Crime Archive

In 1979, twenty-year-old Richard owned a Cadillac that he adored and decided to use his Cadillac to leave El Paso. He traveled cross country and stopped by many cities, but California ultimately became his new home. After arriving, he stayed with Earl Gregg for four months. According to a few reports, Richard made good money by selling marijuana, which he bought cheaply in El Paso. At this time, he had enough money to move out.

On October 7, 1980, Richard experienced yet another traumatic event. While he and a few friends were in a van, the driver of the vehicle crashed into a fence. This gruesome crash ended in the death of Richard's close friend. Unfortunately, Richard was in the back seat and saw everything that happened. One of Richard’s friends said that Richard arrived at their home crying and distraught. He panicked for several minutes before explaining what had happened.

In 1981, Richard was arrested on petty theft charges and pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana a year later. After being released, he officially moved to LA. In 1983, Richard got introduced to cocaine and became addicted. Soon his money began to dwindle down due to his expensive drug habit. Richard started sleeping in cars, cheap hotels, and eating takeout. For enjoyment, he paid for drugs and prostitutes with money he stole.

During his stay in LA, Richard frequently visited his family. Though it was normal for Richard to visit, this time, it was a bit strange. On March 27, 1985, Richard showed up at a family reunion in a limo. Richard also gifted his father guns with intricate gold symbols and designs. This act made Richard’s father (Julian Tapia-Ramirez) suspect that Richard was getting into trouble, but he wasn't sure what. Richard’s niece Shelly remembers opening a bag that Richard stashed away during the reunion. The bag was filled with expensive diamonds, jewelry, and gold rings. Despite Richard’s odd new appearance, no one besides his father suspected a thing.

When Richard was diagnosed with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, he was prescribed phenobarbital. The side effect of phenobarbital that Richard experienced was extreme tiredness, insomnia, and headaches. These side effects affected his grades, his ability to complete school work and stay awake during class, and prevented him from playing football. He decided to stop taking phenobarbital at age 13 and chose to smoke marijuana instead.

Rosa Ramirez's 2008 statement in the federal petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus:

"After the seizures began, I noticed changes in Richie's eating and sleeping habits. Richie stopped sleeping at night. Instead, he stayed up all night. He began drinking Coke and eating candy and cookies obsessively. If he could not find Coke or candy in the house, he would go out on his bike to the store, even late at night, to get some. He no longer seemed to care about school. Around this time, his grades began to drop, and I often saw him smoke marijuana. Richie told me that he smoked marijuana to get rid of his headaches and that marijuana helped him sleep because otherwise, he couldn't sleep without it."

Marijuana is a prescribed drug to help with nausea, vomiting, stiffness, and other problems. Though it wasn't in Richard's prescription due to his age, marijuana does have many benefits but side effects if used too often or irresponsibly.

Rare information on an incident Richard Ramírez (The Nightstalker) had with his attorney’s

Ray Clark’s statement to the L.A Times:

“I think he (Ramírez) thinks that it (defense strategies) won’t do any good. He has a tendency to cut things short. He says he’s tired of being in jail, the food is bad, etc. But Richard became so upset with us (defense team) he started a shouting match.”

I can understand Richard’s frustration. The defense strategies were weak, and Richard noticed that. But he was not even eligible to be convicted.

Anna Evans (A licensed psychologist) Evaluation Report in The Writ of Habeas Corpus:

“After five years of evaluating Ramirez, she determined he suffered from multiple disorders. The testing confirmed that Richard suffered from disorganized, fragmented thinking, paranoid delusions, suspiciousness, and mistrust of others. Further studies and medical documents revealed he suffered from long-standing temporal lobe epilepsy and damage to the frontal and temporal lobes. These damages caused severe psychiatric, psychological, neurological, and cognitive impairments, including mood swings, depression, suicidal thoughts, obsessive and compulsive behaviors, difficulty in memory tasks and cognitive functions, mental incompetency, and problems distributing fantasy from reality (also known as psychosis). When the evaluation finished, Anna came to the same conclusion as many other highly credentialed professionals that he was not mentally competent to attend his LA trial or waive his right. Therefore ineligible to be convicted.”

For full article on Richard mental, emotional, psychological, and neurological reports:

Upon serial killer Richard Ramirez’s arrest, his dangerous Latin looks gained the attraction of females from all over the world, ranging from Satanists, to mothers, to teachers, to high school students, to even a juror who convicted him. Everyday his admirers would flock to the county jail he was held at and fight over Richard’s affections. As per his instructions, some of them didn’t wear underwear so during their visits they would sneak him peeks as he masturbated. 

When Richard was diagnosed with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, he was prescribed phenobarbital. The side effect of phenobarbital that Richard experienced was extreme tiredness, insomnia, and headaches. These side effects affected his grades, his ability to complete school work and stay awake during class, and prevented him from playing football. He decided to stop taking phenobarbital at age 13 and chose to smoke marijuana instead.

Rosa Ramirez's 2008 statement in the federal petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus:

"After the seizures began, I noticed changes in Richie's eating and sleeping habits. Richie stopped sleeping at night. Instead, he stayed up all night. He began drinking Coke and eating candy and cookies obsessively. If he could not find Coke or candy in the house, he would go out on his bike to the store, even late at night, to get some. He no longer seemed to care about school. Around this time, his grades began to drop, and I often saw him smoke marijuana. Richie told me that he smoked marijuana to get rid of his headaches and that marijuana helped him sleep because otherwise, he couldn't sleep without it."

Marijuana is a prescribed drug to help with nausea, vomiting, stiffness, and other problems. Though it wasn't in Richard's prescription due to his age, marijuana does have many benefits but side effects if used too often or irresponsibly.

All credit to Philip Carlo.

I noticed that in this particular recording his voice sounds quite different. I wonder whether it’s because he’s more relaxed as he knew Carlo quite well at the time of this interview and maybe his voice changes in other interviews with different people is almost like a defence mechanism?

Witness statements on the day Serial Killer, Richard Ramirez was apprehended, August 30th, 1985

(1/10) "He turned and saw a man land on a car hood after jumping from the freeway barrier. He wasn't wearing a shirt (???) and was carrying a bag. 'He looked like he was very tired', said Areas. 'He was sweating. I didn't see him for very long. He ran down the alley."

(2/10) "She first heard her Doberman [...] growling behind her house. It was 8:15am [...]. She saw a man dressed in a black shirt and pants with dark sunglasses (???) lurking near her son's truck. He said to the dog, 'Shut up! I'm tired,' she said. 'The man was huffing and puffing and his hair was all wet with sweat'. The man jumped another fence."

(3/10) "Salvador spotted the man just east of his home. 'I saw this man dressed in black. He looked very nervous. He was looking from left to right and behind him'."

(4/10) "A little before 9am, Bonnie Navarro answered a knock on the door to find a tired, sweating man standing on her porch. She said the man motioned with both hands against his throat and he asked her in a deep voice for a drink of water. [...] She recognized him instantly. She covered her eyes with her hands and screamed, 'It's the killer! It's the killer!' [...] 'And I slammed the door. I guess I scared him. He ran away.' Her son called police."

(5/10) "He came across a woman in a parked, copper colored Oldsmobile. 'He pulled a knife on the lady (???). He said, give me the car'. She yelled, 'Help'. Benavidez, joined by another man, chased the man down a graffiti-lined alley."

(6/10) "At the end of the block, Ramirez hopped a 6-foot high brick wall into a yard on Percy Street. 'El matador! El matador!' - the killer, the killer, Maria Cortez yelled from her front porch. Her son, nephew, and a neighbor chased Ramirez, one swinging a large pair of shears"

(7/10) "Ramirez jumped over a fence into the backyard of Pinon, who was working on his red 1965 Mustang. [...] The car's motor was running. A tall, dark haired figure leaped into the Mustang. 'Hey, get out of there,' said Pinon. He (Ramirez) said, 'No, I have a gun.' As Pinon jumped into the car, Ramirez shifted into reverse. Pinon began struggling with Ramirez over the wheel as his feet were dragged along the grassy yard. The Mustang reversed into the driveway, slammed into the wall, then lurched forward and crashed into a tree. The driver's door swung open and Ramirez fell out of the car. Ramirez hurdled the gate of Pinon's home then ran towards a cooper-colored Granada."

(8/10) "Angelica De La-Torre was just starting the car when a man grabbed her and pulled her out. 'I saw his eyes, and I knew it was him', she said. Jośe Burgoin had been watering his plants across the street. [...] He managed to pull Ramirez from the car, and the two men tumbled to the ground. Manual De La-Torre, Angelica's husband, pulled a street rod from his chain-linked fence and went for Ramirez, striking him on the back of the head. Ramirez fled west with De La-Torre and Burgoin in pursuit. James and Julio Burgoin also gave chase."

(9/10) "Suddenly the fugitive seemed to run out of gas. 'He kind of stopped,' James Burgoin said. James reached him first and unloaded with his right fist. De La-Torre struck the back of Ramirez's head once or twice with the metal rod."

(10/10) "Terrified, panting, dripping sweat, Ramirez ran and stumbled through the streets of the Hollenbeck district, begging for water at one house and abandoning a knapsack at another. Everywhere he turned, alert eyes followed. Four people stood over Ramirez as he slumped bleeding against a chain-linked fence until sheriff's deputies arrived to handcuff the man they had sought for six months as the slayer of 16 people."

NOTE: I'm not too sure on the legitimacy of some of the witnesses' claims, such as Ramirez being shirtless or his donning sunglasses (which were later found in his locker) and his pulling a knife out on a lady as no knife was mentioned by the arresting deputies, so take some of the more minute details with a grain of salt. Article published September 1, 1985, 'Fugitive Takes a Road to Nowhere'.