The Night Stalker, Philip Carlo

The Book

This book takes an in depth dive into the crimes of brutal serial killer, Richard Ramirez, aka The Night Stalker. 

It begins with Ramirez's acknowledged crime spree, beginning in July of 1984, although after the book was written, DNA matched Ramirez to at least one more killing, that of a child who had been raped. The victims ranged in age from children to over 80. As his brutal crimes increased in frequency and as the police shared their resources, the media glommed on and raised his profile, making his media moniker, The Night Stalker, one of the most feared in history. 

As with the The Hillside Stranglers, the wide area of Los Angeles county, and the many small towns surrounding LA made crossing jurisdictions easy. The LA County Sherriff's office ran the investigation. Once again, the legendary Frank Salerno led the task force. But it was the dogged, smart work of young detective Gil Carrillo that originally identified the cases as being connected. About halfway through the investigation, Salerno and Carrillo became partners.  

In 1985, as the pressure ramped up, Ramirez went to see a friend in San Francisco. There he is supected of committing two more murders. When his distinctive profile was recognized, Salerno and Carrillo were dispatched to San Francisco to look at the evidence. While on the plane ride up, they saw an LA TV station had dispatched two reporters to follow them. The cops were frustrated. In San Francisco, the evidence was evaluated. But when Salerno and Carrillo returned to LA, they referred all inquires to the San Francisco PD, in what might classically be called a non denial denial. The then mayor, and later US Senator, Dian Feinstein held a press conference releasing non public information that jeopardized the case. Ramirez was not charged with these brutal murders, partly because of the taint of the Feinstein press conference and partly because the LA murders resulted in the death penalty, there seemed to be no point in risking that decision. 

Once Ramirez was identified as possibly being The Night Stalker, the book then goes into a biography of his younger years, including the theft ring his brother initiated him into, the violence in his household, his exposure to war crimes a cousin committed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and his slide into drug use. A modern eye will note Ramirez almost certainly ADHD, undiagnosed, and untreated. A vulnerable, sensitive child exposed to every poison the Western world has to offer is chronicled. 

The book then chronicles the long trial, the love story between Ramirez, his groupies, and the magazine editor who would eventually marry him. The book ends and was published shortly after the marriage. It does not chronicle his appeals nor his death from cancer in 2013. 

My Thoughts

I was warned by my friend CM (see this post) that this book is one of the most difficult reads. And she was right. The crimes are too brutal for anyone to comfortably talk about. The Satan worship lent an unreal aspect to the narrative. But it wasn't these details I had problems processing. 

Adult me had too much empathy for childhood Ramirez. His parents, poor, over worked, and marginalized seemed to offer him little oversight. The violent family life produces raged filled children. My heart broke for the man that should have been had the boy not been poisoned. 

Still, looking at all of the things that went wrong in Ramirez's life, I can't help but say, the shocking thing isn't that he committed so many truly awful crimes. It's that given all of poison he was exposed to, why our society doesn't produce more killers like Ramirez. 

Although there are those who will argue, this family should have benefited from birth control. Fewer children to provide for, might have kept his father at home, lessened the economic burden on the family, making the desperate want many felt eased. We routinely shame those who choose not to become parents, but do we have no care for the awful progeny the put out into the world? It is documented fact, that these parents are more likely, regardless of income level, to severely beat their children. They leave them to their own devices too frequently. They turn a blind eye to the warning signs their kids are in trouble, and then, over punish when the inevitable happens. This is at least the second, young, brutal murderer I have seen during this project, that is almost certainly a direct result of extremely poor parenting. While Juliet Hulme was a neglected teen of extremely selfish parents, Ramirez was the abused, neglected young man of extremely overworked parents. It is harder to excuse Juliet's parents, who had every resource available to them, and didn't care enough to do anything, than it is to excuse Ramirez's parents who could not have provided resources, even if they knew they were available. And I have harsh judgements for the societies whose sheer callousness has produced both parents and child. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This book came to me via a friend, who for privacy's sake I will call CM (not her initials).  She reads true crime and I asked to borrow this book from her. All of her books are in really good condition and it is clear she is a gentle reader of her books. So, while my library card has not saved me any money, she saved me $14.95 just by lending the book to me. Thank you CM!

Library Card

This Book                                                 $0.000

Items Reviewed This Year                      $295.91

Private Books

This Book                                                  $6.50

Total of Items Reviewed This Year        $302.91

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