
executed without much planning or preparation on Richard's behalf. And so he was eventually
caught and arrested. As Richard was just a teenager at the time of his first arrest in 1977, he was sent to a juvenile detention center and eventually released at
the end of his sentence. It wasn't long after leaving juvie that Richard found himself
arrested once more, this time for marijuana
possession in 1982. He was initially placed on probation before eventually becoming
free and independent once more. Before eventually dropping
out of high school, Richard took up a part-time job at his town's local Holiday Inn. There he was instructed to clean rooms and keep things tidy around the hotel. However, the power of a universal pass key eventually burned a hole
in Richard's pocket. So Richard began letting
himself into the rooms of guests staying at the Holiday Inn. He would snoop around and even take things that he found interesting
or valuable in the moment. Soon Richard became even more daring. He started spying on guests, especially those who were staying in the hotel with their spouses. In one instance, Richard waited until one guest in particular left his wife alone in the room while heading out to grab
something for the evening. Then, knowing the man's
wife would be all alone on the other side of the door, Richard used his past
key to let himself in. When the man eventually returned he found Richard over his wife,
attempting to assault her. The man grabbed Richard and
ended up beating him senseless before police eventually
arrived on the scene. Despite the gravity of the situation, the couple who were attacked ended up dropping criminal charges because they did not
want to return to Texas from their home state
to testify against him. It appeared that Richard got
away with his attempted crime, and all the experience
did was give him a taste of what was possible. And he wanted far, far more than that. By the time Richard
entered the ninth grade he decided to drop out of
Jefferson High School in El Paso and move away from his family. He did not want to be around
his father, who tormented him, nor did he want to continue
living with his sister despite the bond he
formed with her husband. At this point, Mike was in and out of Richard's life as well. When Richard was around 22 years old he ended up moving to California. California would not only become his new permanent place of residence, it would also become Richard's
twisted criminal playground in the early 1980s. Once in California, Richard was arrested for cocaine possession and
even a car theft charge. The combination of these two crimes led to a short-lived jail sentence. But Richard's worst
crimes were just starting. In April of 1984, while in between homes, Richard often lived out of hotels, including one in the Tenderloin
District of San Francisco. Richard had managed to find
access to the hotel's basement, which was seldom entered
by any of the staff. It was there in the dark damp basement that Richard brutally
attacked, beat, and stabbed nine-year-old Mei Leung to death, before hanging her
lifeless body from a pipe. Despite the severity of the murder, no one initially even suspected Richard, as he had abandoned the hotel long before the young girl's body
was located by officials. In fact, Richard would not be found guilty of Mei Leung's murder until 2009. So Richard got away
with yet another crime, this time an actual murder. Escaping the suspicion of
police and investigators gave Richard a sense of gruesome pride. In fact, his first successful murder lit a fire under Richard, and ultimately made him
insatiably hungry for more. In perhaps one of the most
infamous murder sprees in California's history,
Richard Ramirez set out on a series of half-heartedly
planned attacks on seemingly random
households over the course of April 1984 to August of 1985. Over the span of a little over a year Richard transformed
himself into a real-life bloodthirsty monster,
becoming the Night Stalker. On June 28th, 1984, the Night Stalker took the life of his second victim. This time Richard chose to attack and brutally murder Jennie Vincow. Vincow was a 79-year-old woman who lived in a small apartment in Glassell Park, Los Angeles. Richard had stabbed the old woman to death after having forced himself on her. Before fleeing Richard
even nearly decapitated her without leaving any evidence behind to identify him at the scene. That is, except for a smudged fingerprint on the mesh screen window that had been supposedly removed for him to access the apartment. Despite the fingerprint, investigators did not even
know Richard Ramirez's name at the time of Jennie Vincow's murder. However, it would not be
long before the Night Stalker would make his rounds in the
greater Los Angeles area, and earn his infamous nickname. Determined to kill again
on March 27th, 1985, just a little under a year
after his last murder, Richard shot a 22-year-old
woman in the face, just inside the entrance of her own home in Rosemead, California. The woman, Maria Hernandez,
had just pulled her vehicle into the garage upon returning home, when she was met face-to-face with a wide-eyed Richard Ramirez pointing a 22-caliber
handgun directly at her. As he fired, Maria
instinctively moved her hands up to her face in an
attempt to shield herself from the bullet barreling toward her. By some luck the keys in Maria's hands actually managed to cause the bullet to ricochet away from her face, allowing her to avoid
being struck altogether. Realizing that his shot had missed, Richard decided to flee the
scene as fast as possible. In doing so, however, he
essentially ran into Maria's 34-year-old housemate,
Dayle Yoshi Okazaki. At the sound of the gunshot, Dayle had rushed toward
the garage entrance, wherein she found Richard Ramirez staring her down with a gun. Dayle tried her best to duck behind the kitchen counter to hide. Unfortunately, when
Dayle raised her head up to get a better look at Richard, he shot her point blank in the forehead, killing her instantly. Not even an hour after escaping from Dayle and Maria's Rosemead home, Richard took his next victim. As he was in need of a
proper getaway vehicle, Richard successfully
managed to steal a car from a 30-year-old woman in Monterey Park. The woman, Tsai-Lian, Veronica, Yu, was forcefully pulled out of
her own vehicle by Richard, who fired two rounds into
her face before driving off. Veronica was found by passers-by who had heard the
commotion and the gunshots and called local authorities. By the time Veronica made
it to the nearest hospital she was pronounced dead. Two brutal attacks within
miles of each other instantly made the news. That evening it appeared a
monster was making its way through Southern California. A monster that the media
dubbed the Walk-In Killer and the Valley Intruder. Just 10 days after his two successful and one attempted murder,
Richard struck again. This time he made his way back to a home located in Whittier, California, that he had broken into in the past. Around 2 a.m. Richard
let himself into the home of 64-year-old Vincent Charles Zazzara, who he killed in his sleep
shortly after entering the house. Though Vincent's death was quick, the sound of the gunshot
awoke his wife, Maxine, who had been sleeping soundly by his side. When it came to Maxine, Richard thought it best to keep her alive, at least for a little while so that she could help him
locate all of the valuable items the couple kept in their home. Richard beat Maxine, and eventually bound her
hands to keep her in place. While he searched in the drawers she had directed him toward, much to his surprise,
Maxine had actually managed to escape her bonds and maneuvered
herself over to the bed. There Maxine reached under the mattress and retrieved a shotgun
that had been hidden there since the couple's last break-in. Unfortunately, Maxine
realized all too late that the shotgun was not loaded. When Richard turned his
attention back to her, he was overwhelmed with anger
to see her with a weapon. And he shot her three
times with his 22 handgun. Though the gunshots killed
her almost instantly, Richard was not finished with Maxine. Instead, he headed into the
deceased couple's kitchen and retrieved a large carving
knife before returning to the bloody bedroom. There Richard repeatedly
stabbed Maxine's lifeless body, and even gouged out her eyes and placed them in a jewelry
box, which he left with. Before fleeing the scene, Richard made sure to
leave clear footprints in the couple's flower beds
with a pair of Avia sneakers. Richard knew that the footprints would be easily discovered
by police, which they were. Investigators were sure to photograph and cast the footprints in hopes to have a better understanding of
whomever they were looking for. But the footprints were the
only clues they could find. Police quickly realized
that the bullets left behind at the crime scene were
exactly the same as those from the Rosemead murders
just days beforehand. It was evident to investigators that they were not simply
dealing with horrific, but random murders. No, they were on the
trail of a serial killer. For the next few months Richard
continued his murder spree with the same energy
that he had started with, only now he relished in his ability to pull off such brutal
murders and get away with them. His various killing styles changed as each victim presented
Richard with a new means of murdering them. With most of his female victims, Richard would assault them
before or during killing them. Some he beat. Others he shocked with electrical cords. Some were strangled. Some were bludgeoned. Some he simply shot point blank before mutilating their bodies. But a rare few managed to survive the Night Stalker's attacks. on August 24th, 1985, Richard headed down to Orange County, California, to the town of Mission Viejo. There he parked his stolen
vehicle down the street from the home belonging
to James Romero, Jr., who had just returned to California with his then 13-year-old
son, James Romero, III. The father and son had
been on a family vacation in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, and had just gotten back on the same day that Richard Ramirez
had decided to stop by and let himself in. In the dead of night James
Romero, III heard a noise just outside of his bedroom window, indicating that there was definitely someone creeping around. Immediately young James
woke his sleeping parents, thinking there was some kind of bad guy lurking in the shadows. Realizing that the lights in Romero's home all turned on at the same time, Richard thought it best to
abandon his planned attack, if it could not be a stealth one. Before he could get
away, however, James III managed to note the color,
make, and model of the car Richard had been driving. More so than that, he had
even managed to memorize at least part of the license plate number. A 13-year-old boy had managed to obtain more information on than
any investigator to date. James Romero Jr. promptly called police, thinking they had chased
away a potential thief. Little did they know that
they had come minutes away from being the Night
Stalker's next victims. Shortly after his failed
attempt at the Romero's home, Richard found himself
breaking into the house of Bill Carnes and his soon
to be wife Inez Erickson. As per Richard's infamous fashion, he let himself into the house and snuck his way into
the couple's bedroom. There he woke 30-year-old
Bill Carns from his sleep by cocking his 25-caliber handgun. As Bill lifted his head in
search of the sound source, Richard shot him three times. Then he turned to Inez. Richard looked the frightened
woman dead in the eye and told her that he
was the Night Stalker. He then forced her into
swearing up and down that she loved Satan, all the while Richard
beat her and bound her with her fiance's neck
ties from the closet. After assaulting her,
Richard managed to steal what valuables and cash he could find. Before leaving Bill to bleed out, Richard locked eyes
with the Inez once more and decided to leave her alive. Instead of executing
her, he told her, quote, "Tell them the Night Stalker was here." Once Richard fled the scene, Inez managed to break away from her bonds and rush over to her neighbor's
home to ask for help. Ultimately, Bill managed
to survive his injuries after having the three
bullets surgically removed. As she had been left alive,
Inez was able to provide police with the information they
so desperately needed, a physical description of the man who had been slaughtering people in the Los Angeles area for months. Police were also once
again able to photograph and cast the footprints left
in and outside the home. Just four days later the stolen car was located back in Los Angeles. And despite his efforts
to wipe the vehicle clean, investigators were able to
find a single fingerprint on the car's rear view mirror. The fingerprint was run
through the police databases and found to be a positive
match for Richard Ramirez. The next day Richard's name and face were released to the public. The whole state of California and beyond knew the Night
Stalker's true identity. On August 30th, 1985, Richard had decided to visit his brother who lived in Tucson, Arizona. Unbeknownst to him, his face was plastered on every newspaper and
every television station in the state of California. Unfortunately for Richard,
there was an issue with meeting up with his brother. And so he backtracked his
travels to return to Los Angeles. Richard ended up back in LA early on the morning of August 31st. And though he didn't know it, investigators had been
tracking his every move. Police believed that the Night Stalker would attempt to flee on an outbound bus, so they lined up all over the block in the hopes to stop him. Richard had noticed the police officers and managed to keep his head
low and avoid being spotted as he walked into a
nearby convenience store, that is until a group of
women caught a glimpse of him. The group of old Mexican
women, shrieked in fear and called out frantically
that the man before them was none other than el matone, the killer. Richard looked around in a panic as he realized that dozens of magazines in the store had one
face staring down at him. His own. Richard fled from the
store as fast as he could, and even darted across
the busy Santa Ana Freeway in the middle of traffic
in an attempt to get away. In his mad dash for a hiding place, Richard attempted to carjack
a variety of vehicles, but was unsuccessful in each attempt. All of a sudden, bystanders
watching Richard run realized they were in the presence of the Night Stalker in broad daylight. Together, a group of residents
from the neighborhood managed to tackle him to the ground. One resident even
managed to strike Richard over the head with a metal bar, forcing the serial killer to
fall to his knees in pain. The group of good Samaritans relentlessly beat the subdued Richard until police arrived and
promptly arrested him for his brutal crime spree. Richard was then finally taken to court for his horrific attacks and murders. He is famously remembered for shouting during the court proceedings, - "Hail Satan." - [Narrator] And drawing
a pentagram on his hand, which he showed to the court, as well as another in his
blood on the wall of his cell. Interestingly, The
state of Richard's teeth ended up being a turning
point in his trial. Richard was known to have decaying teeth, and by the time he was in jail, nine of his teeth were rotting, while some were missing altogether from both his upper and lower jaw. His father had provided him
with an alibi during his trial, stating that Richard had been in Texas during one of the weeks where
there had been three attacks, and therefore could not be the killer. Yet, a dentist from Los
Angeles later testified that he had actually treated
Richard for his rotting teeth during that time period, proving that his father had lied. On September 20th, 1989,
Richard Ramirez was convicted of 13 counts of murder,
five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. On November 7th, 1989,
Richard was sentenced to 19 respective death sentences in the state of California
via gas inhalation. After his sentencing was revealed, Richard told reporters, "Big deal. "Death always went with the territory. "See you in Disneyland." That quote alone sent shivers down the news reporters' spines. But perhaps one of the most chilling parts of Richard's trial was
the overwhelming obsession that countless women had with the man who wreaked havoc throughout
Southern California. In fact, multiple women who
claimed to be fans of Richard would write him letters, and even pay him visits in prison. One woman in particular, Doreen Lioy, wrote Richard around 75 letters in total during his incarceration. Doreen described Richard as, quote, "He's kind, he's funny, he's charming. "I think he's a really great person. "He's my best friend. "He's my buddy." Richard asked Doreen to marry him, and despite the fact that
he would be in prison for the rest of his life
until he was executed, they were married within the walls of San Quentin State
Prison in October of 1996. For years after their
official wedding date, Doreen swore to reporters,
friends, and family members alike that she would take her life the same day that Richard was to be executed. However, their supposed
love did not seem to last. Doreen eventually left Richard
for one reason or another that was never expressed publicly. Though some have speculated
Doreen became disturbed at Richard's lack of
empathy for his crimes. Richard did not seem to mind much. In fact, Richard eventually
ended up engaged, yet again. This time to a 23-year-old
writer, Christine Lee. Because of the state of California's notoriously lengthy appeals process, Richard Ramirez would
have been in his early 70s by the time his execution
was properly carried out. However, the infamous Night
Stalker never made it that far. On June 7th, 2013, Richard
died of complications secondary to B-cell lymphoma
at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae California at 53 years old. Though Richard can no
longer torture the residents of the greater Los Angeles area, his victims and their families feel little closure in
the Night Stalker's death. Rather, Richard Ramirez's
story serves as a reminder that monsters are real
and they are vicious. Richard was a cruel killer, one with no remorse whatsoever. If you take anything
away from this episode we hope it is this. Lock your doors, stay alert, and remember to always double-check the shadows. You never know what or
who could be lurking there just beyond your field of vision.
