True Crime Friday: Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker Serial Killer
Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramirez was born February 29,1960 in the State of Texas. During his reign of terror, he had several monikers, but he is known as the Night Stalker. For those that may not be aware, one of the policemen working the case named Ramirez the Night Stalker after the television show The Night Stalker. This show starred Darren McGavin as a crime reporter who investigated and solved mysterious and supernatural murders. Many of these murders occur at night, hence the name of the Night Stalker. This show was wildly popular back in the day and now is a cult classic.
Richard Ramirez was a serial killer, rapist, burglar and petty thief. His reign of terror happened between 1984 and 1985. He savagely raped and murdered women, men and children. He was an unorganized serial killer according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Behavior Unit profile. Ramirez murdered at least fourteen people during his burglaries. He was convicted of his crimes and sentenced to death. He was awaiting execution at a State of California prison when he died in 2013.
The Early Childhood of Richard Ramirez
Ramirez was abused by his father and was diagnosed with brain damage from the abuse. He started to use drugs at the tender age of ten to deal with his abusive upbringing. His father was a police officer. He became close to a cousin who was a veteran from the Vietnam War. The veteran suffered from schizophrenia and (PTSD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His cousin bragged about the war crimes he committed while in Vietnam. Richard was fascinated with those stories of rape and gore; he began to have fantasies about torturing and raping women.To escape his father’s abuse, Richard went to live with his cousin and wife. During this period his cousin had a fight with his wife in front of Richard. He shot her in the face instantly killing her. Ramirez said he was intrigued seeing the blood gush from her body. The scene did not make him feel any sympathy for the victim.
His parents were very abusive and religious. This may have been one of the reasons that Ramirez took an interest in Satanism and the occult when he was in his teens. Ramirez moved to California at the age of twenty-two and started using cocaine. He began to terrorize the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas for at least fourteen months.
Ramirez did not follow a standard methodology. He used knives, guns, a machete and strangulation. He was so vicious that he stomped a victim to death while she slept. He took the eyeballs of one of his victims with him in a jewelry box.
The Victims of Richard Ramirez
- Jennie Vincow, 79
- Dale Okazasi , 34
- Tsai-Lian “Veronica”, 30
- Vincent Zazzara , 64
- Maxine Zazzara , 44
- William Doi, 65 .
- Mable “Ma” Bell, 84
- Mary Louise Cannon, 77
- Joyce Lucille Nelson, 61
- Max Kneiding , 68
- Lela Kneiding, 66
- Chainarong Khovananth, 32
- Elyas Abowath, 31
The Survivors of Richard Ramirez
- Maria Hernandez, 20
There were also several unknown victims.
Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Stone described Ramirez as a "made" psychopath as opposed to a "born" psychopath. Ramirez suffered from schizophrenia which contributed to his indifference to the suffering of his victims. Dr. Stone also stated that Ramirez was knocked unconscious and almost died on multiple occasions before he was six years old, which also contributed to his anti-social behavior.