Richard Ramirez, the serial killer known as the Night Stalker, died on June 7, 2013, at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, California, from complications of B-cell lymphoma. He was 53. The Marin County coroner listed chronic hepatitis C and a long history of substance abuse as significant contributing conditions.1Los Angeles Times. Night Stalker Died of Complications Due to Lymphoma, Also Had Hep C He had spent nearly 24 years on California’s death row and was never executed.
How He Died
Ramirez was moved from San Quentin’s death row to Marin General Hospital on the morning of June 7, 2013, after falling ill.2San Bernardino Sun. Night Stalker Richard Ramirez Dies of Natural Causes in Marin Hospital He was pronounced dead at 9:10 a.m. the same morning. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced that the death was from natural causes.3CBS News. Night Stalker Serial Killer Richard Ramirez Dies at Marin Hospital
The coroner’s report, released about ten days later, identified the primary cause as complications from B-cell lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. The report also listed chronic hepatitis C and chronic substance abuse as “significant conditions.”4KTLA. Night Stalker Richard Ramirez Has Died Marin County assistant chief deputy coroner Lt. Keith Boyd said the hepatitis C infection had likely been in Ramirez’s body for roughly 25 years and was probably contracted through intravenous drug use before his incarceration. Boyd said there was “nothing to support any kind of drug use while incarcerated.”5San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Coroner: Night Stalker Serial Killer Richard Ramirez Died From Cancer, Drug Use
Medical officials noted that hepatitis C is a known risk factor for lymphoma, and the infection had eventually destroyed his liver. He had been treated for liver failure before his death.6Medical Daily. Night Stalker Richard Ramirez Official Cause of Death Revealed
Why He Was Never Executed
Ramirez was formally sentenced to death on November 7, 1989, receiving 19 death sentences across his convictions.7Britannica. Richard Ramirez He died at San Quentin’s custody nearly 24 years later as the 87th condemned inmate in California to die while awaiting execution.8Yahoo. Serial Killer Richard Ramirez Died Two things kept his sentence from being carried out: his own appeals were still unresolved, and California had effectively stopped executing anyone.
His Appeals Dragged On For Decades
The trial produced a record of nearly 50,000 pages, and that record alone took close to a decade to certify for appeal. The California Supreme Court did not rule on his automatic appeal until August 7, 2006, more than 20 years after his arrest. The court rejected every claim Ramirez raised, including arguments that his trial attorneys were incompetent, that he had been denied a psychiatric evaluation, and that crime-scene photographs were unfairly inflammatory. It found “no substantial evidence that defendant was mentally incompetent” and ruled the photographs were “gruesome” only because the crimes themselves were gruesome.9Los Angeles Times. Ramirez Appeal Rejected
A separate constitutional challenge remained pending in state court after the automatic appeal was resolved. When that process ended, Ramirez moved to federal court. He filed a federal habeas corpus petition in December 2007, and a judge promptly stayed his execution pending the outcome. The federal case was still active, with periodic status reports being filed, when Ramirez died in June 2013. The docket was formally terminated the following month.10CourtListener. Richard Ramirez v. Robert L. Ayers
California Had Stopped Executing Anyone
Even if his appeals had wrapped up sooner, there was nowhere for the sentence to go. California’s last execution was that of Clarence Ray Allen on January 17, 2006.11California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Executed Inmate Summary: Clarence Ray Allen After that, legal challenges to the state’s lethal injection protocol halted executions entirely. In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order imposing a formal moratorium on the death penalty, closing the execution chamber at San Quentin, and granting reprieves to all condemned inmates.12Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Gavin Newsom Orders a Halt to the Death Penalty in California
Since 1978, California has spent an estimated $5 billion on its capital punishment system and carried out only 13 executions, while more than 120 condemned inmates have died of natural causes.13California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Condemned Inmates Who Have Died Since 1978 Ramirez was one of them.
The Crimes That Put Him on Death Row
Ramirez committed his known crimes primarily in the Los Angeles area between June 1984 and August 1985. He broke into homes at night and attacked the occupants. His methods varied widely: he shot, stabbed, strangled, and beat his victims, and he committed sexual assaults during many of the attacks. He sometimes left Satanic symbols, including pentagrams, at the scenes.7Britannica. Richard Ramirez The inconsistency in his methods initially led investigators to believe the crimes were the work of more than one person.
He was captured on August 31, 1985, after his photograph ran in Los Angeles newspapers and was recognized by residents of the Boyle Heights neighborhood, who chased him down and held him until police arrived.14Daily News. Night Stalker: Police Remember the Day Pure Evil Was Captured In September 1989, a Los Angeles County jury convicted him of 12 counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder, 14 counts of first-degree burglary, and multiple counts of rape, forcible sodomy, and forcible oral copulation. The jury also found true special-circumstance allegations including multiple murder, burglary-murder, and sexual-assault murder.15Supreme Court of California. People v. Ramirez
In October 2009, two decades into his death row stay, San Francisco police announced that DNA evidence had linked Ramirez to the April 1984 rape and murder of nine-year-old Mei Leung in the Tenderloin district. He was never formally charged in that case.16CBS News. DNA Links Night Stalker Richard Ramirez to 1984 Killing of 9-Year-Old Mei Leung
What Happened After His Death
Ramirez’s family in El Paso, where he was born in 1960, released a statement to the El Paso Times: “We are mourning the loss of our son and brother, Richard Ramirez. The world judged him, whether fairly or unfairly, it no longer matters. He is now before the true judge, the judge that sees and knows all things.”17El Paso Times. Night Stalker Richard Ramirez: El Paso Relatives React to His Death His ashes were sent to Doreen Lioy, the woman he had married at San Quentin in October 1996.18People. Where Is Night Stalker Richard Ramirez’s Wife Now