In the mid-1980s, serial killer Richard Ramirez, known as the Night Stalker, spread terror across California. He targeted random homes, breaking in to savagely assault occupants with shootings, stabbings, and mutilations. Authorities link him to as many as 20 deaths before his arrest.
A Former Deputy’s Shocking Testimony
Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Ellis recounted a disturbing conversation with Ramirez during his incarceration. Ellis testified that Ramirez boasted he could have doubled his victim tally if desired. For about 30 minutes, Ramirez calmly described his crimes, reveling in the violence and the suffering of his victims.
Ellis noted that Ramirez displayed eerie photographs he had taken and admitted to gouging out a woman’s eyes after she refused to hand over money. He attributed his capture to a single overlooked fingerprint at a crime scene, expressing regret for not eliminating the officers who found it.
The Five-Word Confession
During this monologue, Ramirez summed up his motive in five chilling words: “I love to kill people.” He elaborated further: “I love watching people die. I would shoot them in the head, and then they would wiggle and squirm all over the place, and then just stop, or cut them with a knife, and watch the face turn really white. I love all that blood.”
A judge ruled the statements admissible, despite objections from Ramirez’s defense team denying he made them.
Conviction and Legacy
Ramirez faced trial for his reign of terror, convicted on 13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. He received a death sentence and smirked through much of the proceedings, appearing amused. He later died of natural causes while awaiting execution on death row.
