Richard Ramirez was an American serial killer, rapist, and burglar dubbed “The Night Stalker.“

Ramirez’ first known murder took place on June 28th, 1984; his victim was 79-year-old Jennie Vincow, who he viciously sexually assaulted, stabbed and murdered during a burglary in her home.

9 months later, on March 17th 1985, he attacked Angela Barrios, who managed to escape him, and then killed her flatmate, Dayle Okazaki. He also shot and killed Tsai Lian Yu the same evening, which started a media frenzy.

March 27th saw the murder of 64-year-old Vincent Zazzara, and his 44-year-old wife, Maxine. Ramirez’ shot the husband first, then brutally assaulted and stabbed the wife to death. In this case, he also gouged out Maxine Zazzara’s eyes.

Ramirez’ later repeated his attack pattern on pensioners William and Lillie Doi in April.

Over the next two months his attacks escalated rapidly, he claimed another dozen victims in a frenzy of burglaries and assaults that drove LA into a panic.

Ramirez’ was forced to leave LA in August due to the relentless media and police pressure. He moved to San Francisco where he took his next victims, Peter and Barbara Pan. His final attack lead to his identification, and he was eventually apprehended.

Counted amongst the most vicious and cold-blooded murderers ever to operate in the United States, he was a staunch Satanist who never expressed any remorse for the crimes he had committed. In spite of his notoriety, he also had some fans, one of whom married him while he was imprisoned. After a long trial, he was convicted of 13 killings and sentenced to death. He died of an illness while on the death row.

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