RICHARD Ramirez shocked America when he displayed a pentagram on his palm during his trial for 13 murders and declared “Hail Satan”.
And Alfie James was also taken aback when the Night Stalker sent him a drawing of the same hand, alongside sketches of scantily clad women.
Ramirez caused controversy in his trial, shouting ‘Hail Satan’
Alfie JamesHe sent amature criminologist Alfie a series of crude pictures[/caption]
YouTubeRamirez was convicted of 13 murders, five attempted murders and 11 sexual assaults[/caption]
Alfie JamesRamirez and Alfie wrote to each other for six years until Ramirez died[/caption]
Britain’s top amateur criminologist began writing to Ramirez after he was given the death penalty in a bid to explore what made him tick.
But Alfie never imagined the twisted requests that the sex attacker would make – and the sinister childlike drawings he would post to him from across the Atlantic.
He said: “I looked at the drawing of his hand and it sent a chill down my spine.
“His hand was massive and had played a part in the many murders and rapes he had committed.
“But that wasn’t the only shocking thing that arrived in the post from him.
“As well as his own drawings of women wearing very little, he actually asked me to take photographs of women in real life.
“He wanted me to take my camera when I went swimming to capture pictures of women and girls in bikinis. It made me feel sick – and I obviously said no.”
After years of communicating with killers here in the UK – including Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Moors Murderer Ian Brady – Alfie became intrigued by the ‘Night Stalker’ case after watching a documentary.
He said: “We don’t have the death penalty here, of course, so I was fascinated by what life on death row was like.
“What does it do to someone’s mind sitting there in a cell day after day, knowing that the only way out is the executioner’s chair?”
In 2007 he wrote to Ramirez at San Quentin Prison, California’s oldest jail, which opened in 1854 and was where Charles Manson also served time.
Ramirez replied and they struck up a regular correspondence, swapping scores of letters over the next six years until the killer died of natural causes in 2013 before he could be executed.
During that time, Alfie – who turned part of his vast true crime library into the definitive biography of Sutcliffe, I’m the Yorkshire Ripper, written with Sun reporter Robin Perrie – gained a fascinating insight into the mind of a killer.
Violent upbringing
.Ramirez had a violent upbringing in El Paso with an abusive father[/caption]
APHe started attacking people when he was just 22 years old after moving to California[/caption]
Born in El Paso, Texas, in 1960, Ramirez grew up in an abusive family – his dad was violent and he saw his cousin shoot his wife dead during an argument.
In 1982, when Ramirez was 22, he moved from Texas to California and two years later began attacking men, women and children, often breaking into their homes at night.
He used guns, knives and his bare hands to kill his victims, telling one woman to swear “to Satan” that she wouldn’t look at him as he sexually assaulted her.
He carved a satanic symbol into the wall of the home of another couple he attacked.
Ramirez was arrested in 1985 after his photo appeared on the front of newspapers as part of a police appeal.
Locals recognised him as he left a store and gave chase. He ran for six miles, trying to car jack vehicles to get away before a group of have-a-go-heroes surrounded him.
What does it do to someone’s mind sitting there in a cell day after day, knowing that the only way out is the executioner’s chair?
Alfie James
In the latest instalment of The Sun’s Meeting a Monster series, Alfie revealed that the killer took a sick pride in his escape bid.
Factory worker Alfie, 49, said: “He was really proud of how far he had run.
“He ran for miles and miles away from a crowd that were after him after they recognised him in the newspaper. He was quite boastful about how far he ran.
“I first came across his story on a documentary and I thought being on death row is totally different to anything we have here.
“So I wrote to him and, just like the serial killers I had written to here in the UK, he replied.
“He asked me as many questions as I was asking him. Where have you been, where are you going, how many are in your family? He sometimes wrote a list of questions for me to answer, and I’m thinking, ‘Who’s interviewing who here?’
“He would send a lot of drawings, mainly of females in bikinis, and he would say, ‘Can you send some pictures of girls in underwear bikinis?’
“One time I said we’d been swimming he said, ‘If you go again can you take some pictures poolside for me?’ I thought, I’m not doing that.”
Sick obsession
Alfie JamesRamirez revealed his obsession with sex and scantily dressed women[/caption]
AP PhotoDespite his violent crimes against women, Doreen Lioy married him in 1996[/caption]
Alfie said Ramirez was “clearly sex obsessed”, adding: “It was constant.
“He also once mentioned he liked the Benny Hill shows. I immediately thought, ‘It’s not the jokes or sense of humour he likes, it’s the girls in swimsuits and stockings and suspenders.’
“The girls he drew were always in stockings and suspenders or short skirts, and he said in one letter, ‘Do you have any school yearbooks? If so send copy pages from the girls’ sports section’.”
In another, Ramirez wrote: “Send pics of girls. Make ‘em in bikini thong or lingerie from head to toe,” and he also asked Alife: “Do you have a favourite sport? Mine to watch is girls’ volleyball.”
One time I said we’d been swimming he said, ‘If you go again can you take some pictures poolside for me?’ I thought, I’m not doing that
Alfie James
In yet another, he begged: “Send pictures of naked girls. You can try covering naked spots by drawing a bikini.”
As well as his near X-rated drawings, he also sent more childlike sketches of cars and transformers.
Alfie said: “He came across as very young in many ways, sending drawings of things like transformers or the Green Goblin.
“I quizzed him about death row. You always think it is really noisy in prison, but he said death row was quiet because they had proper steel doors.
“He didn’t seem scared about his execution, he seemed quite relaxed.”
Alfie JamesRamirez sent Alfie a series of childlike drawings with his letters[/caption]
Alfie JamesAll of the paintings were signed by the serial killer[/caption]
APRamirez didn’t demonstrate any remorse in his letters to Alfie[/caption]
Richard Ramirez’s victims
During his violent crime spree, Ramirez committed 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries. Here we list his murder victims.
Mei Leung, nine, was murdered on April 10th, 1984 in the basement of her family apartment building. He proceeded to beat, strangle and then rape Mei before stabbing her to death. He was only linked to her murder by DNA in 2009.
Jennie Vincow, 79, was murdered by Ramirez in her flat in Glassell Park, Los Angeles on June 28th 1984. Ramirez repeatedly stabbed her in the head, chest, and neck and then slashed her neck so deeply it nearly decapitated her.
Dayle Yoshie Okazaki, 34, was shot in the head by Ramirez when fleeing his attempted murder of her roommate Maria Hernandez, 22, on March 17th, 1985.
Tsai-Lian “Veronica” Yu, 30, was attacked by Ramirez an hour later on March 17th, 1985. He dragged her out of her car in Monterey Park, and shot her twice with a .22 caliber handgun.
Vincent Charles Zazzara, 64, and his wife Maxine Levenia Zazzara, 44. Ramirez shot Vincent in the head on March 27th, 1985, then proceeded to beat and shoot Maxine in the head three times. He mutilated her dead body by carving an inverted cross into her chest, then removed her eyes and placed them in a jewellery box which he took with him.
Bill Doi, 66, on May 14th, 1985. Ramirez shot Bill in the face with a .22 semi-automatic pistol and then beat him unconscious. He then raped Bill’s disabled wife Lillian Doi, 56. Bill died in hospital from his injuries.
Mabel “Ma” Bell, 83, and her disabled sister, Florence “Nettie” Lan, 81, were attacked at their home on May 29th 1985. He bludgeoned Florence with a hammer and then raped her. He then bludgeoned Mabel before electrocuting her. He used lipstick to draw a pentagram on Mabel’s leg and the walls of the room. Both women were found alive and comatose. Mabel died on July 15 in hospital from her injuries. Florence died in August from hers.
Mary Louise Cannon, 75, was stabbed to death by Ramirez in her home in Arcadia on July 2nd 1985. He bludgeoned her with a lamp until she was unconscious, then stabbed her to death with her own kitchen knife.
Lela Kneiding, 66, and her husband Maxon Kneiding, 68, were shot dead and hacked with a machete by Ramirez while they were still alive on July 20th 1985.
Chainarong Khovananth, 32, was shot dead by Ramirez the same night in Sun Valley, Los Angeles. He then repeatedly raped and beat Somkid Khovananth, 32.
Elyas Abowath, 31, was fatally shot while asleep by Ramirez on August 8th 1985. He then attacked Elyas’s wife Sakina Abowath, 27, and repeatedly raped her in front of the couple’s three-year-old son.
Peter Pan, 66, and Barbara Pan, 62, were shot by Ramirez at their home in Mission Viejo, on August 24th 1985. He raped Barbara before shooting her in the head.
No regrets
Unlike some of the killers Alife has corresponded with, Ramirez was reluctant to discuss the details of his crimes.
But like almost all of them, he didn’t express any remorse, and suggested he didn’t have many regrets, only in the way his arrest had affected his own life.
Alife said: “The only time he ever hinted at any regret was when he said he ‘came to California on a whim and as you can see, didn’t turn out too good’.
“It was like he was brushing off all of his crimes and was suggesting they only happened because had moved to California.
“It is typical of the self-absorption that a lot of serial killers exhibit.
“It was as if it was nothing, as if he had moved to LA for work and the job didn’t work out. He was massively trivialising a lot of very serious crimes.
“And when I pushed him again on whether he had any regrets, he didn’t mention murdering and raping all those people.
“He said the one regret that came to mind was not asking out more girls on dates when he was at school, which was incredible.”
.Mei Leung, 9 was beaten, raped, and stabbed by Ramirez in April 1984[/caption]
Netflix60-year-old Joyce Nelson was murdered by Ramirez in July 1985[/caption]
NetflixLela and Maxon Kneiding were murdered by Ramirez in Glendale, California in 1989[/caption]
Ramirez was found guilty on all charges – 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries – in 1989 and given 19 death penalties.
He died before he could be executed, from complications from health issues including lymphoma and hepatitis C.
Alife and Ramirez swapped their last letters just weeks before his death.
He said: “You always want to find out more about a serial killer. The next letter might finally contain that one nugget which explains why they did what they did.
“But with Ramirez, as with some of the others I have corresponded with, it wasn’t easy to read their letters.
“I certainly didn’t miss his non-stop requests for disturbing pictures of women and the stream of strange drawings he sent me.
“Or, like with so many others, his sense of self-importance.
When I pushed him again on whether he had any regrets, he didn’t mention murdering and raping all those people. He said the one regret that came to mind was not asking out more girls on dates when he was at school, which was incredible
Alfie James
“There are many complex reasons why anyone becomes a serial killer, but that is one common factor I have discovered.
“A lot of them have a massively over-inflated sense of their own importance, they think the world revolves around them.
“Whether it is a case of them enjoying the publicity that their crimes have afforded them or whether they were always like that, who knows?
“But they do tend to feel that conversations should always be about them and their feelings, as if they are always the most important person in the room, as if they are the celebrity of their hospital or prison.
“A lack of remorse is another common factor. Not one of them that I got to know expressed full and genuine remorse for their crimes and the terrible heartache they had caused their families.
“In their minds, their cases involved another victim – and that was them.”
‘I’m The Yorkshire Ripper’ by Robin Perrie and Alfie James is published by Mirror Books and is available in paperback and as an ebook. Buy it on Amazon now.
Maria Hernandez survived Ramirez’s attempt to murder her with a revolver.
Getty Images – GettyRamirez has never shown remorse for his catalogue of violent crimes[/caption]
AP:Associated PressRamirez was held in the same prison that Charles Manson was incarcerated in[/caption]
.Richard Ramirez murdered sisters Mabel “Ma” Bell, 83, and her sister Florence “Nettie” Lang in their beds[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
