The media often give serial killers dramatic names to emphasize their danger, which adds to their character’s allure if, and when, they are caught.
There is so much a single name can communicate about the twisted intentions of a broken, evil human being. Case in point: the Night Stalker.
Ricardo Ramirez, known as the Night Stalker for his vicious rampage through Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the places between 1984 to 1985.
In just over one year, he killed 13 people and committed other inhuman crimes against them.
All villains have an origin, often one that is darker than human minds can conceive. Most horribly of all are the real villains, who are born the same way as their victims.
They are human, or were, and were changed into something worse to become monsters. Such is the story of the Night Stalker.
10 /10 Unfortunate Son
Richard or Richie’s earliest and strongest influence was in his cousin Miguel or Mike, a Vietnam veteran who showed him grotesque pictures from his tour of victims he tortured.
He boasted about raping women and had pictures of him posing with their severed heads. Mike taught Richie many of his military skills.
Richie was present when Mike killed his wife with a revolver point-blank to her face. After becoming withdrawn, Richie was placed with his older sister, whose husband was a peeping pervert.
9 /10 Old Habits
By the time Richie was in high school, he was already a terror. He got his start with crime early when he worked for a Holiday Inn.
He used his employee key to break into rooms while guests were away and steal their things. At one point, he entered a room with a woman and tried to rape her.
Her husband came back just in time to stop him and beat him up. The couple left the state but never pressed charges. At this time, Richie was already experimenting with hard drugs like LSD and was practicing Satanism.