The Story of the Capture of California's Serial Killer—the "Original Nightstalker"—Told by the Man Who Arrested Him

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And we continue with our American stories. Sergeant Bob Alanis was assigned to patrol for the Los Angeles PD in December of 1984 when he arrested Richard Ramirez for stealing a car. Nobody had known at the time that Ramirez was the night stalker. Ultimately the photo and prints he took of Ramirez led to his ID and arrest. Today Bob is the chairman of the Los Angeles Police Museum and is here to tell the story along with Ashley Lebinski. Ashley is the former co-host of Discovery Channel's Master of Arms.

Take it away Ashley. Between June 1984 and August 1985 serial killer Richard Ramirez, who's better known infamously as the night stalker, preyed on victims in Los Angeles. He was arrested on August 31st 1985 after his identity was initially released by the police and a group of citizens recognized him. In this case it's an example of a large investigation coming down to something as small as a fingerprint. Dating back to 3300 BCE it's believed that fingerprints were used for some level of identification purposes. In the 1880s though a Frenchman named Alphonse Bertillon ventured away from the fingerprint to develop a system of identifying people based on body measurements as well as photographing faces and this is the origin of the mugshot. In 1892 Sir Francis Galton published the first classification system for fingerprints and in 1901 Scotland Yard established its first fingerprint bureau. While the Bertillon system was helpful for processing inmates it was not foolproof. In 1908 France was the first country to formally adopt fingerprinting and by 1911 fingerprints were accepted in US courts as a reliable form of identification.

And who would have thought that just over 70 years later a fingerprint would be the downfall of one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. Richard Ramirez was a murderer, sex offender, and burglar and began his reign of terror the summer of 1984. In December of 1984 Sergeant Roberto Aladez was on patrol in West LA. I was working in West LA in the Brentwood area. It was around two or three in the morning my partner and I we were with the other officers that worked that area and on our radio frequency the other officers contacted us and said hey you're still in the area come on back and back us up we you know we see some suspicious vehicle.

And they had gone down Ashley these are very affluent homes and they observed this car it was a 74 Ford Penso and it was pretty much a jalopy at that time. So Richard Ramirez was driving down the street and he looked like he was pulling into a driveway he would look at it back up go to another residence. So he was casing the homes and we pulled him over we order him out of the car gets out he's cooperating with us and he looks a mess.

So as he comes out my partner handcuffs him. I run up to the vehicle to clear the vehicle and I look at the ignition and the ignition was punched and so I yelled to the guys hey the car's stolen. So we arrested him for the stolen vehicle put him in our car and the other guys impounded the vehicle. My partner and I drove him to the station and I processed him. So I sat him down in the booking chair and then I put his booking numbers and I flipped the numbers and put the date in there and logged him in took the photo and then I went and got him fingerprinted and put him in jail. The interesting thing about that is that a few days later the judge he communicated to the officers that from the reason why you stopped him is because he's a hispanic guy in an affluent white neighborhood.

Now all of us were all hispanic so it's like you know where where does this come from and so he said well because of this I'm gonna let him go. So and by the way when we ran his record he did have a previous arrest for grand theft auto so this is a second charge. So he had a reason to keep him. But days later a judge released Ramirez from jail on the promise to return to his preliminary trial. Unsurprisingly he did not return to court and this fatal decision led to Ramirez's ability to continue to rape torture and murder for another eight months. So his MO is to break into a house do his rituals kill these people and then he would take the stolen vehicle someplace and he torture so he did about two or three more crimes. In addition to that he had raped several children so he had victimized several more families.

Fast forward to August 1985. Ramirez drove 76 miles in a stolen orange Toyota to Mission Viejo. In this area Ramirez was attempting to attack and rob a man named James Romero Jr but he was ultimately exposed at the scene and forced to flee. Romero however was able to get the make model and color of the car and he also got a partial license plate. Since Ramirez's plan was thwarted Ramirez broke into the home of Bill Carnes and his fiancee Inez Erickson. Ramirez shot Carnes multiple times but he did survive those injuries before turning his sights on Erickson.

After brutalizing her he left her alive telling her to let people know that the night stalker was here. And this decision would prove to be a very bad one for Ramirez as Erickson then provided a full description of Ramirez to the police. On August 28th Ramirez abandoned the Toyota. Although he attempted to destroy any evidence of himself including a fingerprint police were able to obtain one single fingerprint from the rear view mirror. When we dusted for fingerprints on the rear view mirror they got his thumbprint and when they matched that thumbprint came back to my arrest and they were able to pull up the photo that I took which if you watch the latest show on Netflix they have my booking photo that I took along with the sketch and I was driving down the street actually I was on sensitive I look up and I see this photo that I've had for years so it's pretty interesting. And according to some Ramirez's print was a quote-unquote near miracle as the system used to identify him had only recently been installed. The system only contained fingerprints of criminals born after January 1st 1960 and Ramirez was born that year about a month later. On August 29th law enforcement released Ramirez's mugshot from Alanis arrest. The police stated to the press we know who you are now and soon everyone else will there will be no place you can hide.

And that statement was quite accurate. Today the search for California's night stalker continues. Ramirez went to Tucson to see a relative but upon his return to Tucson on August 31st 1985 Ramirez was recognized by citizens. They conducted their own citizen's arrest restraining and beating Ramirez until the police arrived. On September 20th 1989 Ramirez was convicted of 43 charges 13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. He was sentenced to death in California's gas chamber. To the press though Ramirez stated quote big deal death always went with the territory see you in Disneyland end quote. You know I saw him in court and it's interesting to see these ladies that were in the back dressed in black and they're all his fans and they want to like marry this guy that's another crazy thing too.

Why are you in the courtroom today? Everyone makes him look so bad you know but I know that he he's a nice person because I've met him and I know. He's convicted of 13 murders. I know but he's really a nice guy. How do you respond to people who are going to think you're crazy for this?

I'll just say that they just don't understand. The trial cost 1.8 million dollars and was at the time the most expensive murder trial in the history of California only to be surpassed by the OJ Simpson trial. It's hard to believe that someone who committed atrocities and was able to elude the police for so long was undone by the carelessness and leaving a single fingerprint at the scene of a crime. And a terrific job on the production and editing by our own Greg Hengler and a special thanks to Ashley Lebinski. As always she's the former co-host of the Discovery Channel's Master of Arms and she's the co-founder of the University of Wyoming College of Law's Firearms Research Center and we also want to thank Sergeant Bob Alaniz. And what a story about that judge accusing Hispanic officers of practicing discrimination and what that cost many families in blood and treasure.

The story of the night stalker and the man who arrested him here on Our American Stories. We've all tried protein drinks on the go but why don't they taste more like the ones we make at home or from the juice bar? They're too chalky and too sweet from sugar or artificial sweeteners. We love the health benefits but hate the taste. Now you can finally get both with Don't Quit Protein Drinks loaded with 33 grams of protein, 26 by vitamins and minerals and a cleaner approach to ingredients that use no artificial flavors or sweeteners but still delivers that smooth texture and delicious taste we all crave. Fuel your perseverance with Don't Quit Clean Protein Drinks.

Get yours now at walmart.com. There's a lot of pros to drink in HealthAid Kombucha. No cons that I can think of. Pro? Amazing taste. Pro? Pairs well with anything. Pro? Probiotic?

That's a literal pro. And it's deliciously refreshing. It's the perfect pairing to your meal or great on its own whether you're having pink lady apple, berry lemonade or one of the other great flavors. It's the perfect swap for soda or alcohol. Make it part of your daily routine.

Look for the brown bottle with an anchor on it and try HealthAid Kombucha today. to easily access all your favorite free and premium content like iHeartRadio. Stream your favorite playlist with the Roku Vibe Setting Smart Light Strips to sync your music to millions of colors and make your dorm feel more like you. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TVs, streaming players and smart lights.

Head to roku.com or your favorite retailer to deck out your dorm. Hey gorgeous, it's Paris Hilton. Get the party started with my new album Infinite Icon Out Now and stream the new single Bad B**** Academy. Welcome to the Bad B**** Academy. I wanted this album to be an escape, to take people to a happy place where they can heal and party in equal measure and most of all be your own unapologetic icon. Listen on iHeartRadio and visit infiniteicon.com to order the album. Sponsored by 11-11 Media.