Richard Ramirez

Richard Ramirez is an American serial killer/rapist.

History
Richard Ramirez was born the youngest of five children to illegal Mexican immigrants in El Paso, Texas on February 29, 1960. He was a quiet loner who began spending nights cemeteries at the age of 10. When he was 13, he began spending time with his cousin Mike, a Vietnam War veteran, with whom he would drive around and smoke cannabis. He would also show Ramirez photos of Vietnamese women he claimed to have tortured and killed and teach him how to cut and shoot people for "maximum effect". Mike would later kill his wife in front of Ramirez. After that, Ramirez began skipping school, becoming addicted to cannabis and sniffing glue by seventh grade and committing petty theft to support his addictions. He dropped out of high school before completing his first year, moved to Californai at the age of 18 and lived the rest of his free life as a slacker. As a result of his poor hygiene and junk food diet, his teeth began to rot. He also became addicted to cocaine. On June 28, 1984, after using cocaine, Ramirez burglarized the home of Jennie Wilcow, 79, and raped and killed her. Over the course of a little more than a year, Ramirez proceeded to kill 12 additional people and rape and/or attempt to kill multiple others before being arrested on August 31, 1985 and being sentenced to death for his crimes. On October 3, 1996, he married Doreen Lioy and remains married to her to this day. In 2009, his DNA was linked to the 1984 murder of Mei Leung, 9. He is currently (June 2010) still on death row pending execution.

Modus Operandi
Ramirez typically struck at night and entered his victims' homes through home invasions. According to several witness reports, he would dress in black, presumably as camoflage. His victims varied in age and race and were often shot with a .22 handgun, but were also killed or attacked in a variety of ways, including stabbing, slashing with a machete and bludgeoning with a hammer or a tire iron. Ramirez sometimes raped his female victims and left Satanic pentagrams as a signature.

Victims

 * 1984: Mei Leung, 9
 * June 24, 1984: Jennie Vincow, 79 (raped, stabbed repeatedly and the throat was slashed deeply)
 * March 17, 1985:
 * Maria Hernandez, 22 (shot with a .22 handgun, survived), and Dayle Okazaki, 34 (shot with the same gun, survived)
 * Tsia-Lian Yu (shot twice in the chest with the same gun)
 * March 27, 1985: Vincent, 64 (shot once in the left temple), and Maxine, 44, Zazzara (shot and stabbed several times post mortem)
 * April 15, 1985: William, 66 (shot in the throat and beaten), and Lillian, 63 (raped only), Doi
 * May 29, 1985: Malvia Keller, 83 (beaten with a hammer and raped), and Blanche Wolfe, 80 (beaten with a hammer, survived)
 * May 30, 1985: Ruth Wilson, 41 (raped only)
 * July 2, 1985: Mary Louise Cannon, 75 (beaten and her throat slit)
 * July 5, 1985: Whitney Bennett, 16 (beaten severely with a tire iron, survived)
 * July 7, 1985:
 * Joyce Lucille Nelson, 61 (beaten with a blunt object)
 * Sophie Dickman, 63 (attempted to rape, but gave up as he couldn't maintain an erection)
 * July 20, 1985: Lela, 66 (shot), and Max, 66 (slashed with a machete and shot), Kneiding
 * August 6, 1985: Christopher, 38 (shot, survived), and Virginia, 27 (shot, survived), Petersen
 * August 8, 1985: Elyas, 35 (shot), and Sakina, 29 (raped only), Abowath
 * August 18, 1985: Peter, 66 (shot in the head), and Barbara, 64 (shot in the head, survived), Pan
 * August 24, 1985: William Carns (shot) and his fiancée, 29 (raped repeatedly, left alive)

Criminal Minds Comparison
Serial killer/rapist Billy Flynn, aka The Prince of Darkness, was compared by the BAU and media to Richard Ramirez. They were both active in California in 1984, except Ramirez stayed in the state while Flynn travelled afterwards. They share several similarities as they both struck at night through home invasions and raped at least some of their female victims. Like Ramirez, Flynn also had severely discolored teeth, though Ramirez had this due to drug use and junk food consumption while Flynn had this due to his avid smoking as well as drug use. When Ramirez raped Ruth Wilson, he locked her 10-year old son in a closet. Billy Flynn did almost the exact same thing during at least two of his attacks.