Demonic serial killer Richard Ramirez, who became known as the “Night Stalker,” terrorized California in the mid-1980s with a spree of brutal sexual assaults and murders.
Ramirez’s rampage across Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area came to a dramatic end with his capture in the summer of 1985. His arrest was preceded by a shocking and bloody confrontation with an enraged mob of L.A. residents.
The Peacock original docuseriesRichard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes offers an insightful view of the mass killer and sex offender. The two-part series, told through new interviews with those who were close to the case and the killer— as well as through decades-old prison recordings with Ramirez himself, many of them never heard before — premieres on the streaming service on Tuesday, December 10, 2024.
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Who was Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker"?
Born in 1960 in El Paso, Texas, Ramirez went from being a drifter to an infamous predator who killed with guns, knives, hammers and his bare hands. He was linked to at least 14 slayings of women, men, children and even octogenarians, Parade reported.
Ramirez claimed to be inspired by Satan and left occult symbols as his deadly calling card at several murder scenes. He was labeled the “Night Stalker” because he carried out his heinous crimes under the cover of darkness.
In late August of 1985, police had identified Ramirez as the suspect behind the Night Stalker crimes. This big break in the case came when fingerprints from a stolen car used by Ramirez were matched to his earlier criminal record for auto theft, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Richard Ramirez, accused of being the serial killer called the "Night Stalker", appears in court. Photo: Getty Images
Mug shot made public
On August 29, 1985, law enforcement officials released a mug shot of Ramirez from the earlier bust to the media.At the press conference, police announced: “We know who you are now, and soon everyone else will. There will be no place you can hide,” The Indepenentreported.
That assertion turned out to be true. Ramirez’s mug shot was plastered across newspapers and television broadcasts, alerting the public to the face of the man who’d held them in a fatal grip of fear.
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Ramirez returned to East Los Angeles on August 31, 1985, after he'd stopped in Arizona to visit relatives, CNN reported. He was unaware that his face had been widely circulated.
Ramirez got a reality check when he picked up a newspaper at a stand near a bus station and spotted his photo.Locals observed this. When Ramirez bolted, he was pursued. He attempted to carjack a vehicle by trying to grab a woman’s car keys as she was getting into her vehicle.
“She recognized him right away. She screamed, ‘It’s the killer, the killer,’” the woman's brother told the San Bernardino Sun.
Richard Ramirez, accused of being the serial killer called the "Night Stalker", appears in court on May 6, 1986. Photo: Getty Images
Richard Ramirez beaten by mob
The woman's husband attacked Ramirez with a metal gate post. “He hit him in the head three times," the woman's brother said. "Somebody told him to stop hitting him because he probably would have killed him.”
The situation escalated. As Ramirez fled on foot, residents gave chase. At the same time, police launched an air and ground search, an effort aided by ongoing reports from residents.
“It seemed like alert citizens were reporting the suspect every step of the way,” a police commander told the El Paso Timesin 1985.
Ramirez tried to evade his pursuers, jumping fences and darting through backyards. At least one civilian struck him with barbecue utensils that he’d turned into makeshift weapons.
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Ramirez was eventually rounded up by police and taken into custody. According to a report inThe Washington Post, Tom Capra, who was news director at KNBC at the time, said that when Ramirez was put into a patrol car, he said, “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me,” and added in Spanish, "I'm lucky the cops got here.”
Ramirez was initially taken to Hollenbeck Police Station in L.A., according to the El Paso Times, which reportedthat500 people who had gathered outside the station yelled, “Kill him! Kill him!”
Where is Richard Ramirez today?
In the years that followed his arrest, Ramirez was convicted of 13 murders and numerous other crimes. Ramirez died at age 53 from cancer while on death row in 2013.
Learn more about how Los Angeles residents helped catch the serial killer in Peacock’s Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes, premiering Tuesday, December 10, 2024.
