Childhood
- Born on February 28, 1960 in El Paso, Texas.
- His cousin Mike told him stories of torturing Vietnamese woman during his time in the Vietnam War.
- At the age of 13, his cousin Mike murdered his wife and Ramirez witnessed it.
- His teenage rebellion against his parents was mostly caused by marijuana; it alienated him from his parents so he began to spend time with his cousin Mike.
- He had sexual and perverted thoughts and actions at the age of 12.
- He had intercourse with a prostitute at the age of 12.
Future Problems
- Turned onto Satanic worship because of his cousin who was a solider that recently returned from the Vietnam war.
- He was arrested for misdemeanor charges; such as shop lifting.
- In California he was arrested twice for auto theft.
Adult Life
- He dropped out of the ninth grade, smoked marijuana along with other drugs and lived on junk food; junk food rotted his teeth.
- He married Doreen Lioy in jail; she sent him 75 letters which caught his attention and he proposed to her at a jail visit.
- Never had children but Doreen's dream was to have five or six kids with him.
- He had about 12 to 15 "girlfriends" in jail while seeing Doreen.
"In her CNN interview, Doreen called Richard 'kind,' 'charming' and 'funny,' doting upon her husband in a way usually not reserved for murderers. She added that she 'think(s) he’s a really great person.'"
Mental Disorders
- There were no noted mental disorders but as a child, he was diagnosed with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (this means that he had many seizures).
Crimes Done by Richard Ramirez
- Repeatedly raped women.
- Made a habit of stealing cars.
- After a murder, Ramirez often drew a Satanic pentagram as his signature.
- Usually, his pattern was to burglarize the home, kill the husbands and rape their wives.
- Ramirez tortured more than 25 victims and killed at least 13 in about two years by shooting, stabbing, gauging out their eyes and sexually assaulting them.
- His most known act was murdering Vincent Zazzara and his wife, Maxine. He shot Vincent, then brutally assaulted Maxine and stabbed her to death. He then gouged out her eyes. In the book, "The Night Stalker," by Philip Carlo on page 51 it states, "He decided on her eyes; that would be his way of having a piece of her soul. Quickly yet carefully, he cut away her eyelids, removed both of her eyes and put them in a little jewelery box he had found, laughing as he did so. Then he stabbed her in the stomach, throat and pubic area." This is his most popular act because she was the first victim found without any eyes.
Richard's Behavior When He Was Caught:
- When Richard Ramirez was spotted in a liquor store a woman scream, " THE NIGHT STALKER" and everyone quickly formed a mobbed around him.
- Richard tried to steal a car, to escape the mob, but the owner was underneath it doing repairs.
- The people in the mob would beat him until the police had arrived.
- Richard then rose his hands up to the police, begging for protection and identified himself as the Night Stalker
Richard Ramirez at Trial
Charges and Sentences
- On September 20, 1989, The Night Stalker was found guilty on 43 counts in Los Angeles County.
- 5 attempted murders.
- 11 accounts of sexual assault
- 14 accounts of burglary
- He was charged with 13 murders.
- He was sentenced to death on each of the murder accounts,
- He was sentenced to the gas chambers for death.
- When Ramirez, the Night Stalker, was notified of his sentence to death, he responded, "Big deal... Death always went with the territory." and told reporters, "I'll see you in Disneyland."
Life In Prison
- Richard Ramiez was in prison for about 24 years before he died on June 7th, 2013 at age 53.
- He received many fan letters from females.
- Philip Carlo, the author of "The Night Stalker" met Ramirez and interviewed him and he got a lot of information from him on his murders.
- He married a "groupie" in prison.
- Richard died of cancer at age 53 .