Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, as the media called him was one of the most notorious serial killers of 1985. Terrorizing family and communizes of the Los Angeles area for over a year. Ramirez was suspected of killing over 16 victims while torturing and mutilating over 29 victims known to date. Ramirez was convicted on September 20, 1989, on 13 counts of murder and 43 other felony charges (biography.com). Breeding a murderer Richard Ramirez was born on February 28, 1960, in El Paso, Texas. Born to his mother Mercedes and father Julian Ramirez, he was the youngest of seven children. Ramirez had a relatively tough childhood. At the young age of two years old a dresser fell on Ramirez causing a concussion which almost killed him. As the years went on and Ramirez hit fifth grade, where he was diagnosed with epilepsy causing him to be removed from the school football team. By seventh grade Ramirez had become a loaner, leading him to start sniffing glue and eventually smoking marijuana (biography.com). Ramirez’s relationship with his Catholic family continued to grow further apart as he …show more content…
The two would spend hours talking about Mike’s experiences in the war and quickly took a turn into the torturing of Vietnamese women when Mike was there. Ramirez’s drug addiction began to grow as he spent time with Mike, the two would spend days smoking marijuana together and snorting cocaine eventually leading to Ramirez beginning small crimes to fuel his drug addiction. At the age of thirteen while spending time with his cousin he witnessed his cousin shoot and kill his wife. This played a significant role on Ramirez life as he had always looked up to his cousin. It wasn’t untill the age of 17 that Ramirez received his first jail time in juvenile detention. Ramirez’s cousin Mike served 4 years for the murder of his wife and Ramirez returned back his cousin’s home.