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Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker

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Richard Ramirez, better known as “The Night Stalker,” was a Mexican-American serial killer and rapist known nationally for his awful crime sprees around the Los Angeles area from June of 1984 until August of 1985. During this time frame he tortured, raped and/or murdered an estimated 14 different victims using weapons ranging from handguns, tire irons, knives, a machete and a hammer. Ramirez is a self-proclaimed Satanist who would mark the body and the surrounding areas with pentagrams after he committed the crimes. Many believe that Ramirez took after and was heavily influenced by his cousin Miguel (Mike), who was a Vietnam War veteran. Mike often spoke about killing and torturing his enemies and even showed him pictures of things he had done …show more content…

He violently entered their bedroom where he slashed them with the machete and finally shot them with his .22 handgun. Later that same night Ramirez drove to Sun Valley where he broke into the home of the Khovananth family. He shot and killed Chainarong who was sleeping, then proceeded to rape and beat Somkid. He traveled to Northridge on August 6th, 1985 and broke into the home of Chris and Virginia Peterson. He snuck into the bedroom and tried shooting both of them. Fortunately Chris fought Ramirez back and Ramirez fled the scene. Both Chris and Virginia survived the attack. Two days later on August 8th, 1985 he drove a stolen car to Diamond Bar and picked the home of Elyas and Sakina Abowath. He snuck into their bedroom where he quickly shot and killed Elyas then handcuffed, beat and raped Sakina several times. Later that month, Ramirez committed his last known murder. He broke into the home of William Carns and his fiancée Inez Erickson. Just like the previous murders, he went into the bedroom and shot William three times in the head. He then went after Inez. He beat and tied her up raped her. She was later able to untie herself and get help for William who survived his injuries. She told police that when he left he told her to “tell them the Night Stalker was here.” While leaving the scene of the attack a young boy named James Romero III stated he noticed a “weird looking guy in black” who looked suspicious so he decided to write down his license plate. Due to this newly found evidence, the police were able to find the stolen car Ramirez had been using and were able to obtain a single fingerprint they later identified as Ramirez's. Law enforcement later held a press conference and announced “We know who you are now, and soon everyone else will. There will be no place you can

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