In court in 1985, Richard Ramirez flashes a pentagram drawn on the palm of his hand. Similar symbols were found in his car, his jail cell and at the Los Angeles area homes of some of his 13 torture-murder victims. (Los Angeles Times) |
SAN FRANCISCO - Police say the infamous serial killer known as the "Night Stalker" is a suspect in a 1984 homicide of a nine-year old girl.
Richard Ramirez, who is now on death row at San Quentin State Prison, was identified by cold case detectives Thursday as a suspect in the killing of Mei Leung.
The youngster was found hanging over a pipe in the basement of her apartment building at 765 O'Farrell St. in the Tenderloin District, police said.
Police say a DNA links Ramirez and possibly a second unknown suspect to the murder.
The killing happened more than two months before Ramirez's first known murder, the slaying June 28, 1984, of 79-year-old Jennie Vincow of Glassell Park.
It was the first in a series of gruesome killings that terrified Southern Californians.
Ramirez earned the nickname "Night Stalker" because he murdered his victims as they slept.
At some of the scenes he scrawled pentagrams, often associated with devil worship, and some of his victims were mutilated with the symbols.
Ramirez was arrested in August 1985 in Los Angeles after being pursued by local residents who recognized him from a mug shot released by police.
He was eventually convicted of 13 murders and 30 other felonies, among them child rape and sodomy.
He has long been suspected in several other Bay Area killings, including the murders of Barbara and Peter Pan near Lake Merced and restaurant owner Masataka Kobayashi.
Richard Ramirez, who is now on death row at San Quentin State Prison, was identified by cold case detectives Thursday as a suspect in the killing of Mei Leung.
The youngster was found hanging over a pipe in the basement of her apartment building at 765 O'Farrell St. in the Tenderloin District, police said.
Police say a DNA links Ramirez and possibly a second unknown suspect to the murder.
The killing happened more than two months before Ramirez's first known murder, the slaying June 28, 1984, of 79-year-old Jennie Vincow of Glassell Park.
It was the first in a series of gruesome killings that terrified Southern Californians.
Ramirez earned the nickname "Night Stalker" because he murdered his victims as they slept.
At some of the scenes he scrawled pentagrams, often associated with devil worship, and some of his victims were mutilated with the symbols.
Ramirez was arrested in August 1985 in Los Angeles after being pursued by local residents who recognized him from a mug shot released by police.
He was eventually convicted of 13 murders and 30 other felonies, among them child rape and sodomy.
He has long been suspected in several other Bay Area killings, including the murders of Barbara and Peter Pan near Lake Merced and restaurant owner Masataka Kobayashi.
