I’ve written quite a few blogs on mental health now, and I have many of my own opinions on many of them, but believe me when I say that Richard Ramirez’s story left me speechless on all accounts. Even now, I have far too few words, but I’ll try my best. Welcome to part 4 in my series, which I have now decided is to be called “The Thrill of the Kill”.
Richard Levya Muño Ramirez was born on the 29th of February, 1960 to Mexican immigrants. Richard in no way had a childhood that differed from those of Charles Manson or Ted Bundy. His father was an alcoholic who would often let his drinking habit result in consistent fits of intense rage that resulted in Richard being the victim to multiple counts of domestic abuse, alongside his four brothers. Ramirez nearly died on multiple occasions before his teenage years. Psychologically, abuse has shown itself to have many different effects on people, from being unable to create loving relationships to extreme violence as a coping mechanism. Studies show the brain cannot completely develop after being subjected to emotional and physical abuse. This abuse likely led to Ramirez’s unfeeling nature towards his victims. To escape his father, Ramirez began to sleep in an old cemetery, which I think contributed greatly to what happened later in his life. This act was punished by being tied to a crucifix overnight in the same cemetery whenever his father pleased.
From one unloving father figure, Ramirez jumped to his next, this one being his older cousin brother. Although his cousin was an army veteran, having spent time in the vietnamese war, he had already become a serial killer and a sexual assaulter himself. His influence on Richard would’ve been entirely and permanently scarring. However, Richard always described his experiences with his brother as inspiring and fascinating. From his brother, he learnt stealth and murderous tactics, concluding what I believe to be the most innocent part of his short life.
As Richard grew up, he began to participate in drugs, sexual assault, robbery, murder. All before his emancipation. Ramirez was never prosecuted for any of these crimes. Skipping forward a few crimes and troubled years, Richard moved to California. There, he got addicted to cocaine, and began his most psychopathic escapades. For both our sakes, I won’t go into too much detail of these escapades except that they consisted of multiple charges of sexual assault, murder, torture, burglary, battery, and assault. In the end, Ramirez was convicted of 43 charges and imprisoned.
The case of Richard Ramirez is unlike one I’ve read so far because it feels like no part of the younger Richard wanted to become what he became in the end. The boy in the 1960’s died to become the sociopath we know from the late 1900’s. In every other case I've written about, there always seems to be a part of those people that was always going to turn out “bad”. With Richard though, I believe that Richard Ramirez had the potential to be innocent, and he fell prey to a world that couldn’t help him, just as much as it couldn’t help the rest.
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