Expendable For A Cause.

Sandra Hotchkiss was a burglar, drug addict and prostitute who committed burglary with Richard Ramirez 1985. Like Ramirez, Hotchkiss suffered from epilepsy. She spotted him unsuccessfully trying to sell jewellery at a pool hall and exploited him by paying less than the items were worth. She then turned around to another ‘fence’ and sold them for triple the price Ramirez was offering.

She seemed to have taken Ramirez under her wing, teaching him ‘tricks of the trade’ such as painting his fingertips with clear nail polish and how to hold things so as not to leave fingerprints. She taught him how to tell when people were away on holiday – if the mailbox was full, then they were safe to break in.

Solano’s Arrest

Sandra Hotchkiss had been working as a police informant since 1975, in return for a suspended sentence (for burglary). Her main role was entrapping ‘fences’ by selling them stolen goods. Then the police make the arrest. Because of her knowledge of downtown Los Angeles, the Night Stalker Task Force recruited her to help them take down Felipe Solano. As mentioned in Part 1, Alejandro Espinoza was the man who told the police his burglar friend ‘Rick’ sold to Solano.

Thinking this was an ordinary ‘sting’, Hotchkiss agreed. She had no idea that she was involved in the hunt for the Night Stalker. Detectives gave her jewellery and asked her to sell it to Solano at the pool hall, but he rejected it. Next, they told her to go to his house. Hotchkiss was reluctant: Solano had never told her his address and he would be suspicious. She was correct: as she approached Solano’s house, he was furious and asked her if she was working for the police.

According to Hotchkiss’ testimony in court, the police ‘jumped’ him, put him in a chokehold and ‘roughed him up’. She testified that Solano initially denied taking items from Richard Ramirez and was coerced into saying it was him by the police. Hotchkiss claimed that she reported this to the District Attorney but was ignored. (This information is not in the Petition but comes from Philip Carlo’s book on pg. 370).

Hotchkiss also claimed the deputy District Attorney, Philip Halpin (who acted as prosecutor at trial) came to her and demanded “don’t screw up my case.”

How Did Sandra Hotchkiss Describe Ramirez?

Hotchkiss was the leader in the burglaries or ‘capers’ as she called them. However, she described him as “jumpy,” “spooky” (as in scares easily), “inexperienced”, “messy/dirty” (in his technique) and “amateurish.” He “tossed” things around, creating an unnecessary disturbance. Because of his ineptitude, she relegated him to getaway driver, but sometimes he would not stay in the car, or would panic and drive away. The pair often ended up arguing.

Importantly, Ramirez was non-violent. She never saw him with weapons, except a pocket-knife. He never behaved in an aggressive manner – not even when the other criminals rejected him.

After she had completed her work for the police regarding Solano, she began to work for the defence. However, the police reneged on their promise to keep her sentence suspended. They claimed she broke her parole obligations, and she was sentenced to fourteen years in prison. Could this be punishment because she chose to support Ramirez and alleged police brutality against Felipe Solano?

Impeachment at Trial

At trial, Sergeant Yarbrough (a senior detective in the Night Stalker Talk Force) discredited Sandra Hotchkiss by claiming she was a liar and had switched to the defence in the hope they would pay her. This seems unlikely given that the defence were working pro bono and Hotchkiss never changed her story, even when she was not paid. She seems to have had a genuine belief that Ramirez was not the Night Stalker. However, the jury is more likely to believe a police sergeant than a criminal and so she was impeached, despite painting a portrait of Ramirez that helped the defence.

-VenningB-

Next, Part 4: The Mugshot.

-VenningB-

6th Nov 2023