Tag: witness misidentification
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ODD ONE OUT
We’re back… The Night Stalker cases should have been split into separate trials to prevent a joinder or “spill-over” where evidence from another case is used to suggest a connection to another. There are several ways to divide the cases. This post will focus on those where Ramirez was prosecuted for rape-burglaries: Kyle, Dickman, Khovananth…
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The Orange County Attack
On 25th August 1985, Bill Carns was shot three times in the head and his partner Inez Erickson (sometimes named as Carole Smith in books/media) was raped. The couple lived in Mission Viejo, Orange County, meaning the Night Stalker had moved south. The Carns/Erickson incident never went to trial so this post cannot examine any…
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“Murder Clothes” – The Myth of the Night Stalker’s Appearance
We have examined the eyewitness descriptions and composite sketches of the Night Stalker many times on this blog but we have never really discussed his clothes. The Night Stalker is a caricature. He invaded in the dark, clad in black from head to foot. He wore a “black Members Only type jacket”, dark baseball caps…
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The Distance Between: The Kneiding-Khovanath Incidents
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott July 20, 1985 Stanley Avenue, Glendale Allegedly, sometime during the night of July 20th, Richard Ramirez went to the home of Max and Lela Kneiding and stabbed and shot them both in their bed. They were discovered by their…
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Sophie Dickman and the Shortish Jewellery Expert
7th July 1985: Sophie Dickman was raped, assaulted and robbed in Monterey Park. During the attack, the man threatened to kill her with a small pistol which he held against her head. She was left handcuffed to her bed. Sophie Dickman’s neighbour across the street was Linda Arthur, an L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy and crime…
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The Petersen Incident
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. ” – Martin Luther King Jr. Prosecutor Philip Halpin managed to convince a jury that Richard Ramirez attacked Virginia and Christopher Petersen in their home in Northridge on the 6th of August 1985. What does the evidence from that night tell us? The Petersens lived in Northridge,…
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Tsai-Lian Yu: Murder, Medallions & Morphing Suspects
The Yu incident does not match any of the other Night Stalker attacks. Before the killer’s moniker had been coined, he was also the ‘Valley Intruder’, the ‘Valley Invader’, or the ‘Walk-in-Killer. Only, in this incident, nobody walked in, invaded or intruded anywhere. This shooting happened in the middle of a road; there was no…
Expendable For A Cause. 