It's no surprise that I love true crime books with a passion.
I've had The Night Stalker on my shelf for several years but had never gotten around to reading it until now. Truth be told, my motivation to pick it up came from Richard Ramirez being a character on American Horror Story: 1984.
Richard Ramirez was a petty thief, a measly criminal, a self-professed Satanist.
He moved to Los Angeles, where he could become one with the night. He could easily sneak into homes and take whatever he deemed valuable. Before long he deemed human life the most valuable of all. He fed off of the fear he inflicted on unsuspecting victims. Over the course of two years, he terrorized California. There were break-ins all over the state, all of which included rapes and murders of men and women of all ages. No one was safe with the Night Stalker on the prowl.
Influenced by heavy metal and a rocky home life, Ramirez was not surprised by who he had become. He believed Satan was on his side through it all. He was protected by evil forces, the same evil forces that drove him to rape, sodomize, and murder. He believed this was his destiny. When caught, he was fully prepared to plead guilty to most of the crimes he was being charged with (he opposed the abduction charges??? I mean those weren't even the worst charges).
Now, I have a few problems with the case.
Richard was eventually apprehended by a neighborhood of people who went on to receive awards for their heroism.....before Ramirez was even convicted of these crimes. The very public theatrics the police departments put on for these civilians could have very easily skewed the public perception of who the Night Stalker really was. Because of these public praises, many people, victims and potential jurors alike, knew Ramirez had been badly beaten when caught. Therefore having Ramirez be identified in a lineup after his image and suspected crimes had been all over the news did not particularly seem fair. I also find it crazy that because of this media presence, they refused to move his trial out of the area?!
Regardless, he needed to be punished for his crimes.
After a grueling trial, the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death 19 times. Given that California overturned their stance on the death penalty, Ramirez lived out the rest of his life on death row at San Quentin State Prison.
Looking for other books that include Richard Ramirez?
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