Richard Ramirez Dead at 53...

[belinda]

At last

[Barnaby]

CNN is now reporting he died of cancer.

[RivkahChaya]

Good one. I'm guessing it wasn't even considered. Just as when Susan Atkins of the Manson family was dying of brain cancer and had had a leg amputated and requested "compassionate release" from prison so that she could die in peace. The answer was "NO- you should have thought about that before you went and slaughtered all those people for Charles Manson."

It irks me that Ramirez outlived his sentence. I try to find solace in hoping that he suffered as he was dying. And I know that that diminishes me, which makes me hate him even more for making me sink that low.

The governor who denied compassionate release was Arnold Schwarzenegger, so no surprise there. Atkins was in late-stage cancer dementia for several months, and it was actually family who made the final request, but it was still denied. I know Schwarzenegger was just being tough on crime, but the fact is that she, and any hospice, private home with visiting nurses, whatever, doing her end-stage care, would have been a target, so no matter how you choose to view it, it was the right decision.

I doubt prisoners serving life or very long sentences, let alone on death row, are ever considered for anything other than directed donation (when a match within the family agrees to donate to that specific person). One requirement for a donor is "stewardship," or something-- I'm really not sure how it's phrased, but it's related to the person's ability to keep themselves in optimal health for their situation and degree of illness, take their anti-rejection drugs regularly, and so forth. Someone whose liver disease is the result of alcoholism is still a candidate to transplant if they are currently sober, but if they show up drunk to the transplant surgery, they don't get the organ. People with a co-morbidity that will shorten their lifespan significantly don't get on the transplant list-- you won't get a heart transplant if you also have brain cancer. HIV used to keep you off the transplant list, but now people with HIV can get organs from HIV+ but otherwise healthy donors.

I think there's a pretty good "stewardship" argument against putting death row inmates on the list.

[Abby Normal]

Rest In Hell, RR, as was your want.


Now if they could only catch the other Nightstalker.

[DVV]

When your name is Ramirez, you should not listen too much hard rock.

[kensei]

So I guess Ramirez wasn't high on the list for a liver transplant.

Good one. I'm guessing it wasn't even considered. Just as when Susan Atkins of the Manson family was dying of brain cancer and had had a leg amputated and requested "compassionate release" from prison so that she could die in peace. The answer was "NO- you should have thought about that before you went and slaughtered all those people for Charles Manson."

It irks me that Ramirez outlived his sentence. I try to find solace in hoping that he suffered as he was dying. And I know that that diminishes me, which makes me hate him even more for making me sink that low.

[Barnaby]

So I guess Ramirez wasn't high on the list for a liver transplant.

[kensei]

Like many people who've dabbled in Satanism I think Ramirez's beliefs probably waffled all over the place at various times. The definitive work on him is "Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez" by Philip Carlo, which describes how he once met with Anton LaVey's Church of Satan and explored the possibility of joining them, but he decided against it because he saw them as far too public and open to infiltration by the police. The clear indication there is that he associated Satanism with illegal activity. I do believe that when he was in full swing as the Night Stalker, in his mind he was honoring Satan with his evil deeds. If he strayed from full belief in Satan later on, that would hardly be unusual. (Interesting fact: Zena LaVey, one of Anton's daughters, was a regular attendee of Richard's trial.)

Some background on Ramirez: He was a product of horrible abuse as a child, which is to be expected I suppose. His father- who actually worked as a cop for a time- was such a disciplinarian (just as his own father had been) that his abuse sometimes led Richard to flee his home and sleep in a cemetery. He had a cousin who was a Vietnam vet and showed him photos of atrocities he'd committed there- rapes and murders, bragging about them, equating them with power. Richard even witnessed his cousin murder his wife in front of him, then saw him get off legally on the grounds of his war trauma. The message- victimizing women is the way to get ahead and be powerful. Richard's first attempted rape was when he was still a teenager and working as a bellboy in a hotel. He attacked a female guest, but was caught in the act by her husband who beat him half to death. No charges were filed because the couple was from far away and they declined to pursue it. That all happened around El Paso. When Richard grew up he moved to California and became what he became. He supported himself as a professional burglar, which grew into so much more.

Of course I don't care about his background. As with any serial killer or any kind of criminal, in the vast majority of cases the mere fact that they take steps to avoid detection means that they do know right from wrong and are therefore culpable. If you had a messed up youth, seek help. If you give in to the trauma and go Ramirez's route you do so by free will and I have no compassion for you.

The Night Stalker is on par with Jack the Ripper and Ted Bundy as one of those serial killers that just really make you shudder. Example- when the case against him was being prepared, authorities sent a letter to his family asking if he had ever sent them certain stolen items. On the list along with various pieces of jewelry and other things was "A pair of human eyes." Yikes.

[Beowulf]

I don't take much interest in anyone except JTR, but I clicked up an interview someone did with Ramirez. I switched off after a couple of minutes. He was a fraud. I doubt if he believed in satanism or anything else.

"Clicked up" well that's a novel expression. Going to remember that

He might've not believed in satan but satan might've believed in him.

[jmenges]

I heard a suggestion that it was from prisons tats.

Good call. More likely than his prior to 10 years in prison habits, unless he had access to IV drugs on death row.

I'll go with the dirty tattoo needle for now. That makes more sense.

JM

[RivkahChaya]

I've seen interviews where he appears to be interacting with other prisoners, and I recall reading that he was accused of raping another prisoner. If he also got tattooed in prison, then California must have a much looser death row than most states. In most states, death row prisoners rarely have contact with the general population, or with each other.

Ramirez was specifically sentenced to die in the gas chamber, which California doesn't even have anymore, so that might have presented a problem if there ever were a date set for his execution. California has a bigger problem, though, in that its laws regarding execution require the presence of a medical doctor, and right now, no doctor in California is willing to participate.

[Magpie]

I've read that he died of liver failure from hepatitis-c. Possibly caused by his intravenous drug use.

Dirty needles do that.

JM

I heard a suggestion that it was from prisons tats.

[jmenges]

Any one know cause of death? I just see "natural causes."

I've read that he died of liver failure from hepatitis-c. Possibly caused by his intravenous drug use.

Dirty needles do that.

JM

[DVV]

He was a fraud. I doubt if he believed in satanism or anything else.

Agreed.
Un crétin fini.

[Robert]

I don't take much interest in anyone except JTR, but I clicked up an interview someone did with Ramirez. I switched off after a couple of minutes. He was a fraud. I doubt if he believed in satanism or anything else.