THE NIGHTSTALKER By Kim van Zandwijk Richard Ramirez

THE NIGHTSTALKER By: Kim van Zandwijk

Richard Ramirez ■ Richard Ramirez, age 24 at start of murders ■ Born and raised in El Paso, Texas ■ Abused by father ■ 2 severe head injuries that led to frequent seizures ■ Witnessed cousin murdering his wife when he was 13 ■ When cousin was released, they did drugs together. LSD, cocaine.

First murder ■ June 28, 1984 ■ Victim: 79 -year-old Jenny Vincow ■ Raped and found dead in her own bed ■ Belongings were stolen, signs of break in. ■ Left a fingerprint

Second Murder ■ March 17, 1984 ■ That same night: ■ Victims: Maria Herandez, Dayle Okazaki ■ Victim: Tsai-Lian Yu ■ Followed Maria home and shot her as she walked through her door. ■ Bullet was deflected on her keys, Maria played dead. ■ Ramirez entered home and shot Dayle. ■ Followed her car on the freeway ■ When she pulled over to confront and call police, he forced his way inside and shot her. ■ Ballistic found bullets from these two were similar ■ Confirmed this was same killer

More detail ■ Snuck into random homes, trying all the doors and windows ■ Travelled all over California, using freeways to move between cities ■ Always shot men dead first ■ Raped the women, sometimes they were killed or left alive ■ Stole anything of value ■ Lefts pentagrams as signs of Satanism ■ Also left shoeprints of the rare Avia Aerobics shoe ■ Active killings for 14 months until arrested

How he got caught ■ Young boy saw Ramirez, phoned 911 to report the license plate number ■ Car was found abandoned, but had fingerprints. ■ Fingerprints lead to Richard Ramirez. ■ Pictures were found and everyone was on alert for him ■ Ramirez was recognized on the street ■ People started chasing him, beating him up until the police arrived.

The Forensic Evidence ■ Shoeprints ■ Ballistics ■ Fingerprints ■ Played a crucial part in connecting the murders and linking them to him. ■ Invaluable for the trials in order to get him convicted.

Convictions ■ Convicted on Sept. 20, 1989. ■ 13 accounts of murder ■ 5 attempted murders ■ 11 sexual assaults ■ 14 burglaries ■ Sentenced to die in California’s death chamber

Marriage & Death ■ Lots of female fans who wrote him love letters during his death row. ■ Doreen Lioy, one such fan, married him in 1996 inside the jail. ■ Ramirez passed away of complications of BCell lymphoma in 2013.

Works Cited ■ Buchanan, Paul. “How a 13 -Year-Old Boy Brought Down L. A. ’s Most Notorious Serial Killer” Los Angeles Magazine, 15 May 2017. https: //www. lamag. com/citythinkblog/13 -year-old-boy-brought-down-notoriousserial-killer-richard-ramirez-night-stalker/ ■ “Richard Ramirez ( The Night Stalker ) - Serial killer documentary. ” Youtube, uploaded by Serial Killer Documentaries, 5 June 2017. https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=mt. EOz. X 8 V 6 y. I ■ Serena, Katie. “The Twisted Tale Of Richard Ramirez, The “Night Stalker” Serial Killer Of 1980 s Los Angeles. ” All That’s Interesting, 5 Dec. 2017. https: //allthatsinteresting. com/richard-ramirez-night-stalker ■ Travis. “Doreen Lioy was Married To a Serial Killer - When Did She Divorce? ” Glamour Fame, 18 Oct. 2019. https: //glamourfame. com/doreen-lioy-married-toserial-killer-divorce