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♪♪
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Milam: Me and Ricky were best friends.
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He was just a normal kid like everybody.
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We went to school together.
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He was very smart.
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God-fearing person.
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He studied the Bible.
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He was a good, good student.
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And then certain things started going wrong with Ricky,
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and he started doing bad things.
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He was doing something very wrong.
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My belief ... you live by the sword, you die by the sword,
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and that's just the way it is.
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♪♪
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♪♪
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♪♪
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Welcome to "Very Scary People."
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I'm Donnie Wahlberg.
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The media called it a rampage.
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There was a serial killer on the loose in California,
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random attacks throughout the spring and summer of 1985.
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No one felt safe.
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Police described his actions as savage.
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He broke into people's homes, stole anything of value,
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then raped, beat, and murdered those he found inside.
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He had been linked to at least 15 murders,
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from children to the elderly,
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male and female, wealthy and poor.
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Now investigators had a promising lead,
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one that would finally end
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the Night Stalker's reign of terror.
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Here's part two of "The Night Stalker: I Will Be Avenged."
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♪♪
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♪♪
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Reporter: The victim ... her throat had been slashed.
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He found her horribly mutilated and murdered.
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Reporter: It appears the suspect got in through an open window.
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He stole a lot of jewelry
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and graduated to these horrible crimes of violence.
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It was a night of sheer terror.
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She begged him not to shoot her.
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It was an isolated murder here and an isolated one there,
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but then, that summer, it was just constant.
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Reporter: Five murders and three sexual attacks
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in the past eight weeks.
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This man may be linked to at least six homicides.
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Reporter #2: Seven bodies beaten, stabbed, or shot.
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Reporter #3: 33 cases, including 14 murders,
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have definitely been linked to the Walk-In Killer.
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The killer leaves the pentagram, the mark of the devil.
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He was openly bringing a Satanic aspect to the attacks.
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I'm nervous.
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You know, I'm nervous for my family,
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nervous for my friends and neighbors.
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Reporter: 29-year-old Bill Carns was shot in the head.
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Yochelson: But what was different about this incident ...
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there was a young man who lived a couple blocks away.
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Jenkins: He spotted a suspicious man,
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and he is able to get a partial license plate number.
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Jordan: The license plate matched
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with a 1976 orange Toyota station wagon.
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And so it was one of the best leads that they got
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through the whole investigation.
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Martin: It affords law enforcement the ability to issue
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an all-points bulletin for the orange station wagon.
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♪♪
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And, ultimately, that station wagon turns up
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abandoned in a parking lot.
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So the police ... they watch the car for 24 hours,
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and the driver never showed up.
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Eventually, they brought it in to be processed for evidence.
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Martin: The forensic examination of the car
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helped reveal the presence of a latent fingerprint
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off the rearview mirror of the car.
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Yochelson: There was a brand-new technology
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that was just coming online.
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It was called the Automated Fingerprint
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Identification System, or AFIS,
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and it's computerized technology where a fingerprint is scanned.
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It goes through a database. and compared.
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The computer spits out possible matches,
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and then there's a physical match.
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Martin: He'd been arrested in December of '83 for auto theft,
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and that was on file.
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That's where the make occurred.
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And it came in just in time
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to help them identify the Night Stalker.
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Block: The individual who we believe is responsible
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for these crimes ...
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a man by the name of Richard Ramirez.
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Richard Ramirez was a tall, thin, dark-haired, dark-eyed,
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Hispanic male with rotting teeth,
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a 25-year-old described drifter from El Paso, Texas.
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Martin: There was a booking photo,
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and his photograph was published.
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Block: At this very moment,
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an alert is going out to all law enforcement agencies
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to be on the lookout for this individual,
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who is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous.
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Jordan: And now police all over California
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are on the hunt for Richard Ramirez.
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The police were also staking out the Greyhound bus station
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where he was known to frequent.
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So he gets off the bus, and the first thing that he sees
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is a newspaper stand with his picture
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on the front of "L.A. Times."
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Big picture.
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Vidal: And believe me, exactly what
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that booking photo looked like
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was exactly the way he looked.
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He's surprised when the crowd recognizes him.
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The jig is up.
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Reporter #3: Walk-In Killer suspect Richard Ramirez
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had just discovered he was a wanted man
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and desperately tried to make a run for it.
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Hernandez: He starts running. He gets into a bus.
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People recognize him in the bus. He jumps out the bus.
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He fled on foot and tried to steal a car.
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I was assigned to my car, 4A57, with my partner.
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We handle a radio call. [Siren wails]
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We receive a broadcast over the air
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of a possible Night Stalker sighting.
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[Siren wails]
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Hernandez: He tries to hijack this old classic Mustang.
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You don't do that in East L.A.
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Reporter #3: He chased after the suspect after he claims
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Ramirez was trying to steal his red Mustang.
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And even though he says he was being threatened with a gun,
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Pinon fought that suspect anyway.
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Then I got him by the neck.
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Reporter #3: Got him by the neck, and then what?
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Then we struggled back and forth over the car.
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During this time, we're hearing broadcasts of requests
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for additional units to respond.
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The air unit, police helicopter,
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was requested to follow any possible suspect.
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He was last seen traveling Eastbound on 8th Street.
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Yochelson: They chased him physically.
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A number of the other neighbors got involved.
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[Siren wails]
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Hernandez: And people were just yelling, "El matón,"
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"The killer," and "The Night Stalker."
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[Siren wails]
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And I remember going up on Indiana to Percy Street,
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and we see people pointing down the direction
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where this person was going.
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So then it was a mob. It was a mob scene.
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Then Ramirez attempted to carjack another vehicle.
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Big mistake.
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Reporter #3: Saw another man hitting his wife
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while pulling her out of her gold Granada.
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He hit her? Yes, he tried to ...
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Where'd he hit her? [Speaking Spanish]
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Oh, he hit her right here, all over right here.
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What was she thinking? Was she scared?
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Yes.
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Reporter #3: That's when Torres grabbed the pipe
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and began hitting that man.
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Vidal: When I exited my police car,
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he was bleeding from the back of his head.
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I remember that.
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Ultimately, a group of folks realize who it Is
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and wind up grabbing onto Ramirez.
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At that point, he was dead meat.
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My concern was I wanted to remove him
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from that hostile situation that he was in at the time.
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He was hit over the head with, like, a copper rod
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they used to ground these telephone poles.
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I'm sure he was happy to see the cops show up.
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Vidal: He was on the grass parkway of the street,
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south side of Hubbard, and he was laying there,
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and the deputy had just rolled him over.
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We requested a rescue ambulance to come.
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You look at the media coverage of the time,
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you'll that he's bandaged
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because he was struck on the head during the arrest.
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And these citizens were heroes.
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They caught the Night Stalker.
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♪♪
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Walls: We're happy to report that the suspect
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that we have in custody is Richard Ramirez,
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otherwise known as the Night Stalker.
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Vidal: He's handcuffed, hands behind his back.
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When I was talking to him, I felt just different.
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You might call it Satanic.
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I mean, he just looked the presence of evil before you.
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He was a drifter. He was in Arizona for a while.
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Came to California for unknown reasons.
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Started out as a burglar
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and graduated to these horrible crimes of violence
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and the Satanism, which my personal view,
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was an affect on his part to stir up notoriety.
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The Night Stalker was now in custody,
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but the big question was,
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what happened to this person that created this monster?
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Ricardo Leyva Ramirez was born February 29, 1960,
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in El Paso, Texas.
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Hancock: Richard's mother worked in a boot factory,
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and his father worked for the Santa Fe railroad.
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Richard was the youngest of five kids.
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Milam: We went to school together.
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He was very smart.
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God-fearing person.
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And then he started doing bad things.
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Hernandez: When we interviewed some people,
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people were saying that he was, like, a little petty thief.
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And he didn't have a very good reputation.
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Hernandez: We found out through medical records
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that he had had many seizures in the sixth, seventh grade,
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and we had a doctor examine him.
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And they did some scans on his brain,
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and they found some abnormalities.
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There was something wrong with him.
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Maybe he was epileptic, but he never got an official diagnosis.
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Richard Ramirez also had a very disturbed childhood.
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He had what can be considered now a very abusive father.
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The father was very authoritarian.
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He would not hesitate to use the whip
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and, you know, belt him.
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He would go and steal things.
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He would get, you know, caught by his dad,
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and part of that corrective measure that he would use,
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he would tie him up at a cemetery
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that was right next door to where they used to live.
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Put him on crosses, tied up, overnight.
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So he had to endure those things very early age.
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We're talking about when he was 12, 14 years old.
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Jordan: Richard's father was clearly an influence,
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but many believe that it was another family member
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that may have done the most damage.
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Martin: Part of Ramirez's childhood
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specific to his teen years
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had to deal with a cousin,
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a Vietnam veteran who had shared with him
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some of the details of war, of combat,
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of some of the killings that he had witnessed.
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He taught him how to use the knife
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and how to cut throats.
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Milam: Ricky was very, very scared of Mike,
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and he had panic attacks.
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He told me how much he despised Mike.
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Schecter: Mike, who had all these tales
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about Vietnamese women he had raped and killed
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and Polaroid photographs
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which he would show young Ramirez
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of decapitated heads of women he had raped and then beheaded,
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and who really schooled him in how to kill stealthily.
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Sometimes gruesome pictures put images in your mind.
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And they did have a great impact on Ricky.
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♪♪
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There's no question that his criminal behavior later in life
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reflects lots of sex offenses that are violent,
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that involve torture,
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that involve horrific, brutal acts.
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So for him, there was a clear fusion
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between lust and cruelty.
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Hancock: When Richard was 13,
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he was present when Mike got into an argument with his wife
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and shot her in the face and killed her.
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Dietz: Ramirez shot many of his victims in the face.
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That is not a common place to shoot people.
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And yet he is shooting victims in the face
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disproportionately often,
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00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:47,000
just like his cousin Mike shot the first homicide victim
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Ramirez ever witnessed in the face.
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Hancock: After he shot his wife, he went to trial,
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and he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
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He was given a lighter sentence,
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00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,000
and he actually, after he finished his sentence,
270
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came back into Richard's life.
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It seems like a pivotal, harrowing moment
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00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:12,000
in this young kid's development.
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Jordan: Hardened by his early experiences,
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Richard became increasingly drawn to macabre things.
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Richard took to sleeping in cemeteries.
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He would wear a lot of black clothes
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and go into what you can perceive as a persona
278
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,000
of a gothic, evil night marauder.
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00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,000
He started with marijuana and then later on
280
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went into heavy drugs like acid.
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00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,000
He was having epileptic seizures.
282
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Coupled with the drugs and, you know,
283
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,000
all that stuff, it's a combination.
284
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:56,000
He explained it to me that, "You don't care about nobody,
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00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,000
not even yourself," and when you come to that stage,
286
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,000
it's a very, very dangerous stage.
287
00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,000
Hancock: He didn't go to school much.
288
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,000
He started hanging out with a rough gang.
289
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:14,000
Richard dropped out of high school when he was 14.
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00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,000
He got in trouble with the law.
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00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,000
And once that happened,
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I guess he decided not to go back to school.
293
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:29,000
And then certain things started going wrong with Ricky there.
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♪♪
295
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,000
Jordan: After Ramirez was finally captured,
296
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the arresting officers said that he was very polite,
297
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,000
but he refused to cooperate.
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00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,000
Yochelson: The sheriffs came and transported him later
299
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,000
to the county jail, where he was booked.
300
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,000
When he was arrested, his arrest had led to a locker
301
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:55,000
at the Greyhound bus station.
302
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,000
There was a trove of evidence recovered in that bus locker ...
303
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,000
stolen property that was linked to the victims.
304
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:03,000
The guns weren't recovered,
305
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,000
but ammunition that had been in those guns were recovered
306
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,000
and linked to Ramirez.
307
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:12,000
The charges were filed within 48 hours, as required by law.
308
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,000
Jordan: Richard Ramirez was charged with 14 murders,
309
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:21,000
19 burglaries, 7 rapes, and a slew of other charges.
310
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,000
Richard was arrested in '85,
311
00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,000
and it was three years before he went on trial.
312
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,000
He came to court wearing sunglasses.
313
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:40,000
He changed from a really ugly, evil-looking guy to a rock star.
314
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:47,000
♪♪
315
00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,000
Aw, you ain't no reporter.
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00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,000
Jenkins: Richard Ramirez was finally behind bars,
317
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,000
and Californians could finally sleep at night
318
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,000
after a year of being on edge.
319
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,000
Now came the monumental task
320
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,000
of bringing the Night Stalker to justice.
321
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,000
Judge: All right, this again is case number A771272,
322
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,000
the People of the State of California vs.
323
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,000
Richard Ramirez, the defendant.
324
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,000
There were tremendous challenges just putting the case together.
325
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,000
Martin: You've got all these agencies
326
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,000
that you've got to coordinate.
327
00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:29,000
You've got all these victims that you've got to care for.
328
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,000
This was a monumental effort,
329
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,000
and then you add to it that this is a capital murder case.
330
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,000
The preparations are absolutely incredible.
331
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,000
Yochelson: He was initially represented
332
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,000
by two appointed members
333
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,000
of the L.A. County Public Defender's office.
334
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:47,000
Great attorneys.
335
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,000
He had excellent representation.
336
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,000
But for whatever reason, Ramirez's family
337
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,000
chose to fire the Public Defender's office
338
00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,000
and bring in a series of private counsel.
339
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,000
First issue that came up was who was paying for this defense,
340
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,000
because mounting a capital defense under any circumstances
341
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,000
is tremendously expensive.
342
00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,000
Hernandez: And then he got Mr. Gallegos
343
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,000
for a couple of weeks.
344
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:14,000
Woman: My understanding, Mr. Ramirez ...
345
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,000
that you would like to have Mr. Gallegos
346
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,000
as your attorney. Is that correct?
347
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,000
Yes.
348
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,000
Mr. Gallegos apparently had offered him
349
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,000
some deals with movies.
350
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,000
Jordan: In the '80s, some serial killers
351
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,000
were treated like celebrities,
352
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,000
and the media outlets would actually compete
353
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,000
to get the rights to their stories.
354
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,000
Ramirez was in that group.
355
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,000
Linedecker: He did what a lot of people like him do.
356
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,000
He suddenly decided that, "Gee, I'm a celebrity,
357
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:46,000
and I'm going to milk this for everything I can milk it for."
358
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:47,000
Yochelson: There was some indication
359
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,000
that there was a book deal in the works,
360
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,000
which poses all kinds of ethical issues,
361
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,000
so the judge actually appointed another lawyer
362
00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,000
just to advise Ramirez as to the possible issues
363
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,000
of financing his defense through a book deal,
364
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,000
and Ramirez refused to talk to that lawyer.
365
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:09,000
Ultimately, Daniel and Arturo Hernandez came on the case.
366
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,000
They're not related, even though they have the same last name.
367
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,000
The family has retained us officially,
368
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,000
and as far as we're concerned,
369
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,000
we are the attorneys for Mr. Ramirez.
370
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:19,000
Hernandez: We ended up with the case,
371
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:22,000
and it made a big difference, absolutely,
372
00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,000
knowing the culture, bilingualism,
373
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,000
because, you know, in El Paso, we speak both languages.
374
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,000
We seem to get along very well.
375
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,000
Hernandez: He was very impressed that I unshackled him and not ...
376
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,000
you know, we broke the ice, so he hired us.
377
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,000
He signed the substitution of attorneys that need to be filed.
378
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,000
But we were not welcome in L.A.
379
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,000
We were really in danger.
380
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:51,000
I was working as a paralegal with Arturo Hernandez,
381
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:52,000
who is now my husband.
382
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,000
The day that Judge Soper let them into the case,
383
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:59,000
I received a phone call late in the evening,
384
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,000
and they said, "We know who you are.
385
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,000
We are the family of one of the victims in the Ramirez case,
386
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,000
and we're going to kill you."
387
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,000
So I immediately hung up on the person
388
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,000
and hightailed it out of the office.
389
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,000
Yochelson: And there was an issue that was brought up
390
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:20,000
as to whether or not they were qualified
391
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,000
to handle a case like this.
392
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,000
Both had only been attorneys for about five years
393
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,000
and apparently had never handled a capital case.
394
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,000
Jordan: At preliminary hearings, defense and prosecution
395
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,000
would get into shouting matches with each other.
396
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,000
Woman: They're matters of public record, sir.
397
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,000
There's presently pending in that court ...
398
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,000
These liars.
399
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,000
Judge Tynan and I did not get along, to say the least.
400
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,000
He was always mocking us.
401
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:49,000
He, to me, did not have what they call judicial temperament.
402
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,000
He would get pissed off.
403
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:54,000
Yochelson: Daniel and Arturo Hernandez made statements
404
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,000
that the prosecution considered
405
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,000
were unsupported by the evidence ...
406
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,000
flat out lying or going for publicity.
407
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,000
Phil Halpin, who was lead counsel,
408
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,000
lead prosecutor ... very knowledgeable,
409
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,000
knows how to handle a case, but there was really contention
410
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,000
between the Hernandezes and Phil.
411
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,000
And I think a lot of that was just natural,
412
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:20,000
given the nature of the case and the stakes that were involved.
413
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,000
And in the middle of all of this chaos was Richard Ramirez.
414
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,000
Reporter: Richard Ramirez came into court for the final day
415
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:29,000
of his pre-trial hearing flashing the same grin
416
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,000
he displayed during testimony
417
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,000
about the grisly details of the Night Stalker killings.
418
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,000
He kept smiling as Judge James Nelson
419
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,000
ruled there is sufficient evidence
420
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,000
to bind the 26-year-old drifter over for trial
421
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,000
on 14 counts of murder
422
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,000
plus 36 other counts of attempted murder,
423
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,000
rape, robbery, and burglary.
424
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,000
Yochelson: He was arraigned and immediately
425
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,000
took on the persona of the Night Stalker
426
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:58,000
as he left court, and the circus began.
427
00:22:58,000 --> 00:22:59,000
Reporter: Ramirez revealed a pentagram,
428
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,000
a symbol of devil worship, on his left palm
429
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,000
and later shouted out
430
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,000
what most observers agreed was "Hail Satan."
431
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,000
Hail Satan.
432
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,000
Aguilar-Hernandez: The first time that I spoke to
433
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,000
Richard Ramirez on the phone,
434
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:19,000
it was ... it was very scary, very scary,
435
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,000
because I knew what he had represented on his hand
436
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,000
and all the Satan hype that had happened
437
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,000
after he had done that in open court.
438
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,000
Yochelson: I truly believe that
439
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,000
all of this was simply him acting out
440
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,000
and wanting to play the role of the celebrity serial killer ...
441
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,000
that he's the Night Stalker, he should be feared.
442
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:50,000
♪♪
443
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:58,000
♪♪
444
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:01,000
Welcome back to "Very Scary People."
445
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:05,000
On August 30, 1988, almost three years after his arrest,
446
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:09,000
the Night Stalker finally stands trial in Los Angeles.
447
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,000
But the man who terrified the nation for more than a year
448
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,000
isn't finished yet.
449
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,000
Instead, he begins a bizarre new chapter
450
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,000
that has some wondering
451
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,000
if the Night Stalker could escape justice after all.
452
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,000
Linedecker: It was one of the biggest trials
453
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,000
in the history of L.A.
454
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:28,000
The courtroom was packed,
455
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,000
and you had to get there hours ahead of time
456
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,000
to even have a chance to get inside the courtroom.
457
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,000
Richard really loved the attention.
458
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,000
Jordan: Ramirez, who had spent months in the shadows,
459
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:47,000
now seemed to relish his time in the spotlight.
460
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,000
Hernandez: We got him some Armani suits
461
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,000
donated from Goodwill.
462
00:24:52,000 --> 00:25:00,000
He changed from a really ugly, evil-looking guy to a rock star.
463
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,000
And shades, the teeth ...
464
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,000
you know, yeah, we got his teeth fixed,
465
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,000
so he became a very well-looking guy.
466
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,000
His transition was just another part
467
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,000
of the kind of circus atmosphere that the case was taking on.
468
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,000
It's almost what you expected
469
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:24,000
because he just seemed to be enjoying his role
470
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,000
as the defendant, the star of this case.
471
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,000
The gratification he was getting, he was being fed,
472
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,000
so he said, "Wow," you know, "I'm getting all this fame now."
473
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,000
And, unfortunately, he got all his glory.
474
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,000
Aguilar-Hernandez: He had a very powerful energy,
475
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,000
but it wasn't a good energy.
476
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,000
It was something other than good.
477
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:52,000
It was just difficult to explain what you felt.
478
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,000
Man: Case number A771272, Richard Ramirez.
479
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,000
Ramirez's father took the stand and tried to alibi him.
480
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,000
Hancock: Julian Ramirez had testified
481
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,000
that Richard was at a family gathering in El Paso
482
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,000
at the same time that were several attacks in Los Angeles.
483
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,000
Which would eliminate him as a suspect
484
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,000
because if Ramirez didn't commit these,
485
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,000
he didn't commit the others either.
486
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,000
The prosecution brought me in as a rebuttal witness
487
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,000
to the father's testimony.
488
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,000
I interviewed Julian Ramirez in 1985.
489
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:26,000
He said to me,
490
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,000
"I have not seen him for two or three years."
491
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,000
Yochelson: Ramirez periodically acted up between trial ...
492
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,000
or acted out.
493
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,000
[Speaking indistinctly]
494
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,000
Parasites.
495
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,000
Yochelson: He came to court wearing sunglasses.
496
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,000
Judge Tynan ordered him to take off the sunglasses,
497
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,000
and he said, "No," in a very loud voice.
498
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,000
Security in the courtroom was increased
499
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:51,000
after Ramirez threatened
500
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,000
to have an unidentified friend smuggle a gun in to him
501
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,000
so that he could kill the prosecution team.
502
00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:58,000
They had to erect metal detectors,
503
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,000
blocking the entrance to the courtroom,
504
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,000
and then Ramirez was brought in heavily guarded and shackled.
505
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,000
There were rumors about everything ...
506
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:11,000
he was gonna bring in a gun ... so we were frisked all the time.
507
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,000
Came with the territory, I guess.
508
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,000
There was something that happened in the lock-up
509
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,000
where the bailiffs took him to the ground.
510
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,000
Two officers that were martial arts,
511
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,000
ex-Navy SEALs ... they were watching him.
512
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,000
They said that he went like this,
513
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,000
"I'm gonna cut your head off," threatening the witness.
514
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:35,000
That causes a whole, you know, bar-fight-like scenario.
515
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:39,000
They grabbed him, they drag him, and beat the crap out of him.
516
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,000
Jordan: With so much drama happening in the courtroom,
517
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:47,000
the judge decided that the two Hernandez attorneys needed help.
518
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,000
Yochelson: Judge Tynan appointed a third lawyer.
519
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,000
He made a great selection in Ray Clark,
520
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,000
who came on and took over a lot of the case.
521
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,000
Hernandez: A wonderful, wonderful guy.
522
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:58,000
He helped out a lot.
523
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,000
But Ray Clark also had a controversial strategy.
524
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,000
Reporter: Any speculation on how Mr. Ramirez
525
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,000
might stand right now at this point?
526
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,000
Hopefully not guilty.
527
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:09,000
I think somebody else did it.
528
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,000
He is innocent in your mind?
529
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,000
He is not guilty in my mind,
530
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,000
and I would like for the press to make the distinction.
531
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,000
The argument at trial was that somebody else
532
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,000
did all these crimes.
533
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,000
Linedecker: Some other dude did it.
534
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,000
I don't think there was another dude like Richard Ramirez.
535
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,000
Jordan: And that wasn't even the oddest thing about the trial.
536
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,000
The entire back row was filled with goth girls.
537
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:43,000
♪♪
538
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:48,000
Reporter: Why were you in the courtroom today?
539
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,000
I just wanted to see what he looked like.
540
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:51,000
I think he's cute.
541
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,000
Yochelson: He loved the attention.
542
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,000
At this point, the women started showing up,
543
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,000
the so-called groupies, who would come to court
544
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:04,000
and want to see Ramirez and who were rooting for him.
545
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:05,000
Hancock: The first thing I remember
546
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,000
is that I walked into the courtroom,
547
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,000
the entire back row was filled with goth girls
548
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,000
in black leather dresses
549
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:17,000
and dark black hair and silver and chains.
550
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,000
All kinds of people ... really crazy, you know,
551
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,000
street folks and some other professional ones.
552
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,000
There was a lot of weird stuff ...
553
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,000
you know, "Send me your semen. I want to have your baby."
554
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,000
You know, I mean, people ... people are really crazy.
555
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,000
The thing that really astonished me in this
556
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,000
was the attraction of what you'd describe
557
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:41,000
as otherwise intelligent and capable women
558
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:47,000
attracted to somebody who is accused of crimes
559
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,000
of this horrific magnitude.
560
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,000
Woman: Everyone makes him look so bad, you know,
561
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,000
but I know that he's ...
562
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,000
he's a nice person 'cause I've met him and I know.
563
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:02,000
It's an extreme, exaggerated form
564
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:08,000
of the tendency of many women to be attracted to bad boys,
565
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,000
and there's some kind of "Beauty and the Beast" fantasy
566
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:13,000
going on.
567
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:18,000
You know, "My love will transform this creature
568
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,000
into a warm, loving being."
569
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,000
Hernandez: Doreen Lioy was one of Richard's
570
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,000
very persistent followers ... groupies.
571
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:35,000
She was a, you know, very eloquent, very sharp lady.
572
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,000
One of the things that she did was claiming
573
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,000
that she wanted to die with him
574
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,000
and she would go and kill herself,
575
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,000
you know, if he was ever put to death.
576
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,000
But she really liked to, you know, write to Richard,
577
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,000
and she apparently wrote very good letters.
578
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:55,000
You know, this is Los Angeles, and even then,
579
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,000
even as a young attorney,
580
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,000
it just seemed to be par for the course.
581
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,000
It's show biz, and it was a distraction
582
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,000
because it was annoying.
583
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:12,000
At that time, it was like the ... the case of the century.
584
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:13,000
Yochelson: There was a lot of press coverage.
585
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,000
Mostly print reporters were there.
586
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,000
There were still photographers in the courtroom.
587
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,000
Television filmed the closing argument.
588
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,000
Many of the jurors had tears in their eyes
589
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,000
as they listened to the horror.
590
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:51,000
Yochelson: There was direct evidence.
591
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:55,000
Surviving victims were able to identify Ramirez
592
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:56,000
and describe what he did.
593
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,000
You connect his fingerprints to a couple of the scenes.
594
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,000
It's either Ramirez doing this
595
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,000
or that somebody else was wearing his fingerprints.
596
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,000
The guns were linked to Ramirez
597
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,000
that were used at the crime scenes,
598
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,000
so that's another piece of the circumstantial evidence.
599
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:15,000
And all the stolen property traced back to him, as well.
600
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,000
Yochelson: Richard Ramirez stole a lot of jewelry,
601
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,000
and a lot of this jewelry was recovered
602
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,000
that was in turn identified
603
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,000
by either the victims or the victims' survivors.
604
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,000
Jordan: Despite all the evidence,
605
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,000
the defense team continued to argue
606
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,000
that Richard Ramirez was just the wrong guy,
607
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,000
and in one case, they actually tried to implicate
608
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,000
the victim's family.
609
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:38,000
Reporter: Jack Vincow discovered the body
610
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,000
of his 79-year-old mother stabbed to death
611
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,000
in her Los Angeles apartment,
612
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:45,000
but Vincow later admitted under defense cross-examination
613
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,000
that his mother had often engaged in loud disputes
614
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,000
with Vincow's mentally disturbed brother Manny.
615
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,000
Jenkins: So the defense was shooting from the hip
616
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:57,000
trying to create any kind of diversion from Ramirez's guilt.
617
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,000
We were not here to provide total exoneration.
618
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,000
We're trying to throw in some kind of a reasonable doubt,
619
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,000
you know, and that was our duty.
620
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,000
Reporter: But as Vincow described
621
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,000
how he found his mother's body,
622
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:15,000
Ramirez leaned forward and smiled.
623
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000
Hancock: He had a little smirk on his face.
624
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,000
He was just radiating evil.
625
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,000
Just ... just pure malevolence.
626
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,000
I could feel waves of hatred coming out of him
627
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,000
and just pure malice.
628
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:33,000
And I looked at him, and I thought,
629
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,000
"I better not look at him anymore."
630
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,000
Dietz: When he got the nickname "Night Stalker,"
631
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,000
why not play it out a little more
632
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:42,000
and get some more power
633
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,000
by scaring people in the courtroom,
634
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:48,000
creating images that would be remembered
635
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,000
decades later of his antics in the courtroom?
636
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,000
So he succeeded.
637
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,000
Yochelson: This was a long trial.
638
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,000
We had approximately 165 witnesses,
639
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,000
some 8,000 pages of transcript or testimony
640
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,000
that the jurors had to go through to reach their verdict.
641
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,000
And then a bizarre twist made the public wonder
642
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:13,000
if Richard Ramirez was still killing from behind bars.
643
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,000
One day, one of the jurors didn't show up.
644
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:22,000
But big deal. Death always went with the territory.
645
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,000
I'll see you in Disneyland.
646
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:30,000
♪♪
647
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:38,000
Reporter: Dark sunglasses and shackles ...
648
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,000
that was Richard Ramirez's daily attire
649
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,000
throughout the almost year-long Night Stalker trial.
650
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,000
And from the very beginning, prosecutor Philip Halpin
651
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,000
left no doubt about his intentions for Ramirez.
652
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,000
Ray Clark's argument was, we got to have sympathy
653
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,000
even for the worst of all people.
654
00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,000
But you're not gonna get sympathy for a guy
655
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,000
that had done all these horrible things.
656
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,000
Some people would hang you for spitting on a sidewalk.
657
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,000
I wouldn't hang you for atrocities such as Hitler did.
658
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,000
Hernandez: I would've argued differently.
659
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:13,000
We're talking about a death penalty.
660
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,000
We're gonna take somebody's life.
661
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,000
The state is gonna execute somebody.
662
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:22,000
The prosecution's argument was a very methodical argument.
663
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,000
It was simply going through all the crimes,
664
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,000
listing all of this evidence that linked Ramirez.
665
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,000
Jordan: It was a long and tumultuous trial.
666
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,000
In the end, there were 165 witnesses
667
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,000
and 658 pieces of evidence presented
668
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,000
before the defense and the prosecution
669
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,000
gave their final closing arguments.
670
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:49,000
As the jury was deliberating this mountain of evidence
671
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,000
that they had to consider,
672
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:55,000
one day, one of the jurors didn't show up.
673
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,000
Then she was found dead.
674
00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,000
There was a lot of speculation in the media that ...
675
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,000
that the murder of this juror
676
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:04,000
was really somehow related to the case,
677
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,000
that it was a conspiracy ...
678
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,000
maybe, perhaps Ramirez had followers who had done this,
679
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,000
that Ramirez had somehow orchestrated this.
680
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,000
Well, the rumors included me as a co-conspirator.
681
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:20,000
I was the prime suspect.
682
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:21,000
Yochelson: None of this was true.
683
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,000
It was an act of domestic violence
684
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,000
on the part of the juror's husband.
685
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:27,000
But this was all out there,
686
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,000
and the defense argued that there should be a mistrial
687
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,000
because they were afraid that the jurors would speculate
688
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:36,000
that it was somehow connected to the case.
689
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:38,000
You know, I thought, "Oh, boy.
690
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:39,000
If they're gonna need to declare a mistrial,
691
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,000
that's gonna be God awful."
692
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,000
An alternate juror was substituted in,
693
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,000
and under California law,
694
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:50,000
the jury had to begin their deliberations all over again.
695
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,000
Jordan: After such a chaotic trial,
696
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,000
the jury had to deal with this awful distraction
697
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,000
and the murder of one of their own.
698
00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:00,000
But in the end, they did their job.
699
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:07,000
♪♪
700
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:08,000
Reporter: Richard Ramirez wasn't in the courtroom
701
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:10,000
to hear the verdict against him.
702
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,000
He opted to stay in his cell
703
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,000
for what was a loud and clear decision.
704
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:16,000
"We, the jury in the above entitled action,
705
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,000
find the defendant, Richard Ramirez,
706
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,000
guilty of murder."
707
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:22,000
Yochelson: They came back with verdicts
708
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,000
convicting Ramirez of 13 counts of murder,
709
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:27,000
murder in the first degree,
710
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:29,000
with various what are called special circumstances
711
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,000
making him eligible for the death penalty,
712
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,000
and then 30 other felonies.
713
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:37,000
He was yelling from the holding cell, "I'm guilty.
714
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,000
I want the death penalty. I want to die now."
715
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,000
Reporter: When Richard Ramirez was found guilty,
716
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,000
he left the courthouse flashing the sign of Satan.
717
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,000
Evil.
718
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,000
Reporter: When he returned to find out
719
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,000
if he would live or die,
720
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,000
he flashed an obscenity.
721
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:57,000
♪♪
722
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,000
The final courtroom chapter of a serial killer
723
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:03,000
was played out for Richard Ramirez.
724
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:04,000
The 29-year-old devil-worshipping
725
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,000
drifter from Texas
726
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,000
had been found guilty of the heinous crimes.
727
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,000
This courtroom date was to pronounce final sentencing.
728
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:13,000
I don't think anyone was surprised
729
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,000
when the sentence was read.
730
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:17,000
"We, the jury in the above entitled action,
731
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:18,000
found it to be an intentional murder,
732
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:22,000
fix the penalty therefore at death."
733
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:23,000
Reporter: And Ramirez finally spoke,
734
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:27,000
evoking the spirit of Satan after a year-long trial.
735
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,000
When he was leaving the courtroom for the last time,
736
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:47,000
he made some statements.
737
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:50,000
Reporter: He made it very clear he is not afraid to die.
738
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:54,000
But big deal. Death always went with the territory.
739
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:56,000
I'll see you in Disneyland.
740
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,000
Jordan: As the trial ended,
741
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:00,000
his time in the spotlight was over,
742
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,000
but still there was one person who would stick by his side.
743
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,000
Man: Here she comes.
744
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,000
Man #2: She's here and walking in the door.
745
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:13,000
Martin: Doreen Lioy was the winner
746
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:15,000
in the serious suitors that he had attracted
747
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:19,000
during the course of the trial.
748
00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:22,000
I just wanted to say I'm ecstatically happy today
749
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:25,000
and very, very proud to have married Richard
750
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,000
and to be his wife.
751
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:31,000
And I hope that you will be very respectful of the day
752
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:35,000
and let me go and enjoy my day in peace,
753
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,000
and I appreciate your patience. Thank you.
754
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:38,000
Reporter: Couldn't you respond to some of the allegations
755
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,000
that you're a recluse,
756
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:41,000
that you live in a fantasy world, things like that?
757
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:45,000
-No. -Don't you want to speak to us?
758
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,000
Can you just say why, Doreen?
759
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:53,000
In 2009, the San Francisco police department
760
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:59,000
was able to link an unsolved homicide of a small child.
761
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,000
Once he had his DNA in the system,
762
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,000
they started finding out, for example, the little girl,
763
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:08,000
9-year-old that was killed in San Francisco.
764
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:12,000
She was killed and sexually assaulted,
765
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,000
which was a terrible case.
766
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,000
Jordan: Doreen Lioy divorced Ramirez,
767
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,000
citing this information as the reason
768
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:24,000
she wanted to distance herself from the Night Stalker.
769
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,000
Kristof: He never showed any sign of remorse
770
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,000
all through the trials.
771
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,000
He never showed any sign of remorse whatsoever.
772
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,000
He was just a monster.
773
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:42,000
I don't think we've seen the likes of him before or since,
774
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,000
and thank God for that.
775
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:52,000
Since the mid-1980s, I've asked the correctional officers
776
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:56,000
to unchain the inmate that I was going to interview
777
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,000
so that he'd be comfortable.
778
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:04,000
Richard Ramirez is the only inmate I've interviewed
779
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:09,000
for whom I did not request he be freed and unchained.
780
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,000
Carns: It has put a huge detour into my life.
781
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,000
I wasn't the same person I was prior to the injury.
782
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:25,000
Now it's time to pick up the pieces and keep going on.
783
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:28,000
He would've never stopped.
784
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He would've never stopped.
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00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:38,000
Richard Ramirez continued to attract female admirers
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from behind the walls of San Quentin up until his end.
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After almost 24 years on death row,
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Ramirez died on June 7, 2013, at the age of 53 ...
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not by execution
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00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,000
but from complications related to B-cell lymphoma.
791
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:57,000
Meanwhile, victims' families and survivors
792
00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:59,000
of the Night Stalker's vicious attacks
793
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:03,000
did what they could to move forward with their lives.
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00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:04,000
I'm Donnie Wahlberg.
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Thanks for watching.
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00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:07,000
Good night.
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