Expendable For A Cause.

July 20, 1985

**** This post contains crime scene details. Reader discretion is advised. The intention is not to offend but to provide information. Proceed only if you are agreeable to reading sensitive content. ****

Maxson and Lela Kneiding were a couple in their sixties who lived in a Glendale neighborhood near a large construction site. An elevated freeway ran behind their house. The Kneidings’ daughter, Judith Arnold, reported she saw her parents on the morning of July 19, 1985. They made plans to meet the following morning for breakfast. When her parents did not show up at the restaurant, Judith went to their home. She arrived at 8:15 a.m., entered through the back door and found them brutally murdered in their bed. The Kneidings had been stabbed and shot. Glendale Police arrived at the residence around 9:25 a.m.

Physical evidence at the crime scene:

• The screen on the rear door was cut and stretched near the doorknob.
• Bedroom window slightly open.
• House was ransacked.
• Blood stains and spatter found at the head of the bed, walls, curtains and on the light.
• Blood spatter had multi-directional patterns and ran upward at a 45 degree angle.
• A large clump of bloody hair was found on the curtain, seven feet above the floor – thought to be Lela’s.
• A clump of bloody hair in Lela’s right hand.
• Hair samples were collected from the bedroom carpet.
• A shirt with reddish-brown stains and a hair was found at the construction site next door.
• Bullet fragments collected from the carpet.

Lela Kneiding’s death resulted from two gunshot wounds to the head: One in the cheek area and another to the back of the head. The wound to the cheek area was caused by a weapon fired at close range. The shot to the back of the head was a contact-type wound, indicating that the gun barrel was close to the head when the weapon was fired. A small-caliber bullet was recovered from the wound to the back of her head. She also had a cut to her throat that began above her right ear. Defensive wounds on Lela’s hands and bruises on her shoulder suggested that she had fought her attacker.

Maxson Kneiding’s death resulted from a gunshot wound to the neck. No bullet was recovered, and it could not be determined at what distance he had been shot. He also had four incised wounds to the neck that varied in size from 3/4″-3″ in depth. 

Reasonable Doubts

There was no forensic evidence that could tie Richard Ramirez to the crime scene. None of the hairs found at the Kneiding residence belonged to him. The hair on the curtain and in Lela’s hand was similar to her own. Pubic hairs found on a bedspread did not belong to Ramirez or the Kneidings.

The reddish-stained T-shirt discovered at a the construction site was not tested until 1988, by LASD criminalist Steve Renteria. He discovered that it did not contain any blood, and the hairs recovered from it did not match Ramirez’s. No fingerprints or shoeprints were recovered from the property.

Police Disagreed Over Ballistics Results

A conflict arose between firearms examiners regarding the origin of the expended slugs. In the September 1985 affidavit (habeas corpus supporting document 7-4) Sergeant Robert Christansen of the LASD stated the Kneidings were shot with a .25 caliber ACP (automatic pistol). He believed this was the same weapon used at another Night Stalker murder on the same night as the Kneidings (the Khovananth attack). Below is an image from the affidavit.

Christansen also believed the same .25 ACP was used in several other Night Stalker attacks in August 1985: Abowath, Petersen, Carns and Pan.

Yet in July 1985, another LASD firearms examiner, Robert Hawkins concluded that the bullets originated from the same .22 caliber revolver used in the Okazaki and Yu crimes.

Ultimately, the prosecution enlisted the testimony of a third firearms examiner during the trial, Sergeant Edward Robinson. Robinson agreed with Robert Hawkins’ conclusion that the bullets matched Okazaki and Yu. Yet without the gun and with such significant bullet distortion, genuine comparison was impossible. Remarkably, the defense did not dispute the unreliable firearms evidence presented by the prosecution.

One of the defense attorneys even stated, “You have to assume that the ballistics evidence is correct.” Ray Clark admitted to only asking generic questions. The internal conflict regarding the ballistics raised serious doubts about its reliability and the need for retesting, as highlighted by Paul Dougherty, who was retained for the appeals process (Document 7-20). For an in-depth analysis of the problematic ballistics, refer to this post.

Cross Contamination

The Kneiding crime scene contained extensive blood and spatter on the walls, carpets, and curtains. Since Lela and Maxson Kneiding were shot at close range and their throats slashed, their blood and tissue would likely have transferred onto the attacker’s clothes, skin, hair, and shoes. This forensic material would then have been carried into the assailant’s vehicle and potentially to other locations.

The prosecution claimed Richard Ramirez traveled nearly 15 miles to the Khovananth residence “within minutes” after the murders. This raises questions about how he could have cleaned himself of biological evidence in such a short time. He would have arrived covered in blood and other traces from the Kneiding scene and yet the surviving victim only observed that he wore a blue shirt with multicolored patterns.

It is reasonable to expect that some blood or trace evidence would have been transferred between the Kneiding and Khovananth scenes. The Pontiac vehicle Ramirez allegedly used was examined thoroughly, but no blood, hair, or other biological evidence from the Kneiding crime or any other related crime was found. Had such evidence been present, the prosecution would likely have used it against him.

The prosecutor also noted similarities between the Kneiding attack and another Night Stalker crime, the Zazzara attack on March 27, based on gunshot wounds to the head. However, no forensic evidence connected the two crimes and a different .22 revolver was allegedly used.

Incidentally, the Zazzara gun was allegedly connected to the Khovananth gun. This means that, although the Khovananth murder occurred on the same night as the Kneiding murder, different weapons were used.

The Stolen Property Aspect

There was some circumstantial evidence linking the Kneiding murders to the other Night Stalker crimes: items stolen from their home were recovered from the properties owned by Richard Ramirez’s fence, Felipe Solano.

On the surface, this looks compelling but is more complicated than it seems. In court, Felipe Solano’s testimony unravelled, when it was revealed he was protecting multiple criminals – one of these could have committed some of the Night Stalker crimes. There are so many questions that need answering in regard to Felipe Solano and this network of burglars.

According to Philip Carlo’s biography, a burglar associate of Ramirez, Sandra Hotchkiss, claimed that Solano was beaten up by police before being questioned about his connection to Ramirez. She tried to tell the District Attorney and claimed this beating was recorded on tape but the tape was never presented as evidence and the police denied the beating.

Ultimately, the chain of custody of the stolen items was never established, none was recovered from Richard Ramirez and his fingerprints were not found on any of them. At the end of the article, there will be a link to articles explaining the network of burglars in the Night Stalker case.

The defense neglected to present evidence showcasing the motive and opportunity of third-party suspects to commit crimes and sell stolen property, potentially implicating them in the offenses for which Richard was being tried.

Even though no physical evidence indicating he was the perpetrator was ever found, Richard Ramírez was convicted of the Kneiding murders and received the death penalty.

KayCee

Source: Document 14, 2008 Federal Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, Richard Ramírez vs. Robert Ayers.