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| Case file: Richard Ramirez In Los Angeles between mid-1984 and mid-1985, a series of violent attacks were carried out on people in their own homes in the middle of the night. Men were shot dead and women raped. Satanic pentagrams were left at the crime scenes, and in one case on a victim's thigh. Police knew only that they were looking for a tall, thin man, Hispanic in appearance with a strong body odor. In August 1985, a victim of the attacker was able to write down the licence number of the attacker's car as he drove off. The police discovered the car in a parking lot - it had been stolen at the time of the previous attack - and had kept it under surveillance, but no one returned to it. When the car was examined by forensic investigators, they recovered a suspicious fingerprint. Earlier in the year, the Lost Anglese Police Department's fingerprint records had been partially computerized, which simplified the search for the suspect print. The database provided a match with Richard Ramirez, whose fingerprint had been taken some years before following a minor traffic violation. An immediate search was made for him, and his photo was released to the media. At the time, Ramirez was in Arizona and unaware that the police were hunting for him. When he returned to L.A, he went into a liquor store and was recognized by other customers, who had seen his photo in the newspapers. They chased him down the street and he ran straight into a passing police officer. Ramirez denied having anything to do with the crimes, but police found the murder weapon in the home of one of his friends, and his sister was in possession of jewelry stolen from the victims. Police attributed 16 murders and 24 vicious assaults to Ramirez. The trial that ensued was one of the longest in U.S history. Close to 1,600 witnesses were interviewed. After deliberating for four days, the jury finally came back with a verdict of guilty. Ramirez was sentenced to death in November 1989. |
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