Richard Ramirez
| Richard Ramirez | |
|---|---|
Ramirez in 2007
|
|
| Born |
Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramírez February 29, 1960 El Paso, Texas |
| Died | June 7, 2013 (aged 53) Greenbrae, California |
| Cause of death | B-cell lymphoma |
| Other names | "The Night Stalker", "The Walk-In Killer", "The Valley Intruder" |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Spouse(s) | Doreen Lioy (m. 1996; div. 2013) |
| Conviction(s) |
|
| Killings | |
| Victims | 14 |
|
Span of killings
|
April 10, 1984 – August 24, 1985 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | California |
|
Date apprehended
|
August 31, 1985 |
Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramírez, known as Richard Ramirez (February 29, 1960 – June 7, 2013), was an American serial killer, rapist, and burglar. His highly publicized home invasion crime spree terrorized the residents of the greater Los Angeles area, and later the residents of the San Francisco area, from June 1984 until August 1985. Prior to his capture, Ramirez was dubbed the "Night Stalker" by the news media. He used a wide variety of weapons, including handguns, knives, a machete, a tire iron, and a hammer. Ramirez, who was an avowed Satanist, never expressed any remorse for his crimes. The judge who upheld his thirteen death sentences remarked that Ramirez's deeds exhibited "cruelty, callousness, and viciousness beyond any human understanding". Ramirez died of complications from B-cell lymphoma while awaiting execution on California's death row.
Ramirez was born in El Paso, Texas, on February 29, 1960, the youngest of Julian and Mercedes Ramirez's five children. His father, a Mexican national and former Juarez policeman who later became a laborer on the Santa Fe railroad, was a hard-working man prone to fits of anger that often resulted in physical abuse. As a child, Ramirez sustained two serious head injuries. When he was two years old a dresser fell on top of him, causing a forehead laceration requiring 30 stitches to close. When he was five years old he was knocked unconscious by a swing at a park, after which he experienced frequent epileptic seizures that persisted into his early teens. As a 12-year-old he was strongly influenced by his older cousin, Miguel ("Mike") Ramirez, a decorated U.S. Army Green Beret combat veteran who often boasted of his gruesome exploits during the Vietnam War. He shared Polaroid photos of his victims, including Vietnamese women he had raped. In some of the photos Mike posed with the severed head of a woman he had abused. Ramirez, who had smoked marijuana since the age of 10, bonded with Mike over many joints and gory war stories. Mike taught his young cousin some of his military skills, such as killing with stealth and surety. Around this time, Ramirez began to seek escape from his father's violent temper by sleeping in a local cemetery.
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Wikipedia