The 1980s Nightstalker Murder Craze

Another serial killer is getting the American Horror Story Treatment

Photo by Crime Museum

The 80s brought with it a heyday of serial killers. Each of those killers have gone through a sexualization and the horrible crimes forgotten, because nothing is truly bad if you’re sexy enough. Richard Ramirez is among the serial killers having a pop culture minute, and thanks to Ryan Murphy will have serial killer fetishists panting for him.

Ramírez was a savage murderer and knew how to ignite a media firestorm to elicit sympathy from the public. He played on the fears and fascination with Satanism to continually confound the norms of society.

Perhaps this was because his childhood was anything but normal.

Raising a Serial Killer

He was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. His parents doted on him, usually going overboard with gifts. The adoration went both ways for a long time, according to multiple reports.

Things started to go downhill when Ramírez’s cousin Mike came home from the Vietnam war. Mike began telling the youngster about the horrors he faced as a result of the war. He would also ruin Ramírez’s innocence by showing him graphic pictures of what happened in the war.

The adorable youngster was beginning to change. Drugs were soon a steady staple of his diet, again thanks to Mike. There was no stopping the rush down the crime highway.

And no one is surprised that there’s a familiar face involved.

First Murder, Last Chance

In 1977, Mike murdered his wife. It was not something that had to be done and certainly he could have kept his little cousin out of it. Yet, Ramírez watched as his hero murdered the woman he had married. No reason was given.

Both men were sent to jail for the heinous crime.

When he got out, Ramírez moved to California. He would resume his life of crime, and grow it exponentially.

Crime Rush

As soon as he was released from Juvenile Detention, Ramírez moved to California. He resumed his newfound life of crime. Cocaine possession and burglary were added to his repertoire. Often he would get caught and sentenced to jail time.

After being sent away on a car theft charge, Ramírez graduated to even bolder crimes. His first murder happened on June 28,1984.

The victim was a 79-year-old woman. She was raped, stabbed, and ultimately murdered in her home. Police searches for a motive for the ghastly crime but came up empty.

Over the course of the next year, Ramírez would kill 12 more people and rape dozens more. Most notably he murdered William Carns and raped his fiancé, she lived knowing her future husband would be the Night Stalker’s last murder victim.

Satan’s Trial

Leaving the last rape victim alive proved to be a fatal mistake for Ramírez. She identified him and his car to the police. Once they had a positive ID on him, they flooded the local media with his picture. After trying to steal two more cars, a neighborhood banded together and held the serial killer in place until the police got there.

Even after the police closed in on Ramírez, he stayed defiant. He had carved Satanic symbols on the bodies of his victims. Boldly, he would show the same symbols on his own body to the press as he entered the courtroom.

After he was found guilty and sentenced to death, Ramírez didn’t falter in his attitude. He told gathered reporters, “Big deal. Death always went with the territory. See you in Disneyland.”

American Lust Story

After his arrest, there were women already lusting after him. The ultimate bad boy. Prison guards were inundated with lusty letters for the newest member of death row.

Doreen Lioy had covered the story extensively for her various employers. She fell in love with Ramierez and convinced him to date her. This led to a marriage. Lioy once vowed to kill herself if her husband was executed. He died in 2013 of kidney failure. The marriage is ended before his life did.

American Horror Story has introduced Ramírez’s character for the new season. It is widely expected that the serial killer will get the hormones racing again. Because murder. Hey