Essay Sample about The Night Stalker: Richard Ramirez

It was February 28, 1960, which is when one of the most horrendous serial killers was born; Richard Ramirez. He grew up with terrible role models, and this essay will show how that had a huge impact on his life. 

In his younger years, Ramirez started hanging out with his cousin who would tell him stories from the war. These stories also consisted of him raping, torturing, and killing women. He was only 13 years old when he witnessed his cousin shooting his wife in the face. Richard started to burglarize homes, and eventually dropped out of high school. Soon after he turned 15, he moved to California with an older brother. His brother was one of the worst influences in his life, in fact he helped him become better at burglary. Then, he became addicted to cocaine, and spent several months in jail for auto theft. 

Following his middle aged years is when it gets interesting. He committed his first murder in June of 1984. After that, he had a cooling down period. His next murder took place on March 17, 1985. Ramirez attacked a 22-year-old outside of her home, then proceeded to kill her roommate. His first victim that night survived whenever the bullet bounced back off her keys. Continuing his middle aged era, Ramirez kept doing home invasions, usually sneaking in through an open window. In his article, Martin describes what the victims went through by writing “He became known for mutilating corpses, gouging out one woman's eyeballs. Though he varied his routines, witnesses and surviving victims were able to provide the police with a description: Hispanic, with long hair and a foul smell.” There was one victim who survived that recognized his orange toyota. A teenager recognized it, and wrote down the license plate number. The cops tracked it and not shockingly it turned out to be a stolen car. The police obtained his fingerprint from a computer based system, confirming it was him, and then proceeded to get his picture out to the media. A few days later, Ramirex tried to steal another car, but in an interesting turn of events the owner was actually working under the car at that time. The owner identified him as the “Night Stalker,” and a mob formed. Ramirez was beaten with an iron post before police arrived to take him into custody. 

Ramirez was taken into custody, and was awaiting trial. He spent the rest of his life in prison, but the details of the hearing are interesting to hear. Ramirez walked into court wearing black sunglasses, and he flashed a two finger “devil sign” to people in the jury. There were 8 witnesses, six of them were victims that survived and placed him as the attacker. In his article, Martin explains how difficult it was to find people to put on the jury by writing “More than 1,600 potential jurors had to be interviewed to find 24 (including 12 alternates) who could promise to be impartial about Mr. Ramirez.” He left the courthouse being put on death row, and the only thing he mouthed was the word Evil. After his trial, the people requested he be put to death. Ramirez wasn’t bothered by this, because he knew there would be consequences to his actions. While on death row, he got married to Doreen Lioy. He explained to her that “Satanists don't wear gold,” so she got him a platinum ring. 

In the end, Ramirez spent the rest of his life on death row. He was held accountable for 14 murders, and those are just the ones we know about. Although he had a difficult life, and grew up around people who praised that behavior, it was no excuse for what he did to those victims. Not only did he just murder people, he also left some victims alive so they had to relive what they went through. His intention was to leave them with trauma. Ramirez wasn’t afraid to die, even though he had no more freedom. Richard Ramirex died in 2013. 

Works cited:

Martin, Douglas. “Richard Ramirez, the 'Night Stalker' Killer, Dies at 53: [Obituary (Obit); Biography].” Proquest, 8 June 2013, Richard Ramirez, the 'Night Stalker' Killer, Dies at 53: [Obituary (Obit); Biography]. https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/1365732800/48FE68F59F6E453DPQ/1?

Dewitt, Phillip. “AKING A BYTE OUT OF CRIME Police Hail Computer System That Cracked the Night Stalker Case .” TAKING A BYTE OUT OF CRIME Police Hail Computer System That Cracked the Night Stalker Case Full Text Listen, 14 Oct. 1985, https://web-a-ebscohost-com.acm.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=56d95bbe-22a6-4de3-b7d8-e7686fee8913%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=57884712&db=ulh.