There's no thrill like a good kill.

The Thrill of the Kill Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker, once said in an interview, there's no thrill like a good kill.

That was because he had no motive in his killings.

He didn't target specific groups of individuals like other serial killers.

Some serial killers would target women, sex workers, or even people of different cultures, races and ethnicities.

Richard did not.

He simply just wanted to kill and he killed all kinds of different people.

This is part two of the Night Stalker episode.

Here's a quick recap from Part one.

Richard Ramirez was first known as the Walk In Killer and the Valley Intruder before infamously becoming known as the Night Stalker.

This was because he was known for breaking into people's homes in the middle of the night and and robbing, sexually assaulting and murdering them.

There was a lot of trauma and violence in Richard's life from a very young age.

He had concussions from being hit in the head with a swing as a child and a dresser falling on him when he was a toddler.

His father was an aggressive alcoholic and his mother had worked in a boot factory where she breathed in toxic fumes while she was pregnant with him and she also struggled with her own mental health.

Richard's cousin had a huge influence on his violence.

His cousin was a Vietnam War vet and when he returned home from the war, he told young Richard all about how he killed and sexually assaulted people while in the war.

He showed young Richard pictures from the war and he also taught Richard some of his stealth and kill techniques he learned while he was in the military.

When Richard was 15, his cousin shot and killed his wife right in front of him during a domestic dispute.

Richard was known to be a heavy cocaine user and experimented with LSD and many other drugs.

He had a fascination with Satanism and would study the occult and read books on serial killers and perform dark rituals.

Also, I talked about several of his crimes and how they took place among I will continue to talk about those crimes in this episode.

Warning this episode contains graphic topics including burglary, sexual abuse, drug abuse, violence, satanic topics, and murder.

I use music, sound effects and recordings that could be terrifying and eerie.

Listener discretion is advised.

I'm your host Clay Jones and you're listening to Nocturnal Novels.

Sam.

Picking up from Where We Left off in Part one A few nights after Mary Cannon's brutal murder, Richard broke into a home in Sierra madre and bludgeoned 16 year old Whitney Bennett with a tire iron as she slept in her bedroom.

After searching in vain for a knife in the kitchen, Richard tried to strangle the girl with a telephone cord.

He stated that he was startled to see electrical sparks come from the cord.

And when his victim began to breathe, he fled from the house believing that a higher power such as God had intervened to save her.

Bennett survived the attack, although 478 stitches were required to close the lacerations in her scalp.

478 stitches.

That's a lot of stitches.

Richard must have bloodied her up pretty bad with that tire iron.

Imagine walking around with 478 stitches in your head after surviving a brutal attack from a serial killer.

July 7th, Richard burglarized the home of 60 year old Joyce Nelson in Monterey Park.

Finding her asleep on her living room couch, he beat her to death by stomping on her face repeatedly.

A shoe print from an Avia sneaker was left imprinted on her face.

After cruising two other neighborhoods, he returned to Monterey park and chose the home of Sophie Dickman, age 63.

Richard assaulted and handcuffed her at gunpoint, attempted to sexually assault her, stole her jewelry.

When she swore to him that he had taken everything of value, he told her to swear on Satan.

July 20, Richard purchased a machete and drove a stolen Toyota to Glendale.

He went into the home of 66 year old Layla Needing and her husband, 68 year old Maxine Needing.

He burst into the sleeping couple's bedroom and hacked them with the machete.

The then killed them with shots to the head from a.22 caliber handgun.

He further mutilated their bodies with the machete before robbing the house of valuables.

Now forgive me if I mispronounce any of these names.

After quickly selling the stolen items, Richard drove to Sun Valley, Los Angeles and broke into the home of the Kovanath family, per some kid Kovanaugh's report to the police.

She woke up at 12:30am to let her husband in as he had just gotten home from work.

He went to bed and she stayed in the living room.

She locked the front door.

A sliding glass door from the living room to the backyard was kept open.

Sometime after this, she was awakened by the opening of the sliding glass door.

She saw a tall skinny man with a gun who told her to be quiet and threatened to kill her.

He went into the bedroom and shot her husband, Shana Wrong Covavant at close range and then beat and sexually assaulted her.

She reported her attacker, then took her into the bedroom, tied her hands with a portable hairdryer cord, led her back into the bedroom, beat her again and forced her to engage in oral copulation and anal sex.

Around this time, the alarm clock went off in her son's room indicating it was 6am it was now daylight outside.

The assailant Richard went to her son's bedroom, beat him up, proceeded to the kitchen, got some fruit juice and returned to her son's room.

Fifteen minutes later, Richard began looking for jewelry and money.

She told him there was jewelry in the kitchen drawer, gave him $80 in cash and a silver coin collection.

Songkid said her assailant took her into her son's room.

She saw he had been tied up, his pajama bottoms were torn off and a sock was shoved in his mouth.

In an effort to get Richard out of the house.

She told him there was also jewelry in her husband's car in the garage.

There was.

They went to the garage and found $15 in a wallet under the front seat.

When they went back inside the house, Richard asked for a suitcase.

He put a VCR in the suitcase, put the jewelry into a pillowcase and put the pillowcases into the suitcase.

Some kid stated Richard then bound her again, leaving her on the master bedroom floor, slapped her and left.

LAPD arrived at the Kovanath residence at 7am During Richard's assault, he demanded that she swear to Satan that she was not hiding any money from him.

Chandrong was 32 at the time of his death.

Psalm Kidd was 29 and their son was 8 years old at the time of the attack.

They also had a two year old daughter which it seems Richard left her unbothered because reports do not describe anything happening to her during the robbery.

On August 6, 1985, Richard drove to Northridge and broke into the home of 30 year old Chris Peterson and Virginia Peterson, who was 27.

Virginia stated that on the night of August 5th she went to bed around 9pm and was awakened in the middle of the night because she heard footsteps in the hallway near her bedroom.

She saw a man enter her bedroom and she yelled, who are you?

What do you want?

Get out of here.

She attempted to shield Chris, who was on the opposite side of the bed, and Richard shot her on the left side of her face by her nose and then shot Chris close to his ear.

Chris managed to jump out of bed and chase Richard who fired multiple shots throughout the house, leaving bullets in walls and casings on the floor.

When Richard escaped, Virginia went and got her daughter from her bedroom and called 91 1.

Unable to wait for the ambulance, Chris drove them to the hospital.

Virginia's statement to the police described Richard as Male, light complected, athletically thin and tall.

She said his hair was dark, curly or wavy and comb back from his face.

Now, before we continue, I'm going to play an audio clip from these survivors on the Maury Povich Show.

The first lady was not a victim of Richards, but a victim of another crime.

We're talking with Rose Stewart.

She survived a vicious attack by a single serial killer, and she just told us our story, but we didn't get the finale of it.

Rose, what did your attacker get for a term?

For me, he got 56 years, and he's now on death row for the murders.

Our next guest is one of the only survivors of the notorious Night Stalker killing spree in which Richard Ramirez brutally murdered 13 people in their beds in Southern California.

Ginny Peterson was nearly one of them.

Somehow she survived.

You're in your bedroom, all of a sudden there's a guy, and it's the Night Stalker.

At that time, we were unaware that there was someone out there on a killing spree.

You and your husband?

My husband and myself.

There had been no formal notification that someone was out there killing at random.

And what did he do to you?

He entered the bedroom.

We argued briefly.

He leaned over and shot me through the face.

When I fell back onto the bed, my husband sat up.

He then shot my husband in the side of the head.

We both fell back on the bed, and we had a bit of a conversation between each other.

We thought perhaps it was someone playing a sick joke.

We couldn't believe the magnitude of what was happening to us.

Then we became aware that he was standing there laughing.

Later on in testimony, he would tell people from his jail cell that he liked to watch people wiggle like little worms before they expired, after he had shot them.

I was very fortunate in that my husband found the strength and the courage to jump up and chase him out of the house.

Meanwhile, still dodging two additional bullets, even.

Though he had been shot in the head.

You were shot in the face?

Yes.

You pass out?

No.

Neither.

Neither one of us at any time.

Lost consciousness later on.

You helped, I assume, in.

In the.

In the arrest of Richard Ramirez.

He was not arrested for three more weeks.

He was still on the loose.

We did go to a lineup several days after his capture, which was on September 1st.

And then we were part of the process of.

No problem IDing him, huh?

For myself, no.

There was none whatsoever.

I will never, ever forget that face.

I talked to Richard Ramirez a few months ago, believe it or not, about another show, and it was an exclusive Interview we did in August from death row in California.

And everyone should see what this guy is like and how he treats humanity and the human condition.

I think most humans have in them the capacity to commit murder.

It is not because.

No, we don't, Richard.

They choose not to.

Not because they are morally superior, as they so commonly claim, but because they are imprisoned in a way of responsibilities, commitments, beliefs and sentiments.

And that would render murder an absurd gamble or ridiculous self destruction.

What do you think of somebody like that?

He's the Richard Ramirez who you testified against.

I feel nothing but scorn, disgust and pity for him.

I don't know if I would even feel pity for him.

I do.

For someone to be that sick, to be that evil.

He was right in that we all have choices.

He chose his path.

He chose the death path, penalty every time he killed someone.

I didn't make that choice for him through my testimony.

Neither did anyone else.

Just as Rose and myself and my husband Chris, we have chosen to be survivors, as thousands of other people out there have.

He chose the path that he has taken.

We have lots of questions for you, but as we leave, just answer me this shot in the face.

It's amazing that there was not more damage done.

The damage that is done is not always apparent to everyone.

Both my husband and I have a great deal of neurological problems.

You don't notice it?

I notice that I lisp.

I have vision problems.

My husband has tinnitus.

The left side of his body is damaged, my right side.

But we say that together we make a whole person.

Just as we always have through our marriage.

We'll be back after this.

Hi.

I wanted to address this question to the both of you.

I wanted to know how he broke into your home and how safe do you feel now and how can you protect yourself and your family?

What about that, Jenny?

He apparently walked in through an open door because I didn't think this would ever happen to me.

Like most women.

And I'm now armed and dangerous and no one's going to do that to me again.

Any nightmares?

Yes, but not always about him.

They can take the form of any type of trouble that your imagination can come up with.

How do your families deal with what you went through, both of you?

I think that when you're attacked this way, the whole family is attacked because it just.

It blows everyone away.

And it's just so close to home and death is so near.

It's very difficult.

But I think our family's much closer now as a result of this.

Yeah.

Okay.

What went through your mind?

Like how did you calm yourself down to rational thought so you could escape from him?

Especially when you went in and out of consciousness?

Exactly.

Well, early on I just realized that if I. I was panicking and hyperventilating and shaking violently.

And I realized that if I didn't pull myself together and calm down and deal with the situation that I didn't have a chance in the world.

Jenny, what was going through your mind.

While the attack was occurring?

I knew that I had to distance myself.

It sounds strange, but it was as if one part of me was in the attack and another part was standing back saying, look at his shoes, look at his pants, look at his face.

Commit it to memory.

Because I knew that if I didn't do that, that my family, I had a small child down the hallway, that none of us had a chance.

For both of you, when you're walking down the street, is it hard to trust people again?

Is it hard?

I mean.

Jenny.

No.

Because if I allow him to victimize me, it's very much what Ro says.

We are survivors.

If we allow him to victimize us, then we are as much in a prison as he is.

And I refuse to be that.

Who is this?

Ginny.

That's my hero.

That's my husband, Chris.

Glad you put that time behind bars.

Thank you.

I want to thank you both for joining us, not only Chris and Ginny, but thank, thank you so much, Rose.

The stories are so compelling and your strength and courage have made it inspirational, I think, for all of us.

I thank you very much.

Thanks for joining us everyone.

Until next time.

A couple nights later on August 8, Richard drove a stolen car to Diamond Bar and chose the home of 27 year old Sakina Abowath and her husband, 31 year old Elias Abelwath.

Sometime after 2:30am Sakina was woken by a loud pop of a gun and was hit very hard on the head and forced onto her stomach.

She was handcuffed and beaten in the head.

Her attacker, Richard, stood on the bed and kicked her in the head with what felt like boots.

He bound her feet together and stuffed her mouth with clothing.

He forced her to swear upon Satan that she would not scream otherwise he would kill her two sons who were three years old and 10 weeks.

At some point Sakina ended up on the floor where she was blindfolded.

Later, Richard removed her gag and blindfold and demanded money and valuables.

Sakina guided him to the closet where the jewelry was hidden in a briefcase.

Sakina looked at Richard while they were in the bathroom.

So he hit her and ordered her not to look at him.

Richard went in and out of the bedroom multiple times while he ransacked the house.

On the final time, he returned to the master bedroom.

He dragged Sakina into the guest bedroom, beat her and sexually assaulted her in multiple ways.

He then covered her with the bedspread.

Richard offered her some respite when he allowed her to comfort her crying baby, but soon dragged her back to the guest bedroom and sexually abused her again and unsuccessfully attempted to anally abuse her.

When the three year old began to scream, Sabina told him to climb into bed with her.

Richard bound him and stuffed pillows on top of him, restricting his breath and asked Sakina for some tape to put over his mouth.

He left the room but returned laughing that he had hit her husband Elias, before handcuffing Sakina to the doorknob.

He then barricaded her inside the room with the bed cushions from the living room and left the scene.

Elias did not survive.

He died from the gunshot.

After Richard left the house, Sakina untied her son and sent him to the neighbors for help.

Richard had been closely following the news coverage of his crimes and left Los Angeles and headed to San Francisco.

Peter Pan, yes, his real name was Peter Pan and his wife, Barbara Pan, lived in the Lake Mercad area of San Francisco.

At about 10am on Aug. 18, their son stopped by their home and found Peter had been shot and killed and Barbara had been brutally attacked and sexually assaulted.

The house had been ransacked and jewelry stolen.

Peter was 66 and Barbara was 62.

He shot Peter in the temple while he was asleep, killing him instantly.

He beat and sexually assaulted Barbara before shooting her in the head and leaving her for dead.

Barbara survived, but would be invalid for the rest of her life.

At the scene, Richard used lipstick to draw a pentagram and the phrase Jack the Knife on the bedroom wall.

He again left a shoe print at the scene.

The detectives discovered and matched to a specific pair of Avia shoes that was not common at the time.

The San Francisco Police Department scrambled.

The city's mayor held a press conference revealing critical evidence to the public, including the type of Avia shoe print Richard had left at multiple crime scenes.

This was a fatal error.

Richard, seeing the news coverage, learned that investigators were tracking him through those prints.

He went to the Golden Gate Bridge and disposed of those shoes, which were never found.

San Francisco's brief brush with Richard sent shockwaves statewide.

The killer wasn't just an LA problem anymore.

He was now the state of California's problem.

Richard had a fascination with other serial killers.

He studied, researched and read books about various killers when he wasn't killing.

One of his favorites that he did the most research on was Jack the Ripper.

Richard also listened to a lot of heavy metal.

In 1976, the British heavy metal band Judas Priest released the album called Sad Wings of Destiny.

And on that album was a song called the Ripper.

The Ripper was a song about Jack the Ripper.

And some of the lyrics in this song are, you'll soon shake with fear Never knowing if I'm near, I'm sly and I'm shameless, Nocturnal and nameless except for the Ripper or if you like Jack the Knife.

So when Richard wrote the words Jack the Knife on the wall at Peter and Barbara Pan's house, it was basically his tribute to Jack the Ripper.

August 24th, Richard traveled 76 miles south of Los Angeles in a stolen orange Toyota to Mission Viejo.

That night he arrived at the home of 45 year old James Romero Jr. Who had just returned from a family vacation to Rosarito beach in Mexico.

James Romero's son, 13 year old James Romero III, was awake while his family was asleep, James III went outside of his house to retrieve a pillow from inside of a truck which was locked.

When he was outside, he heard a rustling noise.

Assuming it was an animal, James went to investigate but did not notice anything out of the ordinary.

James went into his garage to begin working on his mini bike before hearing Richard's footsteps outside of the house in their gravel driveway.

Thinking there was a prowler, James ran into his bedroom.

After observing Richard through his bedroom window, he went to wake his parents and Richard fled the scene.

James ran outside and noted the color, make and style of the car as well as a partial license plate number.

Mr. Romero contacted the police with this information, believing James had chased away a thief.

Here's an audio clip from Dave Lopez at CBS News talking to James Romero III when he was a child and 25 years later as an adult.

As Pat was saying earlier, a face to face encounter with the Night Stalker 25 years ago helped bring the serial killer's reign of terror to an end.

Back then, the teenager from Orange county didn't want to talk about what happened that fateful night.

But he's telling his story now only to CBS2's Dave Lopez.

@ the height of the rampage of the night Stalker Richard Ramirez, when his break ins of homes, rapes and murders was terrorizing all of Southern California, an alert 13 year old boy in Mission Viejo, James Romero changed the course of this story.

There's no question that James provided us with the most important, important piece of information out of over 2000 phone calls.

Hailed as a hero by law enforcement and public officials.

I tried to get Romero to give us details of exactly what he did nearly 25 years ago.

I kind of rather not comment on that, I guess.

I'll ask you what you wouldn't answer me 25 years ago.

Give me the details.

Well, and now for the first time since late August 1985, Romero publicly speaks about the details.

The night he met face to face with the Night Stalker.

It was an instinct and I just went and I saw somebody at our house and I just went chasing after them.

At age 38, asked Romero what the Night Stalker was wearing that night.

Blue jeans, black mammals only jacket, a baseball cap and the license plate 482RTS.

He didn't know anything about the Night Stalker tear.

He was just a 13 year old boy up late in his garage hearing a noise.

Someone was trying to break into his parents bedroom.

He took a look, saw a stranger and that stranger, Ramirez, took off running.

Do you think he saw you?

Yeah, I definitely, I know he, he was aware.

Why didn't he come after you?

You know, I'm not too sure.

But he was certain of the license plate that the man drove off in and it broke the case wide open.

Days after Romero's tip, police found Ramirez's car, lifted a print, ID'd him and then a few days after that he was arrested in East Los Angeles, nearly killed by an angry mob.

A city breathed a sigh of relief and Romero still didn't comprehend it all.

At that time.

I really didn't understand until when we had the conference and you know, all of a sudden I was presented with all the awards and gifts, all the accolades, money from then owner of the Rams Georgia Frontieri new dirt bike which he still has.

Heady stuff for a 13 year old.

Did this change your life?

It changed my life from the day it happened.

Really?

How so?

I would say a little mentally, you know, kind of tough.

Sure.

Through the years there have been threats, including one phone message that simply said to him, quote, if you testify, you're a dead man.

He did testify and he lived through all the threats.

But to this day, after all these years, there is still some regret.

There was many times I wish I didn't happen.

But you realize without you he could have killed many more people.

Sure, sure.

You know, throughout the years.

You know, I've come to appreciate what I, what I went through or what happened.

Newly married and with a limousine business, James Romero is fully aware of the impact of what he did.

And his answer today to this question is the same answer he gave at age 13.

Feel like a hero.

Yeah.

From San Clemente, Dave Lopez, CBS 2 News.

In 1989, the night stalker, Richard Ramirez was found guilty on 43 counts, including 13 murders.

He remains on death row awaiting execution.

The audio there kind of cuts off at the end, but it just says that he's on death row and he's waiting execution.

With his attack on the Romero residence aborted, Richard broke into the home of 30 year old Bill Karns and his fiance, 29 year old Inez Erickson.

Through a back door, Ramirez entered the sleeping couple's bedroom and awakened Karns.

When he cocked his handgun, he shot Karns three times in the head.

Before turning his attention to Ines, Richard identified himself as the Night Stalker and forced her to swear she loved Satan as he beat her with his fists and bound her with neckties from the closet.

After stealing what he could find, Richard dragged Erickson to another room.

Before sexually assaulting her, he demanded cash and jewelry and made her swear on Satan there was no more.

Before leaving the home, he told her, tell them the Night Stalker was here.

She untied herself and went to a neighbor's house for help.

Surgeons had removed two of the three bullets from Karn's head and he survived his injuries.

During some of his killing spree, Richard stayed at the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

The Cecil, already infamous, was home to drifters, addicts and those society overlooked.

Richard blended right in.

Guests of the hotel recalled him returning late at night with blood stains on his clothes.

He would remove all his bloody clothes, leaving him in his underwear and toss them in the dumpster in the alley and walk barefoot into the lobby.

No one questioned him.

It was the perfect lair for the Night Stalker, hidden in plain sight.

Now, if you haven't already listened to earlier episodes, you can go ahead and go back a couple episodes and listen.

I do attempt a two parter on the Cecil Hotel and there's a lot of crazy incidents that happened there.

So go ahead and go check that out.

By late August 1985, fear had reached an all time high.

Communities from Los Angeles to San Francisco to Orange county were all terrified.

Parents.

Locked windows, hardware stores sold out of deadbolts.

People slept with guns at their bedsides.

But the Mission Viejo Tack changed everything.

A face A fingerprint and a mistake with his stolen car finally gave investigators the breakthrough that they needed.

By late summer 1985, police and the public were desperate.

The killings were escalating, the brutality worsening.

Then, the smallest details.

A shoe print, a fingerprint.

Became the threads that would unravel Richard Ramirez's reign of terror.

At multiple crime scenes, detectives discovered rare Evia high top sneakers, size 11 and a half.

But it wasn't just the brand or the size.

It was the unique tread pattern, unusual in the 1980s.

Even more telling was where the prints were found.

Embedded in the mud outside of homes and smeared in the blood of victims inside.

This created an indelible record of the perpetrators movements from entering homes to fleeing after attacks.

Lead detectives on the case, Frank Salerno and Gil Carrillo, contacted the manufacturer of the shoes and were able to retrieve the sol.

Upon the discovery of the make and distribution across the United States, only six of them existed in the men's size 11 and a half, with five of those pairs shipped to locations in Arizona and one shipped to a shoe store in Los Angeles.

It was evident that the one pair of its size and kind in the state of California belonged to Richard.

When it was discovered that the ballistics in the shoe print evidence from the Los Angeles crime scenes match the pan crime scene, San Francisco's mayor released the information, including the gun caliber.

Now, I know I already talked about this part a little bit earlier, but I just wanted to give in a little bit more detail, which is why I'm talking about it again.

The leak from the San Francisco mayor infuriated detectives as they knew the killer would be following news coverage, which gave him the opportunity to destroy crucial forensic evidence.

And like I had mentioned earlier, Richard had indeed been watching the press, and he threw his Avia shoes over the side of the Golden Gate Bridge that very same night.

That orange Toyota that Richard had stolen during the Mission Viejo attack, He had later on abandoned it.

And even though he wiped the car down before leaving it, police collected fingerprint evidence on the rear view mirror, where he forgot to wipe.

In a city the size of Los Angeles, manually searching fingerprint files was a tedious process that could take days.

And even then, human error always left open the possibility of miscorrelations.

But in 1985, the LAPD had installed a computerized fingerprint database system similar to that used by the FBI and capable of more than 60,000 comparisons per second.

The system works by storing information about the relevant distance between the features of a fingerprint and comparing them to a Digitized image of the suspect's fingerprint.

Within minutes, the computer provided a positive match for the print from the orange Toyota.

The night stalker was Richard Ramirez, a 25 year old drifter from El Paso arrested several years earlier on a misdemeanor traffic violation.

Those working in the fingerprint department described the identification as a near miracle.

The computer had only just been installed and this was one of its first trials.

The system contained the fingerprints of only those criminals born after January 1, 1960.

Richard Ramirez was born in February 1960.

With that being said, this brand new technology helped create a break in the case.

On August 29, 1985, law enforcement officials decided to release a mugshot of Richard from a 1984 arrest for auto theft to the media.

At the police press conference, it was announced, we know who you are now, and soon everyone else will.

There will be no place that you can hide.

August 30, 1985.

Richard took a bus to Tucson, Arizona to visit his brother, unaware that he had become the lead story in every major news outlet and even televised across the country.

After failing to meet his brother due to him not being home, he returned to Los Angeles early on the morning of August 31st.

He walked past a couple of police officers who were stalking out the bus terminals in hopes of catching him should he attempt to flee on an outbound bus and into a convenience store in East Los Angeles.

After noticing a group of elderly Hispanic women fearfully yelling, el Matador, El Matador.

Richard saw his face on the front page of the newspaper.

He then fled the store in a panic.

El Matador is basically Spanish for killer.

When he ran, he attempted to steal a Ford Mustang, but angry locals pulled him out of the vehicle.

He continued to try to escape, running down the street, trying to take car keys from a lady's hand.

Her husband saw him and hit him in the head with a fence post during a pursuit.

At this point, an angry mob had formed to chase him down.

They cornered him and then restrained him and beat him with random objects.

Some lifted him by the shoulders and dragged him into an alley where they continued to beat him.

Richard struggled to break free.

One man reportedly banged Richard's head lightly against the car, warning him to stay down.

Others pummeled his torso and legs, immobilizing him completely.

They wanted him dead.

When police finally arrived, he was bloodied, bruised and barely conscious, pinned down by the citizens until law enforcement could take custody.

Trev Ramirez, arrested today after being held.

By an angry crowd.

Police today arrested the man they believe is a so called Night Stalker.

The man who may be the night stalker in custody.

California residents may sleep a little easier.

Yeah.

He looked at the picture of the newspaper.

He looks really scared, you know.

Give me the keys.

Give me the keys.

And then I looked up at his face and I saw his eyes.

And then I recognized that he was the one who killed.

That's when Manuel de la Torre got involved.

Manuel ran out front.

He got a metal stick from the right there from the gate, hit him in the head.

I gave him one by the car.

The man fell.

He started running away.

I chased him.

Then I gave him another hit.

The guy came at me with a piece of iron bar, and he hit me once over the head.

I turned around and swung in again, and he hit me on the wrist.

And at that point, I couldn't run anymore.

I sat down to take a breather, and I saw a sheriff's patrol car coming down the street.

And I knew that, you know, my life was over.

He said something in Spanish about I'm lucky the cops are coming or something, because he knew that we were going to.

Everybody was going to finish it.

The guy with the bar was telling his wife to go get a gift.

So he shoot me.

I didn't give a fuck at that point because I was so fucking tired.

I looked down the street and I saw sheriff's patrol car coming down the street.

What are you going to arrest me for?

You're gonna arrest me before?

Where's your car?

Never been arrested before in la.

How long ago?

What's your name, huh?

Back up on the sidewalk, bro, please.

Too bad.

Back up on the sidewalk.

I was just really pissed off at the way things had turned out, that I was under arrest now.

And I turned at all the people that around me and I spit at them.

I poked my tongue out at them.

I stuck it in and out, you know, like a serpent.

If I would have had a pistol, I would have made them scatter.

They wouldn't be as brave as they thought they were.

The audio right there is a little choppy, but what Richard says is, if I would have had a pistol, I would have made them scatter.

We're happy to announce that the individual we have in custody is Richard Ramirez.

The night started.

Richard's trial began in July 1988 and lasted for over a year.

His trial became a huge media spectacle.

He became a criminal celebrity, a rock star of sorts, and often wore dark sunglasses during parts of his trial.

His courtroom antics shocked all that were present.

He had pentagrams drawed on his palms and would constantly flash it at the cameras.

He would shout hail Satan.

He would shout Hail Satan.

In the courtroom repeatedly.

He would make obscene gestures towards victims families and the court.

He smiled and laughed while graphic evidence of his murders was presented.

He attempted to intimidate the jury by staring, wagging fingers or smirking.

Fan admirers in the courtroom cheered or waved, some later corresponding with him.

In prison, he locked eyes with victims families, trying to intimidate them.

Psychologists described his behavior as a mix of narcissism, defiance, an obsession with notoriety, treating the courtroom like a stage for performance.

The prosecution presented over 100 witnesses.

531 pieces of evidence of ESU prints connecting multiple murders, fingerprints from the stolen Toyota, ballistics evidence, stolen property and handcuffs and thumb cuffs.

As shocking as it may sound, Richard attracted a following of female admirers.

Women wrote him letters, sent him photographs and attended his trial.

Some called themselves as groupies.

Doreen Leo, a magazine editor, became his most famous admirer.

She exchanged letters, visited him frequently and eventually married him.

In 1996.

During his time in prison, she wrote him 75 letters.

This fascination is called hybristophilia and it only added to the disturbing mythology around Richard Ramirez.

Hybristophilia is the sexual interest in and attraction to those who commit crimes.

Manifestations of hybristophilia include the romanticization of criminals, especially serial killers.

Many high profile criminals, particularly those who have committed atrocious crimes, receive fan mail in prison that is sometimes amorous, are sexual.

Presumably because of this phenomenon.

Women who write pen pal letters to or even pursue men who are incarcerated for a crime are sometimes referred to as a prison groupie or a serial killer groupie.

In some cases, admirers of these criminals have gone on to marry the object of their affections in prison.

Other serial killers that had groupies were Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and despite being gay, Jeffrey Dahmer.

Here's an audio clip from the Gerardo Rivera show with one of Richard's admirers and family of survivors.

The reign of terror is over.

Those words spoken by authorities describe the capture of Richard Ramirez, a drifter and self described devil worshipper who was eventually convicted of 13 brutal murder in Southern California.

Ramirez would enter his victim's home through an unlocked window or door and first murder the man of the house.

Then he would burglarize the home and assault or kill the women.

In court, Ramirez has displayed a range of emotions from the sublime to the demented.

I don't even know why I'm wasting my breath or what the Hell, you maggots make me sick.

You don't understand me.

You are not expected to.

You are not capable of it.

I am beyond your experience.

I am beyond good and evil.

Legions of the night, night breed.

Repeat not the errors of my father and show no mercy.

I will be avenged.

Lucifer dwells within us all.

And Cindy, you.

Can you care for this man?

Yes, I do.

That's just one side of him, but.

That'S a dreadful sense side.

That's a.

Well, everybody has a dreadful side.

Everyone, I would say, majority of people have.

There's a good and there's a bad side.

Maxson and Leela Nightingale of Glendale, California were murdered by Ramirez in 1985.

I think they were the 10th and the 11th victims of the man.

Junie Arnold, their daughter joins us right now on the telephone.

Judy, have you been listening for the last couple years of minutes?

Yes, I have.

I'd like your reaction to Cindy's feelings for Ramirez.

Well, I'm confused that it's Cindy on the program, but since it is, I. I don't understand Cindy.

I think she's just a little girl in search of attention.

I mean, Ramirez is a cold blooded murderer.

How did he.

Can you briefly.

To the extent that you.

You feel you are able to.

Can you briefly describe the manner in which he killed your parents?

Oh, yes, I can.

He went in.

He.

They were sleeping.

He shot my father in the head.

He shot my mother in the head.

My mother's face was almost completely blown off and my father's head was almost severed completely.

And that's how he left him.

Cindy, you know that you sat on that jury.

You saw the evidence.

You saw the photos of the crime scenes.

How can you have any kind of emotionally positive feelings toward a butcher?

I look beyond that.

I look at what's behind that.

Why.

The why of it, that's.

That was my.

My reason for seeking it.

How much of your life now are you spending with Richard?

I mean, you.

Does he occupy every day of your life?

I mean, he's quite demanding, isn't he?

I wouldn't say he's demanding, no.

But I spend some time with him each day.

Each day.

Usually people think of me.

I'm doing what I have to do.

He did not get a fair trial.

That is my main point.

Best friend in a very unusual situation, in that she was a member of the jury, which, as you said, not only convicted him, but returned a death verdict.

I mean, he could die in San Quentin's gas chamber because of her decision in that jury room.

Which is quite remarkable.

There are many of us, myself among them, who would say that's not such a bad thing.

How would you feel, however, if indeed the death sentence was carried out on this man to whom you are now showing such at least compassion?

I would feel very sad.

He didn't get a fair trial, but he was convicted.

And you believe, correct me if I'm wrong, it is my understanding that, Cindy, you believe Richard Ramirez guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the brutal murders and rapes and robberies and dismemberment of 13 members of your community, innocent people like Judy's parents.

Yes.

But you understand that because his trial was not fair, the defense did not present anything to create a reasonable doubt.

If I may say something, I think one of the.

Put it in its proper context.

Cindy, with what she heard in court, I guess, as she said today, still believes he's guilty.

She hasn't heard the other side of the coin.

And one of the troubling things is that the jury heard.

They didn't consider his childhood, that they didn't consider his.

They didn't hear anything.

We don't know they didn't hear anything.

Do you doubt that he took the knife and cut the head off of Judy's father or the shotgun and blew his face off?

Do you believe he did that?

I convicted him.

And you rats or maggots.

He called us you maggots.

And I believe you were included in the description of maggot as a joke.

Probably I was.

You maggots can't possibly understand me.

How?

How can you?

An educated woman, an educated professional woman.

I mean, what do you guys talk about?

The angel scores.

That's not how he normally talks.

He likes to put on a show for the media's sake.

Someone said so do you.

Who said that?

Oh, that's very cynical back there.

Very, very.

But what do you chat about?

I talk about what I do on my life.

He talks about what he does.

But isn't he a self centered kind of guy?

Isn't he mostly interested in what you can do for him?

No, he's done a lot for me.

Wait, we can hardly wait.

Sure you can.

And what is it that Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker, has done for you?

He's very intelligent and as I said, he is striving to improve himself, to understand himself, to understand his anger and how to control that.

And he feeds that information to me.

Would you like to see him free Sunday?

I won't answer that.

Richard, you gotta lift out of the.

Where's the winner now?

And that carries a risk.

There is something in our nature, a sense of curiosity about man's darker side that draws us to these strangers who kill and kill again, even fictional killers.

The case would drag on for years with the Texas drifter frequently disrupting the proceedings by displaying satanic signs like this pentagram tattooed to the palm of his hand or by shouting a obscenities at court spectators or at trial.

Judge MICHAEL Ty I won't.

I won't come back in here again.

You understand that this trial is a joke.

Pill.

You watch the women who go to see him, as I did watch the women go to the jails to visit him.

They all come away with the same glazed look, look on their face.

He really, there's something about him.

And maybe Mr. Rustler can help me figure it out because I sure haven't been able to figure out what it.

Is about Richard Ramirez.

Well, he's not expounding his.

His.

When he's not egocentric as he is, he, he's a caring guy sometimes.

Did he care about the 13 people you have just told me that you are convinced he killed no case mutilate?

Not at all.

And the fact that he, he did that to those people, that's not enough to make you hate him?

I don't hate him.

I don't agree with what he did in any way, shape or form.

No.

Let me ask.

In fact, her sister Christina was supposed to be with her grandparents that night.

She joins in the audience.

Robyn, what's your feeling about what you've heard?

I'm a little baffled by how someone can say that they love somebody who's done heinous things to other people.

What did Richard Ramirez do to your grandparents?

He first stalked them by parking in front of their house, watching their movements.

Broke into their house one evening.

Well, actually didn't break into it through an unopened door.

He entered their house or unlocked door, excuse me, and proceeded to shoot my grandfather in the head, shoot my grandmother three times and stab her repeatedly.

I can't explain to people how it feels.

It's not something, excuse me.

It's not something I can ask people to understand, but I think to give attention to people who feel that he was given an unfair trial when my grandparents possessions were found on him at his fences and the gentleman that was selling or purchasing them from him.

It disturbs me.

It's a frightening thing to think that we as a nation think that these kind of people are normal.

That is not a normal thing to be attracted to someone who's so evil and so dangerous.

I really don't know how to address these people.

I don't have to address these people in my everyday life.

And so to actually have to sit here and I'm doing this because of my mom, my aunt, my uncle and my grandparents.

And it frightens me that we all think that this is acceptable.

It's.

It's not acceptable.

Dr. Carol Lieberman.

It's not acceptable.

Is it?

Or is it?

Now here's Richard's wife, Doreen, talking about her marriage and her feelings for him.

So the bride is wearing white, right?

I'm entitled to.

I can wear it, honestly.

You have the wedding bands with you?

Yes, yes.

And they're very simple.

Maybe you can describe them and what inspired you to get them.

Mine is just a simple 14 karat gold band and his is platinum, which was his request.

And considering that's his only request about the wedding, I was only too happy to get that done for him.

And we engraved them.

Whoops.

And what do they say?

His to me says, to my one and only love Richard, and mine to him says, I love you forever, Doreen, and we can exchange these tomorrow.

So can you honestly say and look deep into your heart, into your soul, that you love this man?

Oh, with all my heart, more than anything.

Does he love you?

Oh, he loves me.

I know.

I feel his love.

It's really the only thing I have to cling to.

And I do.

You touched for the first time last month.

What was that like for you?

It was amazing.

It was almost like a dying person in the desert.

And there was a mirage and I was afraid if I touched it and he would disappear.

But he didn't.

He didn't disappear.

It was wonderful.

We had our first embrace and he was warm and strong and just.

It was wonderful.

Is your family going to be in attendance at the wedding?

No.

They don't support you in this, do they?

Well, they're entitled to their opinion.

I don't.

I don't hold it against them at all.

They can.

It's very difficult, but I have the support of Richard's family.

They're totally supportive.

So to me, that's a trade off and then a compromise.

But there are many who would look at Richard Ramirez in the eye and say, he is the face of evil.

I can't help the way the world looks at him.

They don't know him the way I do.

I see sides to him that they don't see.

Do you believe he committed the crimes?

No, not at all.

Not at all.

I Believe in his innocence.

Once Doreen found out about the DNA evidence that was released in 2009 and linked to Richard's first crime, she distanced herself from him and stopped defending him.

That was the nine year old girl that he had sexually abused and killed.

Doreen eventually stopped riding him and visiting him.

She's been out of the public eye since.

Now I'm going to play a few more clips from some interviews that Richard had done since he's been in prison.

What do you want the world to know about you?

The world has been fed many lies about me.

I have read very few truths.

Who are you?

Just a guy.

Just a guy.

I have friends.

That is all I care to say really.

They are open minded people.

And it was here in a cramped room in a San Francisco jail that I interviewed the man known as the Night Stalker.

A memorable face off with me asking questions and Ramirez for the most part, reading from a script.

Did you kill 13 people?

It would be improper for me to comment on my LA convictions and on my pending case here in San Francisco.

Why?

Because of my appeals.

Are you appealing these because you say you're innocent?

You didn't kill 13 people.

That is correct.

You didn't kill 13 people.

Again, it would be improper for me to comment in any regard to that question.

You have now entered a very rare group of people in this country.

You're in the ranks of Charlie Manson, Ted Bundy.

You claim you didn't commit these murders, but you're right in there.

Now, as far as everybody else is concerned, serial killers do on a small scale what governments do on a large one.

They are a product of the times and these are bloodthirsty times.

Even psychopaths have emotions if you dig deep enough.

But then again, maybe they don't.

Do you have emotions, Richard?

No comment.

Tell me what kind of emotions you got going through you right now.

I'll tell you what.

I gave up on love and happiness a long time ago.

Why?

I don't care to explain that.

Let the quote stand for itself.

People in this day and age are brainwashed and programmed like a computer at being nothing more than puppets.

This nation, this country, is founded in violence.

Violent delights tend to have violent ends.

Madness is something rare in individuals.

But in groups, people and ages it is a rule.

Killing is killing, whether done for duty, profit or fun.

Men murdered themselves into this democracy.

You're good at reading your script, Richard, but you're not much at answering my direct questions.

A lot was made that you're a devil worshipper.

Do you worship the devil?

Have you ever studied Satanism?

There are different sects of Satanism.

Have you studied yes or no?

Have you studied Satanism?

Yes, I have.

Are you a worshiper of the devil?

No comment.

Come on, Richard.

I can tell you a little bit about Satanism.

Well, I'm interested in hearing what you got to say.

Then it is undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self defense deceit.

It is power without charity.

But Satan admits to being evil.

Do you admit to being evil, Richard?

We are all evil in some form or another, are we not?

I'm asking you the questions, my friend.

Yes, I am evil.

Not 100%, but I am evil.

Evil has always existed.

The perfect world most people seek shall never come to pass.

And it's going to get worse.

The great epochs of our life is when we gain the courage to re baptize our evil qualities as being our best qualities.

And as the interview draws to a close, I cannot help but recall Bill Carnes and the thought that behind this glib young man who seems to flatter himself as a kind of rock star outlaw lies the bodies of at least 13 innocent people and the shattered lives of dozens more.

You're entitled to your opinion.

And that's it.

Thank you.

September 20, 1989.

Richard Ramirez was convicted of all 43 charges.

13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries.

November 7, 1989.

The judge sentenced him to death in the California gas chamber.

As Richard walked out of his trial, he had this to say.

Big deal.

Death always went with the territories.

I'll see you in Disneyland.

Big deal.

Death always went with the territory.

I'll see you in Disneyland.

His trial cost $1.8 million, which at the time made it the most expensive murder trial in the history of California until the O.J.

simpson trial in 1994.

With inflation, that's $4.6 million in 2025.

Richard spent the rest of his life on death row at San Quentin State Prison.

He remained defiant, often mocking the press and refusing remorse.

He continued to receive letters from admirers, maintaining a dark celebrity status.

On August 7, 2006, Richard's first round of state appeals ended unsuccessfully when the California Supreme Court upheld his convictions and death sentence.

On September 7, 2006, the California Supreme Court denied his request for a rehearing.

Richard had additional appeals pending until the time of his death on June 7, 2013.

After more than 23 years on death row at the age of 53, Richard Ramirez died, not in the gas chamber, but of complications from B cell lymphoma, which is a type of blood cancer.

This has been the true story of the serial killer Richard Ramirez, AKA the Night Stalker.

Now I will tell you about Richard's character in American Horror Story, which is one of my favorite shows.

American Horror Story is an American horror anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy.

It is mostly fictional, however, Ryan Murphy gets his inspiration from real people and real stories.

Some of the characters and stories in the series are loosely based around real events.

Each season in the series has a different story, however, some of the seasons are somewhat linked together.

Season five, named Hotel, gets some of its inspiration from the infamous Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles.

And if you haven't already listened to previous episodes, you can go back and hear the crazy stories about this hotel.

The hotel is called Hotel Cortez.

An American Horror Story.

Richard, as a malevolent ghost, attends a secret dinner party at Hotel Cortez with other serial killers.

Those killers are Jeffrey Dahmer, Eileen Wuornos, John Gacy, the Zodiac killer, and James March, who I believe was somewhat based on HH Holmes.

Also in attendance is a detective who is staying at the hotel.

While investigating it, the detective is confused because he recognizes all the killers, but he knows they are all dead.

I will leave it at that for those who want to watch without spoilers.

Also, I forgot to mention that that secret dinner party was called the devil's night.

Season nine, named 1984, is my favorite season of American Horror Story.

It's heavily influenced by classic slasher films such as Friday the 13th and Halloween.

It focuses on the staff of a summer camp that reopens 14 years after a massacre.

At the same camp, Richard breaks into Brooke Thompson's house and starts ransacking the place for jewelry.

She hits him in the head with a frying pan, attracting the attention of the neighbors.

And before he flees, he tells her that Satan will show him how to find her again.

Later, he follows her to Camp Redwood where another serial killer is on the loose.

Spoiler alert.

Richard ends up getting killed at some point in the season, but is brought back to life by some kind of satanic force.

I will stop right there on the story so I don't continue to spoil it for anybody.

But it's a great show and this season specifically is really good.

I suggest to anybody who's into any kind of horror, give it a watch if you haven't already.

Richard's character was played by two different people in those seasons.

I personally like the one in 1984 better.

So I know I said in my last episode this one would be released in late September.

However it is now October.

Took me longer to record and edit than I expected.

I'm working on trying to do better on that and not be late on episodes.

I'm always looking for new ways to improve and be consistent, so be patient with me.

As I continue to learn podcasting, I've been looking at other editing and recording tools I think may help SPE speed up the recording and editing process and I will be trying those out pretty soon.

Thank you for listening.

For updates and other news, you can follow the podcast on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

I also post pictures and videos of each case to these platforms.

I will drop the link tree to the podcast in the description.

The link tree contains links to all things related to this podcast.

You can also find a merch store within those links.

T shirts, hoodies, posters and other merch available.

Also, there is a new Halloween themed T shirt and hoodie design out now.

If you've been enjoying the podcast so far, go ahead and give a good rating on whatever platform you're listening from and share on your social media pages and tell your friends and family.

Stay tuned for the next episode.

I'm Clay Jones and you've just listened to Nocturnal Novels.

Sam Sa.