November 5, 2003
Richard Ramirez
Richard Ramirez was a spineless, gutless punk who terrorized Los Angeles for five months in 1985. His frenzied nighttime murder spree of random targets was as senseless and pointless as his life.
by David Lohr
Richard Ramirez's random and inexplicable murder spree began on June 28, 1984, in Glassel Park, Calif., a small suburban community in Los Angeles. He parked his car down the street and quietly made his way up to a two-story apartment building. His eyes began scanning the area looking for an easy target. A heat wave was moving through the area, so he had little trouble finding an apartment with an open window. The open window he chose belonged to 79-year-old Jennie Vincow.
Murder was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment. He was more interested in stealing the woman's valuables to support his growing drug addiction. With gloved hands, he quietly removed the screen from the window and crawled inside. According to Philip Carlo's 1996 book, The Night Stalker, Ramirez immediately made his way to the bedroom and began looking through the drawers, careful not to make a sound. Nothing. There was not one thing of value for him there. He became enraged at the elderly woman sleeping on the bed and decided to take his anger out on her. He quietly removed his hunting knife from its sheath and made his way toward her bed. He stood over her momentarily and contemplated his next move. Killing was something new to him and he did not want to make any mistakes. He held the knife up high and quickly brought it down on her chest. She immediately awoke and began screaming for her life, but he ignored her cries and continued to stab her again and again. After he tired of stabbing her, he placed his hand over her mouth and with one quick flick of the knife slit her throat. It was suddenly over just as quickly as it began. The elderly woman was dead and her killer stood over her panting. The act had excited him beyond his expectations and the thrill of the kill aroused him sexually. He quickly disrobed and performed necrophilia on the corpse.
