Expendable For A Cause.

I was in the middle of writing a novel – one that will be based on the Ramirez cases. Then I became distracted and went on YouTube as we do when we’re procrastinating. There, I found this mess of a Richard Ramirez location “tour”, starting at victim Jennie Vincow’s house. These two YouTubers have made four Richard Ramirez videos (including two Gil Carrillo interviews to add to the hundred that already exist). Judging how bad this is, I won’t be watching the others – not that I can take any more Carrillo Logic.

One says, “Literally, we’re walking the steps of Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker!” – as they walk towards some random house.

Straight off, that isn’t an apartment, and neither is it the Vincow residence. Jennie’s son Jack lived above her in their apartment building. This is the real location.

Initially, I thought they had made the simple mistake of going to the wrong address on Chapman Street. This is because there is a typo in Vincow’s address in Ramirez’s 2008 petition. It incorrectly lists the address as 3300 Chapman Street. It’s actually 3330.

3300 is a one storey property on the same street – but no, they truly have gone to the wrong location! The house behind them isn’t 3300. Its 1436. None of the roads surrounding Chapman have 1400 door numbers. Chapman Street borders Glendale’s Forest Lawn cemetery and a wall runs the length of the opposite side of the street. These men are on a road with houses on both sides. After some detective work, the street in their video turned out to be North Avenue 46, two miles away from the real location. Luckily, several people are correcting the creators but with no response.

These guys also claim that a dog walker approached them and told them a murder occurred there, so she’s obviously heard some misinformation too. Where is it coming from? It seems there are a lot of people in Los Angeles who claim dubious sightings or connections to the case. It’s ridiculous enough that it will be the subject of a future post.

Next, they headed to the Greyhound Bus Terminal and arrived at the wrong one. The original terminal where Richard Ramirez and ‘friends’ hung out was on 6th Street and S. Los Angeles Street. It closed as a transport hub in 1991 and the building is now occupied by shops. The one they’re at is on E. 7th Street, more than a mile away.

“George, turn the camera! This is where he would’ve come in”… the camera pans onto Decatur Street. They acknowledge that it’s no longer a functioning bus depot but are oblivious to the fact it’s not the same place at all.

This is the original one, on 6^th and S Los Angeles Streets, downtown.

Below, in its former life, back in 1970.

After this, they visit the former location of “Mike’s Liquor Store” just off 8th Street. But it looks like an old textile factory and not somewhere that ever had shops in 40 years ago.

The video then shows an old photo of E. Cesar E Chavez Avenue which is nowhere near 8th Street, making it even more confusing.

Richard going there on foot after leaving the non-existent 7th Street bus terminal makes no logical sense. It’s a 25 minute walk. It doesn’t make sense for him to go there from the real bus terminal either. Who gave them this information?!

Apparently, in the rest of the video, they visit Hubbard Street. I didn’t get that far, but judging by the rest of the video, they could have ended up in Compton or Venice Beach.

Inaccurate Statements Regarding Jennie Vincow’s Murder.

They give the wrong date and state that Jennie Vincow’s death heralded the beginning of Richard Ramirez’s “reign of terror” in June 1985. We all know she was killed in June 1984, nine months before other supposed “Night Stalker attacks”.

At around 04:30, they say Vincow’s body was decomposing for four days in a heatwave before discovery, when we know that she was found either the next morning or the same day by her son (there was confusion over the lividity of the body). They also claim Ramirez had sex with her corpse, despite being corrected by Gil Carrillo in their other podcast. Even he tells the truth sometimes. Ramirez was never charged with raping Vincow, nor was there evidence of necrophilic acts.

At around 06:15, they incorrectly state that this murder took place just before Gil Carrillo and Frank Salerno became partners because Carrillo connected Vincow to the others. Again, this is badly wrong. Chapman Street is in Los Angeles and therefore was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department. Gil Carrillo was with the Sheriff’s Department, so they had nothing to do with the Vincow investigation – the officer dealing with the case was Detective Jesse Castillo. It was connected to the crimes after Ramirez was arrested.

They claim (at about 6:46) that Vincow was the first crime scene where Avia shoeprints were found, but our readers will know that was the Zazzara scene nine months later. Carrillo and Salerno were not on that case either.

It’s really difficult to see so much disinformation on the internet, with people flocking to watch this stuff and soaking up lies, taking things at face value and sharing it. It’s also ghoulish to be standing outside someone’s house yelling into a bad quality microphone about all the blood and gore at a crime scene. The way they speak is so unprofessional, sensationalist and worst of all false.