Expendable For A Cause.

Here is Gil Carrillo, recalling how Anastasia Hronas – the little girl who was allegedly sexually abused by Richard Ramirez – remembered seeing an “Indian headdress tattoo” on the arm of her kidnapper.

That is an amazing lead. But Richard Ramirez had no such tattoo. Carrillo insists Hronas actually saw a pentagram pen drawing, which obviously looks very different to a Native American headdress. By claiming all she saw was a star inside a circle relies on the idea that an intelligent child could not identify and describe a star.

As ever, there is something wrong with other details pertaining to this crime. 1985 newspapers warned the public about a suspect whose appearance does not match Richard Ramirez. They described a man ten to twenty years older and of short to medium height. From the Arcadia Tribune, 30th June 1985:

From the Los Angeles Times 30th June 1985:

From the Orange County Register, 8th September 1985:

In the Orange County Register, Anastasia described being taken to a “beat-up blue motel”. The Arcadia Tribune said it was a hotel or an apartment. On Night Stalker: the Hunt for a Serial Killer, Anastasia appeared, recalling a dirty house with a chainlink fence and large snarling dogs. It feels as if police were not listening to this child properly – surely a blue motel, like the tattoo, is a promising lead. What happened to Anastasia Hronas was terrible, but as for Ramirez’s guilt, the facts seem to be at variance with the claims of Detective Carrillo.

Furthermore, witnesses at the line-up, including children, were coached by a police officer to choose suspect number two: Richard Ramirez. Carrillo acts amazed that Anastasia chose Ramirez straight away. She was almost certainly among the group of children being coached.

Apologies if the video is out of sync!

-VenningB-

30th July 2023