LOS ANGELES (AP) Richard Ramirez, the notorious serial killer known as the Night Stalker, died early Friday in a hospital, a state official said.
Ramirez, 53, "passed away this morning," San Quentin State Prison spokesman Lt. Sam Robinson told The Associated Press. No other details were released.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Ramirez died of "natural causes." He had been housed on death row for decades and was awaiting execution, even though it has been years since anyone has been put to death in California.
Ramirez had been taken from death row to Marin General Hospital.
Ramirez was convicted of 13 murders that terrorized Southern California in 1984 and 1985, and was sentenced to death.
Satanic symbols were left at murder scenes and some victims were forced to "swear to Satan" by the killer, who entered homes through unlocked windows and doors.
Ramirez was captured and beaten in 1985 by residents of an East Los Angeles neighborhood while attempting a carjacking.
At his first court appearance, Ramirez raised a hand with a pentagram drawn on it and yelled, "Hail, Satan."
After a four-year trial one of the longest in U.S. history Ramirez was sentenced to death in 1989. He also was convicted of many sexual assaults and burglaries.
In 2006, the California Supreme Court upheld Ramirez's convictions and death sentence.
In 2009, San Francisco police said DNA linked Ramirez to the April 10, 1984, killing of 9-year-old Mei Leung. She was killed in the basement of a residential hotel in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood where she lived with her family.
Ramirez had been staying at nearby hotels.
Ramirez previously was tied to killings in Northern California. He was charged in the shooting deaths of Peter Pan, 66, and his wife, Barbara, in 1985 just before his arrest in Los Angeles, but he was never tried in that case.
In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the convictions and sentence.
___
Thompson reported from Sacramento.
Blog List
-
Kaley Cuoco Shows Off Fit Physique In Skin-Revealing Yoga Outfit - By Suzy Byrne Kaley Cuoco leaving yoga class in L.A. on Monday. (X17online.com)Kaley Cuoco gave new meaning to hot yoga on Monday when she emerged from cla...10 years ago
Pageviews
Popular Posts
-
NEW YORK (AP) Michael Smerconish is jumping from traditional talk radio to satellite, saying the media form he has loved essentially left hi...
-
After years of maintaining that BlackBerry was the only smartphone smart enough for the Department of Defense security blanket, the Pentagon...
-
By Alistair Barr SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Monday it had acquired Liquavista NV from Samsung Electronics Co to help...
-
Apple product lovers, your iPhone and iPad interfaces will look radically different this year. At Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Co...
-
LOS ANGELES (AP) Edith Bunker had to deal with her trying husband, Archie, and more. Here are challenges that faced the "All in the Fam...
-
MARIPOSA, Calif. (AP) An unattended campfire near a main route into Yosemite National Park has grown into a blaze that has led to the evacua...
-
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Singer Paul McCartney's decision to leave the Beatles and embark on a solo career is the subject of a new comic boo...
-
LOS ANGELES (AP) Whether she's hopping off cliffs, battling rogue bandits or surviving in the post-apocalyptic wilderness, Tracy Spirida...
-
The Wall Street Journal says that Amazon is expanding its hardware offerings with a whole new line of gadgets, including a lame-sounding &q...
-
WASHINGTON (AP) Ke$ha is an all-American girl or at least she was following Inauguration Day at a concert Monday night. The pop singer sport...