Expendable For A Cause.

As mentioned in Part 1, two sets of Ramirez’s ‘friends’ independently reported him to police for his burglaries that occurred close to dates of Night Stalker attacks. SFPD’s Frank Falzon was led to Ramirez’s friend Armando Rodriguez who told him Ramirez’s name. Police argued over whether to release Richard Ramirez’s 1984 mugshot, with Falzon insisting they should, as the media will blame police if another person was murdered over the weekend. On 30^th August 1985, in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, press conferences were held, and his face was released. Ramirez was visiting Arizona, so had no idea he had been named as the prime suspect.

As soon as Ramirez’s friend Manuel “Cuba” Hechavarria saw his face on the news, he went to a phone box in Garvey and (under the false name of Dave) and told police he knew ‘Ricky’ or ‘Despinada’ (dishevelled or uncombed in Spanish). Felipe Solano also saw the mugshot on the news. Because the Night Stalker had been connected to an orange Toyota, and Ramirez had one at some point, Solano panicked and left his house for the night. He must have gone to the pool hall – this is where Sandra Hotchkiss tried to sell him jewellery for the police. He evidently returned to his house by the next day; the events of this were covered in Part Three.

Cuba’s Police Statement

Hechavarria revealed that he had met Ramirez at the food market, through a woman named Maria Felix. He and Felix were both Tijuana Taxis (like Jesse Perez). Hechavarria and Ramirez began committing purse thefts in Glendale and Pasadena, and Hechavarria would act as getaway driver, taking half the money.

They graduated to car burglaries along the Orange County stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway, although Hechavarria said Ramirez did most of it (anything to make himself seem innocent). He said they were joined in these escapades by a man named ‘Julio.’ Hechavarria named someone else with whom they committed crimes: Eva Castillo, and he took police to her former home.

Hechavarria claimed he had stopped his criminal activity, but still possessed some stolen jewellery that he had won off him during a bet, while playing a game of ‘craps’ (a dice game).

How did Cuba Describe Ramirez?

Of all the Los Angeles informants, Hechavarria was the only one who mentioned Ramirez’s psychotic behaviour, such as praying to and communicating with Satan via Ouija board, throwing a bible from a moving truck, while yelling ‘there must be something wrong’ and drawing pentagrams on himself. Nevertherless, he liked Ramirez enough to remain in contact with him after ‘going straight’ and becoming a security guard. Hechavarria’s police statement can be found in the Petition supporting file Document 7-5.

Hechavarria was never arrested for possession of stolen jewellery, his involvement with burglaries and car break-ins, nor was he called as a witness in court because the prosecution claimed they were unaware of his location. When the defence asked them for his contact details (as well as those of Alejandro Espinoza), the district attorney’s office said they should already have his address from the original police reports and refused to cooperate. This is highly suspicious: Cuba (and others) traded with Felipe Solano, and should have been a key prosecution withness. Incidentally, Armando Rodriguez was also ‘missing.’

Some people wonder: if Ramirez had nothing to do with the Night Stalker attacks, how were unconnected friends convinced it was him? If it was not for the police telling people the Night Stalker had curly hair and dental problems, they would have continued to trade with him, receive jewellery and perhaps even commit crimes with him. If they had known the truth about what victims had really described, none of this would have happened.

Part 5: Eva Castillo

-VenningB-

06/11/2023