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Hi, it's Vanessa. If you're drawn to true crime stories about disappearances, there's a new Crime House original you should check out. It's called the Final Hours, hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Sarah's an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose own sister disappeared in 2001. And Courtney is a true crime storyteller who's seen firsthand how crime can change a family forever. Together, they bring lived experience to every case, examining the moments just before a person disappears. The routines, the timelines, the small details that often get overlooked because every disappearance has a moment where everything still feels normal. Until it doesn't. Listen to and follow the final hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday.
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This is Crime House. Fueled by a belief that Satan was protecting him, Richard Ramirez turned the summer of 1985 into a living nightmare, leaving bodies across California while police raced to stop him to Tonight, the Night Stalker's violence escalates and the hunt to finally catch him begins. Welcome to Night watch on Crime House 24 7. I'm your host Katie Ring and together we'll be following the cases making headlines now, where justice is still unfolding. Follow us wherever you are listening and if you want ad free episodes, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts plus less subscribe to our YouTube channel at Night Watch Pod this episode discusses an active criminal case. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence, so everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. On this show we spend a lot of time focused on details because details can change how you understand a case, and in travel, details change how you understand a place. Colette's small group Explorations tours are designed with that same focus on details. You're led by experts and locals who know the destination inside and out. And groups stay small with an average of just 19 travelers so the experience feels more personal. You might take part in a centuries old tea ceremony in Japan, guided by the meaning and tradition behind every step. Or explore southern Africa on expert led safaris that spend multiple days on game drives, giving you time to truly understand the landscape and wildlife. With Colette, you get immersive travel built on thoughtful planning, local expertise and more than a century of experience behind it. For travel that gets the details right, visit go colette.com podcast and use offer code TRAVEL26 to get $200 off select Colette Explorations Tours In a world full of noise, long term thinking stands out. On the Capital Ideas podcast, Capital Group leaders explore the decisions that matter most in investing, leadership and life. It's a rare look inside a firm that's been helping people pursue their financial goals for more than 90 years. Listen to the Capital Ideas podcast from Capital Group, published by Capital Client Group,
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Inc.
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By the summer of 1985, Richard Ramirez had already murdered multiple victims across Los Angeles county, leaving behind a trail of terror as the attacks grew more frequent and more brutal. Then, on July 5, he stole a Toyota and drove northeast of Los Angeles through the San Gabriel Mountains. At some point during his drive, a police car passed him. Richard overheard the dispatch as the car drove by. The voice on the other end of the radio was calling all cars to search for the valley intruder, which was how authorities were referring to Richard. Hearing this made him smile. Richard wasn't worried about getting caught because he believed that as long as Satan was on his side, nothing would happen to him. Soon, Richard instinctively pulled over in front of a residence which sat on a half acre of land in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley. He walked right up to the white ranch style home and tried the handle. It was unlocked. The home belonged to the Bennett family, Stephen, an executive at a gas company, his wife and their teen children, Whitney and James. When Richard got to Whitney's room, he could see her asleep in her bed. Her brown hair was spilling over her pillow. He decided to attack her, but wanted to make sure no one would interrupt them. Richard snuck out of the house and went outside to his car, thinking he would use a tire iron to kill Steven and his wife. But before he could grab it, a police officer rolled by the house, forcing Richard to duck for cover. Once the car was gone, Richard quickly grabbed his tire iron and headed back inside. Knowing the authorities were nearby, he bypassed the parents and went back to Whitney's room. He struck fast, hitting her with the iron and then grabbed a telephone cord to strangle her with. But as he did, the telephone cord sparked. However, Richard didn't consider it an electrical mishap. He thought the spark was her soul leaving her body. This scared him and he immediately fled. As he sped away from the scene, he convinced himself that the spark had actually been Jesus who got in his way and saved Whitney. Unfortunately, this supposed encounter with Jesus didn't change Richard's ways. He was about to increase his attacks and continue his summer of terror. Tonight, we're continuing our three part deep dive on Richard Ramirez, the serial killer also known as the Night Stalker in 1985, Richard Ramirez was likely having the best summer of his life. The 25 year old had convinced himself that he was carrying out a mission in Satan's name to kill as many people as possible as brutally as possible. And as far as he was concerned, he was accomplishing his goal. In the month of July 1985, he murdered five more people and attacked at least four others. In many of these encounters, Richard not only used sexual violence, but he mentioned Satan multiple times to his victims. Then in early August, he attacked two families just two days apart, killing one person and injuring three. The public was already aware of the spree of murders and burglaries around LA that were carried out by a tall, shaggy haired man with bad breath. And panic was beginning to spread. The LA Times put out an article on August 14, 1985 describing how veteran detective Frank Salerno was intent on capturing this killer. This article was the first to give Richard Ramirez the name he would become famous for. The Night Stalker. Reading about his crimes in the news inflated Richard's ego and made him feel even more untouchable. But even with Satan looking after him, Richard decided it would be smart to skip town for a bit. So he decided to head north to the Bay Area. He drove up there and checked in at the Bristol Hotel in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, a rough neighborhood where he could blend in. But he wasn't interested in lying low. On the night of August 17, 1985, Richard stole a Mercedes and went for a joyride. Around 2am he reached the fancy Lakeside district and was drawn to a two story stucco house that belonged to Peter and Barbara Pan. Like so many of his previous victims, Richard walked up to the house, pulled off a window screen and jumped in. He shot Peter while he was sleeping, which woke Barbara up. But when she fought back, he killed her too. After they were both dead, Richard grabbed Barbara's lipstick and drew a pentagram on the bedroom wall next to the words Jack the Knife. Once the Pan's bodies were found, news about their murders quickly spread. Back in la. A local detective thought it sounded a lot like the Night Stalker and notified Frank Salerno. At first Frank thought it might be a copycat, so he called a Bay Area detective to learn more. That detective confirmed there was a pentagram at the scene and also said that the gun shells they found had a red circle in the casing. Salerno looked back through the evidence collected from the other murders in LA and realized that type of casing was found at two of the Night Stalker's crime scenes. It was worrisome that such a ruthless murderer had touched down in yet another city. But to catch this killer, Frank had to stay optimistic. They had the killer's brand of shoe and size, they had the precise type of weapon he used, and they had a physical description. It wasn't much, but authorities were definitely onto the Night Stalker. And detectives Frank Salerno and Gil Carillo were putting all of the pieces together.
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By August of 1985, Richard Ramirez's killing spree had stretched from Los Angeles to San Francisco. And for the first time, detectives were beginning to connect his crimes across cities. Whatever was driving Richard's obsession with Satan, it gave the police a lot of leads to follow. After his double homicide in San Francisco In August of 1985, authorities in LA were able to connect these crimes with to the crimes in Southern California. It was a late night break in. A pentagram was drawn at the scene and the bullets had red marks on them just like the crime scenes in Southern California. Within hours of making this connection, the lead investigator on the Night Stalker case, Detective Frank Salerno and his partner Gil Carillo flew to San Francisco after taking a look at the crime scene. Frank and Gil went to the city's police headquarters where they met with local detectives and compared notes from their investigations. The next morning they gave this information to San Francisco's mayor at the time, Dianne Feinstein. Her first concern was her constituents safety. So she quickly called a press conference to warn the public that the Night Stalker was on the loose in their city. She offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who had information that could help Catch the killer. By mid August, fear had fully taken over Northern California. The Tenderloin was already known for crime. But now even the city's wealthiest neighborhoods felt exposed. Fear wasn't just spreading. It was changing the way people lived in San Francisco. Residents started sleeping with loaded guns in their nightstands. Hardware stores sold out of deadbolts and window locks. Gun shops saw lines out the door. Some neighborhoods organized informal night patrols with men taking shifts outside of their homes, armed with flashlights and baseball bats. Police departments were flooded with tips. They received thousands of calls from people reporting suspicious strangers, unfamiliar cars, or open windows they didn't remember leaving unlocked. Investigators had to sift through panic, rumor and paranoia to separate real leads from the noise. The widespread fear also had other consequences. People began profiling anyone who looked like the composite sketch. In some areas, innocent men were stopped, threatened, and even attacked. Not by police, but by terrified citizens who believed the Night Stalker could be anywhere. And for Mayor Feinstein, the threat wasn't theoretical. San Francisco was a city still healing from political violence. Just seven years earlier, she discovered the bodies of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk after they were assassinated inside of City Hall. Feinstein understood what it meant for a city to feel unsafe, and she wasn't willing to let panic spiral out of control. But for law enforcement, the press conference was a double edged sword. During the press conference, she also revealed a few key details that the police hadn't shared with the public. Namely the make of the killer's gun and the brand and the size of his shoes, which they'd identified through footprints at a few of the crime scenes. When Frank Salerno found out, he was livid. He was afraid the Night Stalker would start destroying evidence or worse, flee the country, and they'd be back to square one. Investigators often kept details secret, details only the killer would know. So they can separate real leads from false tips. These hold back details can make or break a case. If a caller knows something the police never released, it can confirm they either witnessed the crime or. Or committed it. So when Feinstein publicly revealed key information about the Night Stalker's weapon, along with the brand and size of the shoes linked to multiple crime scenes, Frank Salerno's stomach dropped. In his mind, it was like handing the killer a checklist. If Richard Ramirez was watching, and Salerno assumed he was, he would now know exactly what evidence the police were looking for to track him. He could destroy anything that connected him to the murders. He could ditch the weapon, change his shoes and disappear entirely. And Frank was half right. Richard Saw the press conference on tv. And when he realized the police were onto him, he went to the Golden Gate Bridge and dropped his gun and shoes over the side. After ditching his shoes and gun, Richard decided to lay low for a while. He spent the next few days smoking pot, listening to heavy metal and visiting adult movie theaters in the area. During these quiet days, Richard didn't feel hunted. He felt victorious. He followed the coverage obsessively, watching anchors describe his crimes with fear in their voices and in his mind. Every headline was proof that Satan was still protecting him. The city was terrified and Richard was exhilarated. But like most serial killers do, he got restless. Richard couldn't contain his urge to kill. He knew he couldn't stick around San Francisco though, because there was too much heat on him there. So about a week after Dianne Feinstein's press conference, Richard drove his stolen Mercedes back to la. Once he got there, he dumped the car and stole an orange 1976 Toyota with his new ride. Richard went out that night looking for someone to hurt. Around 1am he ended up in Mission Viejo, a city about 50 miles south of Los Angeles, and chose a house at random. In a Nearby Yard, a 13 year old boy, James Romero, was up late fixing his scooter. He saw a Toyota pull into his neighbor's driveway. Then he watched Richard, a tall, long haired man wearing gloves, get out of the car and disappear into the shadows. Richard didn't notice James though, because he was focused on entering the house he'd chosen. A house that belonged to a computer engineer named Bill Carnes and his fiance Carol. Like everyone else in the city, Bill and Carol knew about the Night Stalker and had taken precautions, making sure to always lock their doors and close their windows. But Richard didn't let that stop him. Somehow he was able to remove a window pane and slip inside. He crept from room to room until he found the bedroom. Then he went in, took out a new gun and aimed it at Bill's head. As soon as Bill woke up, Richard shot him three times. Carol had been sleeping next to him and when she heard the commotion, she tried to hide under the covers, but Richard spotted her. However, he didn't kill her. Instead, he ripped off the blanket, dragged Caril out of bed and gave her a profess her love for Satan or he would kill her. Carol did as she was told, but Richard wasn't satisfied. He bound her with neckties, then essayed her, all while insisting she swear her loyalty to Satan. When he was finished, he ransacked the house throughout it all, Carol waited for him to finally kill her. But after taking some money and briefly mocking her, Richard disappeared. As soon as Carol was sure Richard was gone, she was able to free herself from her restraints and she ran to a neighbor's for help. Which was when she saw the orange Toyota speed away. She wasn't the only one who saw Richard take off. Her young neighbor, James Romero, was still fixing his scooter outside and had also seen the Toyota leave. James had been unsettled by Richard's arrival in the first place, so when he saw the car peeled out, he wrote down the license plate number. He told his parents about the whole encounter the next morning, and they called the police. Richard had no idea he'd been spotted. He cruised back to la, convinced he'd just pulled off yet another murder for Satan. But as he drove, his adrenaline and the hot Southern California summer started getting to him. So he took off the gloves he was wearing to air out his hands. Then he headed to the Wilshire area in the center of Los Angeles, where he wiped the car down and abandoned it. But when he did this, Richard missed something and left behind a major clue. On the outside of the rear view mirror, there was a single fingerprint. And now it was only a matter of time before the police started closing in. Real Skin Results Start with one daily Ritual Meet daily Microfoliant from Dermalogica. This iconic exfoliating powder activates with water to gently polish away dullness and uneven texture. It leaves skin instantly smoother and more luminous while supporting your skin barrier. Formulated with professional expertise to deliver visible results daily, even on sensitive skin. Discover your healthiest skin today. Visit dermalogica.com and use code Smooth at checkout for an exclusive gift with your $65 purchase. 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See Terms if you're drawn to true crime stories about disappearances, there's a new crime house show for you to check out. It's the new Crime House original series the Final Hours, hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Sarah is an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose own sister disappeared in 2001, and Courtney is a true crime storyteller and investigator who witnessed firsthand how crime can change a family forever. Together, they bring lived experience to every case, looking not only at what happened, but what led up to it. Each episode examines the moments just before a person disappears. The routines, the timelines, and the small details that often get overlooked because every disappearance has a moment where everything still feels feels normal. A text that doesn't raise concern, a routine that goes unchanged, a door that closes just like it always has. Until it doesn't. The Final Hours puts those moments under a microscope, because when it comes to justice, there's no such thing as overanalyzing. Listen to and follow the Final Hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen. New episodes and Every Monday.
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In the early morning hours of August 27, 1985, Richard Ramirez attacked Bill Karns and his fiance Carol at their home in Mission Viejo, California. Both of them survived the assault and Carol was able to call the police. The next morning, investigators started processing the crime scene. Bill was in critical condition, but Carol was well enough to answer some questions. Questions what she told them was alarmingly similar to what they'd been hearing all summer. Her attacker was a tall man with scraggly hair and terrible breath who was obsessed with Satan. This had to be the Night Stalker. And those suspicions were confirmed after the investigators talked to James Romero, the 13 year old boy who saw Richard going in and out of Bill and Carol's house before taking off in a stolen orange Toyota. After Carol and James statements, police put out a county wide alert for officers to be on the lookout for the vehicle. While they waited for news about the car, authorities got an even more promising lead. A man named Jesse Perez called the station and said he believed he'd met the Night Stalker. As soon as the tip came in, Frank Salerno sent a pair of officers to Jesse's house in east la. He believed the Night Stalker was a guy named Rick, who Jesse had met at a bus station earlier that month. Jesse had wanted to come forward sooner, but he had a criminal record himself and was worried about talking to the cops. Still, his daughter insisted he say something because there were a lot of similarities between the man he'd met and the descriptions the media had provided about the Night Stalker. This Rick was tall with shaggy hair and had terrible teeth and breath and he told Jesse that he was a burglar. Rick also talked a lot about Satan and admitted to Jesse that he'd done terrible things like kill two Asian women in 1984. Regardless of what drove Richard to share this information with Jesse, it gave the police a bona fide lead. And not only did Jesse give a good description of the Night Stalker, Richard had sold him one of his guns, a.22 caliber pistol. The Night Stalker had used at least four different guns during his spree, and a.22 caliber was one of them. Unfortunately, Jesse said he gave the gun to a female friend for protection when she went on a trip to Tijuana. Still, it was a promising lead, and it wasn't the only one. Before authorities could try and track down the gun, they got another break in the case. On August 28, the day after Bill and Carol were attacked, police found the stolen orange Toyota. It was at a shopping center off of Wilshire Boulevard, right where Richard had dumped it. When they scoured the car for evidence, they found most of it had been wiped clean, except for one small spot on the rearview mirror where Richard had left his fingerprint behind. Authorities had found prints at some of the other crime scenes, but hadn't been able to do anything with them until this point. There was no digitized searchable system, which meant they needed to identify a suspect in order to compare the prints. But California had just finished building a new computerized database, and with this print, they were able to run it through that system and compare it to all of the other fingerprints that were on file when they did this. The print was a match for an incident in December of 1984 when he had been arrested for driving around LA in a stolen vehicle. The name on that file? Richard Ramirez. After months of mysterious, puzzling murders, police could finally give the notorious Night Stalker a name in part three, our last video on this series. The hunt for the Night Stalker reaches its breaking point as Richard Ramirez is finally unmasked and Los Angeles realizes the killer is hiding in plain sight. And you will never guess how he is captured. What did you think of part two on our Night Stalker series? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. See you next time. If you haven't already, make sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channelightwatchpod. Your support means everything.
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Hi, it's Vanessa. If you're drawn to true crime stories about disappearances, check out the new Crime House original the Final Hours, hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. Listen to and follow the Final Hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday.