Expendable For A Cause.

Richard’s mental and physical health has been overlooked for decades by law enforcement, the media, and the public. Apparently, a mentally ill Richard Ramirez does not excite people. It’s the “sadistic, evil” narrative of him that does it for most. It is time to provide an alternative to the lies, the slander, and the defamation. It is time to question and end the constant maligning of a man who suffered so much physically and emotionally by law enforcement individuals, who claim they know the truth, and by true crime enthusiasts who merely report the ramblings of those seeking financial gain from exploiting the story, yet claim to only deal with the facts.

As I delved into these reports, I caught a glimpse of who Richard really was. And the images that come through were not those of a murderer, a rapist, or a pedophile. When I analyzed the reports of the numerous professionals that evaluated him, examined him, and administered tests to him, I saw an image quite different from the one painted by law enforcement, the media, and true crime enthusiasts. I observed a man suffering from depression, anxiety, delusions, obsessive behaviors fueled by trauma, and temporal lobe epilepsy. I saw a man who had been physically and mentally wounded; A man who couldn’t help himself, who coped the only way he knew how – by abusing drugs. I discovered a man who cared about his family and friends.

The following evidence comes from a supporting document to Richard Ramirez’s 2008 federal Habeas Corpus petition: Document 20.3, Exhibit 99, the declaration of Elise Taylor, a licensed psychotherapist.

Taylor was retained by Michael Burt from the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office to assist with preparing Richard’s psychosocial history for use in the San Francisco trial. As has been discussed in my article “All the Broken Pieces,” this trial never happened. However, Taylor came to the same conclusion as every other professional that evaluated Richard: He was not able to rationally participate in his defense.

In her report from 1995, she stated:

 “…at no time have I ever experienced a defendant who was so perpetually unable to participate in the preparation of his case.” 

She determined that Richard was obsessed and paranoid regarding security and confidentiality:

“For the first months I met with Mr. Ramirez, a significant portion of the time we spent together was taken up by his repeated questioning of the security measures in my office, the public defender’s office, what kind of locks were used, who had keys, security of telephone lines, who had access to my notes, etc.”

_{– Document 20-3, exhibit 99,}

Richard tried to control communication between his psychiatrists and his attorneys as Taylor explains here:

“Mr. Ramirez also spoke about his pervasive lack of trust, and, during the first months that we worked together, he devised complex plans for trying to determine the lines of communication within the defense team. Despite the fact that I had made clear to him that I would not hold anything he said secret from his attorney, and that anything he told me in any context would be shared with the rest of his defense team, he seemed obsessed to distraction by trying to “catch” someone lying to him.”

_{– Document 20-3, Exhibit 99, Habeas Corpus}

This paranoia extended to disclosing anything about his family or upbringing. Richard requested that any discussions with his family be recorded for his review. He also dictated who his family and friends could talk to and what they should and should not say. This was a pattern. He behaved the same way with psychiatrist Dr Evans, who I wrote about in a previous article.

What is a Foot Fetish? Did Richard Really Have One?

A foot fetish is when someone is strongly drawn to or aroused by feet. It’s one of the most common fetishes, though there’s limited research on how or why it develops. Some scientists believe it stems from a kind of “cross-wiring” in the brain areas responsible for foot and genital sensation. Studies of fetish groups consistently show that feet and foot accessories are the most fetishized non-genital body parts. Per Elise Taylor, Richard did indeed have a noticeable preoccupation with feet. (Taylor, exhibit 99, document 20-3)

While working with Richard, Taylor observed that he displayed obsessive-compulsive behaviors, including a significant fixation on feet. He would frequently comment on women’s shoes if they walked by the interview room. However, not a single Night Stalker victim ever mentioned their attacker showing any interest in their feet – no touching, no comments, no fixation. Nothing.

That might not seem important at first. But when someone with a true foot fetish engages in sexual violence, that fetish often appears as part of the behavior. The feet are typically integrated into the act. With Richard, if his fixation was that intense, it’s reasonable to expect it would have manifested during the assaults. The fact that none of the victims reported anything related to a foot fetish is significant – and it raises serious questions about whether he was the actual perpetrator in those cases.

Judicial Murder

Although Richard had received multiple death sentences, and Taylor addressed this with him numerous times, he was in denial that it would ever happen. He did not state this, but his behaviors indicated to her that he could not process the finality of his sentences. Elise Taylor found Richard to be dissociative regarding his death sentences. She stated Richard could discuss the fact that he had received multiple death sentences, but he did not acknowledge any concern regarding it, nor did he understand the impact it had on his family, especially his mother, whom he was particularly concerned for.

“This [the death sentences] was particularly significant from the perpsective of his mother, for whom he appeared to have the most sincere concern, yet whose fears surrounding his death sentence, he could not in any way understand or respond to.”

_{– Taylor, exhibit 99, document 20-3.}

Although Richard would not discuss his social history with Taylor, he was willing to sell his life story for publication, and she confronted him about this. She stated that Richard’s experience with his L.A. trial and attorneys who provided ineffective assistance of counsel had led him to believe that legal efforts on his behalf were futile:

” … it was my distinct impression that Mr. Ramirez’s experience with his Los Angeles trial attorneys had fed into his predisposition towards a paranoid mistrust, leaving him feeling that it was useless to participate.”

_{– Taylor, exhibit 99, document 20-3.}

Who could blame him for feeling that way?

Even though Richard understood the media bias in his case, Taylor determined that it was not taken into consideration when it came to selling his story and the damage it could have on his case.

Ramirez told her Taylor he would censor his story and present it in a way that was marketable. Yet, he would do it in a way that would not be destructive to his family.

“In my professional opinion, Richard’s judgement concerning who he could and should trust (based on all logical and rational information) was significantly impaired, and he seemed truly surprised and taken aback when various media personnel did not present him (and various bits and pieces of his story) in exactly the manner in which he had provided it to them. Again, despite Mr. Ramirez’s extensive history with the media, and his apparent ability to acknowledge the bias with which he felt his case had always been presented, in my professional opinion, that knowledge was not in any way incorporated into his thought processes.”

_{– Taylor, exhibit 99, document 20-3.}

Richard only told the media what he wanted them to hear, and the media took that information and distorted, inflamed, and heightened the bits and pieces into a story that fit the narrative of the rapist and murderer they would refer to as the Night Stalker. The media made his story into something that would grab the reader’s attention, and that would allow them to profit from it regardless of whether or not there was a thread of truth to it. And why did he want to sell his story? So that he could provide financial support for his mother.

It’s been a decade since Richard’s death, yet his story continues to grow. The more his story grows, the more fictionalized it becomes. I have a challenge for the true crime podcasters, law enforcement, the media, and even Richard’s family members, who continue to profit from his misfortunes. How about reporting verifiable facts instead of repeating the same sensationalized narratives? How about legitimately responding to questions asked by those curious about the truths instead of ignoring any comments that question the authenticity of the well-rehearsed, fabricated story?

“We are all evil in some form or another, are we not?” Richard Ramirez

Sources:

2008 federal petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, Richard Ramirez vs. Robert Ayers.

Document 20-3, supporting document to 2008 federal petition, report of Elise Taylor

Kaycee