Netflix's Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer took viewers on a journey through the police investigation of a series of murders, sexual assaults, and attacks in Los Angeles and surrounding areas through the 80s. The victims ranged from young children to women, couples, and even the elderly. This brutal criminal, who served as an inspiration for Criminal Minds' fifth season finale episode, didn't have a type of victim: he would go after anyone and everyone. Of course, the investigation eventually led to Richard Ramirez, who was captured, convicted, and sentenced to death for his crimes. All of this was covered in detail in the thorough docuseries.
That said, while the docuseries focused on the little details that helped detectives crack the case, there was a lot about the story, and the killer, that was left out. Information provided here without sourcing is from the 1996 Philip Carlo book The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez.
His Father Was A Police Officer
Very little was discussed of Ramirez's upbringing other than that essentially every bad thing that could possibly happen to a child to scar them for life happened to him. His father was not only violent towards him, and he suffered from several head injuries as a child that led to epileptic fits, but he even witnessed a murder as a child.
The Netflix docuseries didn't discuss a lot of the details of his family, also excluding that his father had actually worked as a police officer in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico before the family moved to the U.S.
More About His Siblings
It might have been briefly mentioned, but not a lot was noted about the fact that Ramirez had four siblings. One can only imagine that his four siblings went through the same types of childhood trauma he did, but there's no word on where these siblings are now. It is known, however, that their names are Ruth, Robert, Joseph, and Ruben.
His Cousin Was His Biggest (& Worst) Influence
The docuseries mentioned how Ramirez witnessed the murder of a family member as a child, but it didn't delve into the details. Ramirez spent a lot of time with his older cousin named Mike, who was a Green Beret. Mike took it upon himself to discuss gruesome details about what he did to Vietnamese women during his time serving in the Vietnam War, even reportedly showing Ramirez photos he took.
Mike eventually killed his own wife in front of a then 12-year-old Ramirez, suggesting to the impressionable child that this type of behavior was okay.
His Brother-In-Law Was A Peeping Tom
As if that wasn't enough to turn a young man into a disturbed person, Ramirez later reportedly tried to escape his violent father and the aftermath of witnessing his cousin's wife's murder by moving in with his sister and her husband, but that didn't turn out well either.
His sister Ruth's husband, Roberto, was apparently a peeping Tom who liked to sneak out at night and watch women in their homes. Ramirez would go along with him, and his drug use got worse, from taking marijuana to ingesting LSD.
He Worked At A Holiday Inn
Ramirez actually held down a decent job at a local Holiday Inn, while going to school, except that he would use his key to enter guest rooms and steal their valuables, even while people were in the rooms, sleeping.
Eventually, his nightly visits escalated to something worse when Ramirez tried to rape a woman in her room. The woman's husband returned just in time and beat Ramirez. Not surprisingly, he was fired. Ramirez lucked out, though, as the couple, who lived in another state, did not want to return to testify, and thus the charges were dropped against him.
His First Murder Was In 1984
Ramirez's supposed first murder wasn't mentioned in the crime docuseries, as it wasn't linked to him until long after his arrest. In 1984, he raped, beat, and murdered a nine-year-old girl named Mei Leung in the basement of a hotel where he was living at the time.
This murder was not only linked to Ramirez through a DNA evidence match made in 2009, but there was evidence that another suspect was present as well, likely a juvenile at the time.
He Threatened To Shoot The Prosecutor
During his trial and while in jail, several employees reportedly overheard Ramirez talking about plans to shoot the prosecutor with a gun he would have smuggled into the courtroom through a friend. He mentioned possibly turning the gun on others, as well.
Because of these uttered threats, a metal detector was installed outside of the courtroom and everyone entering was thoroughly searched to ensure that a gun could not find its way inside and into Ramirez's hands.
A Juror Was Killed
During the trial, a juror didn't show up one day, which halted the proceedings. It turned out the woman, Phyllis Singletary, had been shot and killed in her apartment. Not surprisingly, the other members of the jury were scared, worried that Ramirez had people on the outside who were doing his bidding.
However, it was later revealed that the incident was a coincidence: Singletary was killed by her boyfriend who committed suicide in a hotel that same day. Nonetheless, the juror who replaced Singletary avoided her home during the trial for fear that something could happen to her.
It Was The Most Expensive Trial Ever At The Time
While trials have occurred that cost much more these days, Ramirez's trial, at the time, was the most expensive ever in the history of California. It cost $1.8 million which, adjusted for inflation to 2019 numbers, would equate to about $3.71 million today. It remained the most expensive trial ever in California until the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1994.
He Was Married … Twice
The docuseries highlighted the various fan letters and photos Ramirez was getting from women of all types of ages who were troublingly fascinated with the serial killer and found him to be attractive and appealing. His many female fans led to the media dubbing him the "Death Row Romeo."
But the docuseries didn't mention that he actually went on to marry one of them. Doreen Lioy sent him close to 75 letters during the time he was in prison. Eventually, he proposed to her in 1988 and they married in 1996 in San Quentin State Prison. Lioy had planned to commit suicide when Ramirez was executed, but had a change of heart about the confirmed killer after DNA evidence proved he raped and murdered the nine-year-old Leung. Incredibly, Ramirez was married a second time before he died from B-cell lymphoma in 2013, to 23-year-old writer, Christine Lee.