Serial killer’s chilling five-word motive behind murder spree | US | News
Serial killer Richard Ramirez, whom the media dubbed the Night Stalker, terrorized California in the mid-1980s.
His gruesome method of operation, which also made him incredibly elusive, involved breaking into seemingly random homes and brutally attacking any occupants he found inside.
Ramirez was responsible for the deaths of up to 20 people before his eventual capture. But a former guard claims the serial killer boasted of the potential to double the number of victims if he wanted.
Deputy Jim Ellis told the court that Ramirez spoke for about half an hour, calmly describing a series of shootings, stabbings and mutilations he had committed.
Ellis noted that Ramirez enjoyed the brutality of his actions and even claimed that he enjoyed observing his victims’ struggles. He also revealed a collection of gruesome photographs he had taken and admitted to gouging out the eyes of a woman who could not provide him with money.
Make sure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us your Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
Reportedly, Ramirez claimed that his capture was only due to accidentally leaving fingerprints at one of the crime scenes, expressing regret for not eliminating the police officers who discovered it.
During this disturbing soliloquy, Ramirez succinctly summed up his point in five chilling words. According to Ellis, the serial killer said: “I like killing people.”
Ramirez reportedly said: “I love watching people die. I’d shoot them in the head and then they’d wiggle and squirm all over the place and then they’d stop or cut them with a knife and watch their faces turn really white.”
The testimony was later deemed admissible by the judge, even though Ramirez, through his lawyer, denied making such statements. He was convicted of 13 murders and numerous other violent crimes committed during his campaign of terror in California.
Ramirez was found guilty of 13 murders, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 counts of burglary and was sentenced to death.
Throughout his trial, observers noted that Ramirez was constantly grinning as if he was enjoying the trial.
He died of natural causes during the execution.
